Hello Everyone,
I joined this group a few weeks ago as my dad, has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Anal Cancer and will begin treatment shortly. He is not on here himself, but he and our family have already greatly appreciated the openness and sharing that comes with the group. I generally look up 'stuff' that is coming up on a daily basis that he has questions over and there is normally a wealth of information and support on here that people have been so kind and brave to share, which I read to him, show him and know that it eases his mind, so, thank you.
For anyone that is interested...and perhaps there may be a few, as I see a few people are going through this at the same time here is a little background info.
My dad found out he has Anal Cancer on his birthday in Mid-April this year. (Despite the unwanted birthday gift we still went out for a nice dinner and enjoyed a couple of beers.) We are lucky in that we are able to find lots of positives, and are able to laugh and find humour with the situation which I hope will help with the highs and lows to come. (BTW there are some great Blog writers in this group that have not only educated us, but enlightened us, and made us smile! We love your blogs for all the right reasons, just wish none of you had the reason to write them)
So Stage 4 it is - we have been told he has a very large tumour, one of the sections removed in Biopsy alone was (10cm x 4cm). The cancer is also present in both sides of his pelvis, and there are a couple of nodes in the lungs. There was a review yesterday (20th May) with an interdisciplinary team of all the scans and we are keeping our fingers crossed, as there is hope, that maybe, just maybe, the lungs are not involved. This would be amazing news, and a real positive. If we don't get the news we want, well at least there is some more clarity, and at least we are no longer in the limbo land. (For anyone currently there, hang in there - like many have said before, the waiting for diagnosis and treatment...it is so tough. ) We are quite delighted that it can be treated, and we expect treatment to start next week. (We have had experience with family members who have not been so lucky, so being able to receive treatment is a positive and we will remind ourselves of this frequently when the going gets tough when/if/as the side effects of treatment kick in!)) He will be undergoing 2 x 3-week rounds of Chemo first, followed by the 6 weeks of Chemoradiotherapy, which many of you know all too well!
After all of that, finally my questions...
1. Whilst there are many things coming up that are challenging, Sitting down is a big problem. It can be really quite painful for my dad. Regular cushions, doughnut cushion...etc are not cutting the mustard, I actually made him a cushion, out the of packaging that came from Amazon - don't laugh but you know those little air pouches - and it has been pretty amazing, he loves it, but is there anything out there that you have found to be a bit of a lifesaver? It's just to make life a little easier, and to make him a little more comfortable or example, to enable him to sit down to eat his dinner, or car trips (which are being kept to a minimum) but are going to be necessary for the Chemo treatment. (Edited to Add- Ironically, I just found information posted by Sarah- Bony Parts Pressure Cushion - I will check it out now! Thank you.) Any other tips and tricks warmly welcomed.
2. With the first two bouts of stand-alone chemo, my dad will most likely lose his beautiful hair (I know he's not the first and will not be the last, and its not a big issue, he is not vain in any way, but he did not expect to lose it with the Chemoradiotherapy drug combination but it is a possible side effect of the necessary first bouts of standalone chemo and I would like to be prepared just in case he does)- any recommendations for good hats for men, tips and tricks....so I can suggest some positive ideas just in case.
Thanking you kindly in advance for your response,
Wishing you all well x 
