4 weeks after treatment finished

Hi , congrats on getting through the worst part of this weird cancer journey!

Healing after treatment always feels too slow.  It’s natural that you want to feel more normal again, I totally empathise with you.  But it’s unpredictable.  Each one of us here could tell you about our healing, & each story would be different.  If you click on my name you’ll see my story.

I don’t know what my long term ‘normal’ will look like, so I use exercise to improve my mental & physical health and try to live one day at a time without speculating too much about the future.

I wear incontinence nix & a pad to go out - mostly for confidence at the moment - & use every trick learned over a lifetime to be as positive as possible & distract from the discomfort & fear.

Wiser people in this group will hopefully have more practical advice for you.  Take care, Toni

Hi   first thing to say is congratulations on finishing treatment!  It is really early days with your recovery, I was very impatient to get back to 'normal' quickly but it is a gradual process.  Your 'insides' will heal but you will probably find that the anal skin will be sensitive after all the radiotherapy.  I am 18 months post-treatment and still get occasional bouts of soreness which I manage by taking either regular salt, or Epsom salt baths and using Sudacrem. As Toni8776 has said, a good idea is to wear some sort of protection when you go out to give you some confidence. Also, just keep an eye on what you are eating to see if any particular foods or drink trigger a sudden urge to go. Coffee does that for me.   If you feel your mental health is being affected then it may be worth considering asking for counselling. I saw an Oncological Psychologist after treatment and it helped massively. Alternatively you could ask for a telephone appointment with your GP to talk things through. These are difficult days but you will get through. Bev x