Hi everyone ,
just been diagnosed with T2 anal cancer , waiting for a pet scan
and trying to keep calm , positive and armed with the correct info
Hi again Chrissie49 , please never feel the need to apologise, this is a place where you can get it all off your chest, if anyone will understand the way you’re feeling we will I can assure you of that.
I didn’t have too much discomfort from my biopsy but I had my tumour removed via local resection prior to chemoradiotherapy so I completely sympathise with the discomfort you’re experiencing right now! Keep taking a stool softener such as Laxido or Movicol they will help somewhat, I took these for 3 years from having my surgery but now I’m ok without them.
Take care & keep posting whenever you feel the need.
Nicola
Hi Chrissie49 , I had no pre-diagnosis symptoms at all other than an external polyp that bled a couple of times, that’s what originally took me to the GP then it snowballed from there, I was diagnosed very early stages.
Nicola
I was incredibly lucky throughout the whole process Chrissie49 , I’ve always been pretty body aware but no way did I expect this small polyp to be cancer! I visited my GP (quite a large practice where it’s not unusual to not see the same Dr twice!) this particular day I saw a very young astute locum Dr that called in one of the senior partners of our practice for a second opinion as she said that following the internal examination she thought the polyp was growing inwards, they both agreed to put me in the 2 week pathway to get it checked out. 10 days later I saw a registrar from the lower colon team at my local hospital who diagnosed an internal ulcer & said I’d be recalled in a couple of weeks for them to repair it & do a flexible sigmoidoscopy, I went home, later that evening I had a call from the consultant of the team saying he wanted me in sooner rather than later & I was given a day surgery appointment for a couple of days later. When I came around from the anaesthetic my consultant said he’d not repaired the ‘ulcer’ or fully removed the polyp but had done a biopsy instead! I aired my concerns as to if it could be cancer & he said he very much doubted it as it didn’t look like cancers he’d seen before & I would get a call when the biopsy results were back. 10 days later I got a call to attend his clinic & received my diagnosis. Because I was picked up so early when I was referred onto my colorectal surgeon in Newcastle he said that he should be able to remove it surgically with an aim to cure. This was 99% successful & the whole tumour was removed but a tiny area only had a 1mm clear margin which is cut off for further treatment therefore I was referred to my lovely oncologist who entered me into the PLATO clinical trial & I received a course of chemoradiotherapy.… the perirectal cysts sound painful too! I completely understand about the feeling of life being on hold, it’s a cyclone of appointments & tests at the stage you are where nothing seems to be happening to rid this awful thing from your body but it’s all going on behind the scenes so to speak, hopefully you’ll hear something really soon & your treatment can get underway. We’re here for you.
Nicola
