Ready to go

Hi Andy, I too was diagnosed with T2 and Same treatment! You will find that time flys when treatment starts and will get a lot of great info and encouragement from your fellow Bumlanders!

I am 6 Yrs Cancer FREE as of August 15 2012! Anal cancer responds very well to treatment plan and you Heal up quite quickly after treatment! I was back to work part-time 6 wks after my last radiation treatment! Some take longer to return to work as fatigue can keep you down. 

Just listen to your body and don't overdo. Prayers for Complete Healing and speedy recovery for you Andy!

Theresa

Hi ,

Again I have to say you have a great attitude. I tend to agree with you, when you’ve got your head around your diagnosis those numbers are on the positive side, you have a fairly small tumour with no nodal involvement & more importantly zero spread! 

You’re on countdown now to begin your treatment. Your treatment plan sounds the same as most peoples on this forum, radiotherapy with chemotherapy running alongside, I had my chemo delivered via infusion day 1 of radiotherapy then chemo tablets twice a day each day of radiotherapy for the remainder of the treatment. I suffered no side effects from the chemo at all. 

I’ll just add a huge congratulations to Amazing Grace 6 years cancer free is a fantastic place to be, long may your good health continue. 

Nicola 

Grace & Nicola

Firstly, many many congratulations to on the 6 years of NED. I really hope that I, and everyone else on this site, can get to where you are! I've just realised that I have my own little bell that I can ring at the end of my treatment and on the anniversaries ...

Thanks again to Nikki65 for your kind words and your unfailing encouragement. It really is an honour to be a member of a chatroom with such wonderful people.

I understood that the "gold standard" was to get 3 sessions of chemotherapy at the start of treatment and 3 days at the end, so I was surprised to hear I was getting 28 sessions running alongside my radiotherapy. I opted to take chemo tablets because I initially thought I'd be an outpatient for chemo. I've now decided to "live in" at the hospital for the entire 5 and half weeks so maybe they'll want to infuse me now? 

I'll give the oncologist's office a ring tomorrow.

Thanks ,

That’s exactly why we’re all here, to offer support, encouragement & advice wherever possible. I think you’ll find most people on here certainly in the last 18 months since I’ve been here, have a a very similar treatment plan consisting of an  infusion of mitomycin on day one then capecitabine tablets twice a day on each day of radiotherapy although some have been in-patients & had their chemo delivered weeks one & five via infusion with no chemo in between. Having said that what I have realised is that each hospital works a little differently therefore our treatment plans can vary somewhat, I would do just that & just speak to your oncologist so that you have everything straight in your mind ready to start. I’m a big believer in forewarned is forearmed. 

Nicola

Thanks for the info, Nikki65

I've been taking Warfarin because of a replacement heart valve and the capecitabine tablets will interfere with that so I was/am going to have to self-inject Enoxaparin (Clexane) as an alternative anticoagulant.

That's no "biggie" for me as I've had to self-inject many times before if I've had one of my regular colonoscopies!

I think I'll contact my keyworker colorectal nurse rather than the oncologist's office.

And to top it all, my 82yo Dad has just been carted away by ambulance, apparently suffering from dehydration again!

Oh no!!!… I hope your dad is ok & the hospital get him sorted very soon! My dad is 84 now but thankfully both him & my mum are very fit for their age. Care roles can completely reverse as our parents get older can’t they? 

Yes maybe your appointed specialist nurse will be able to confirm your treatment regime, if she doesn’t have the information to hand I’m sure she can find out for you or point you towards someone that can give you the information. 

Nicola 

I've decided that I'm not going to be able to cope with Dad's "hydration shenanigans" while I'm in treatment

Harsh as it sounds, I've got my own health to look after and that means spending weekends at my own house rather than Dad's

I'll tell him when I visit him in hospital tonight

Well, Dad just shrugged when I told him I wouldn't be spending my intra-treatment weekends with him

Strangely, he's going into respite care in a couple of weeks. Now my sister, her fiance and my brother can go to Egypt as planned! tsk

As for me, I've just arrived at the Birmingham PET Centre for a scan

Hi ,

Firstly I hope your scan goes well today.

Secondly, over these next few weeks you’ll definitely need to concentrate on yourself, managing any side effects during treatment, which can be a juggling act with different medications etc., but also your recovery period after treatment has finished. I bounced back pretty quickly in respect of healing, I did have 2 weeks post treatment where I was quite ropey, but following that my skin etc., healed quite quickly, the fatigue was another thing completely & that definitely took longer to pass, I was needing a nana nap most afternoons & still in bed by 8/9pm!! 

As difficult as it is when we have dependants, be that children or elderly relatives, this is a time when someone else will have to take the strain I’m afraid whether that be respite care or other family members or friends. You need to take care of you right now. 

Nicola

Nikki65

Thanks again for your kind words.

The PET scan was a lot easier than I thought it might be. I've never had a problem with needles and/or cannulas so the injection of the radiation-tagged sugar was a breeze. Relaxing for an hour afterwards before the actual scan was even less of a problem ... lol

Everything anyone has said ... on here or irl ... has convinced me that I'm right to move back to my own house and leave the care of my "cantankerous" father to my sister.

I was stunned ... stunned I tell you ... when I found out he would rather go into respite care than have my sister miss her second Egyptian holiday this summer! Bitter? Me?

Thanks again for letting me vent!