Hi
I definitely had the wind taken out of my sails on 4th June 2021 when I got a call to say consultant wants you to come in Monday for stoma operation!!! Before I was even told the test results!!! So Monday 7th was a very full day of finding out that I had anal cancer, 3cm and that 1st step was stoma then would go from there….I have not seen oncologist yet as that appt 20th July, had pet scan last Thursday and home coping with looking after stoma, previous ct did show no spread so I’m holding on to that positive for now.
I suppose I do keep wondering how? but google did not help as the reasons just made me feel worse and unclean!! I don’t think I have a questions but millions going around my head but thought just writing this would release a little tension
Hi Sasue,
Firstly I’d like to welcome you to the Macmillan online community although I’m really sorry that you find yourself here.
I know having a cancer diagnosis is a shock to say the very least but having to cope with your diagnosis & finding you need a stoma op on the same day is a lot to deal with! It’s good news though that your CT scan showed no spread.
Im sure we’ve all asked ourselves the ‘how?’ & ‘why me?’ questions but I suppose we’ll never know the answers. Not all but many anal cancers (AC) are HPV driven the same as many cervical cancers are & it’s likely that almost every sexually active person comes into contact with HPV in their lifetime. There are many, many types of HPV, most never cause an issue but there are a couple of strains that our immune systems can’t deal with & they can go on to cause cancer. Much of the information out there on the internet (Dr Google) is at best very outdated, at worst plain wrong so please don’t pay much attention unless you go through a reputable site such as Macmillan, cancer research or the anal cancer foundation, you may not find the answer to the question of why it’s happened to you but you will find lots of factual information.
This forum was a godsend to me when I was diagnosed & going through treatment I had some amazing support so please keep posting if you have any questions or even if you want to just let off a little steam. We’re always here & we all understand because we’ve been where you are now. If you click on my username you can read a little about me there, I’m now a little over 3 years post treatment & disease free (NED) to date.
Nicola
