Hello Everyone - Another New Member

Hi Coco , 

welcome to the forum which is a massive support to us all .. 

I was diagnosed last Feb but only started treatment on May 13th .. this was due to extensive tests that found rare malignant cysts in my rectal space as well as an anal cancer … there are so many questions to ask  everyone 

take care

Chrissie xx

Hello Coco70

I am so sorry about your diagnosis and especially so since you have only recently lost your husband.  My sincere condolences, life must have been so tough for you in the past few years, my heart goes out to you.  I really do hope that the forum can help you navigate your way through treatment and beyond.  I won't bombard you with information right now, but when you are ready and know your treatment plan (it all takes time, there is a lot going on behind the scenes), just fire away with anything you need to know - most of us have been through the treatment and have lots of coping strategies to help along the way.  It's tough but doable and we will help in anyway we can.

Big hug

Irene xx

Hi Coco,

I'm so sorry, both about your husband and for your diagnosis. My heart always gives a lurch when I hear about young mothers with this awful situation.

You've got each other, and now you've got us too!

Hugs

Suz

Hi Coco70 ,

Firstly a warm welcome to the MacMillan Online Community although I’m really sorry to hear of your recent diagnosis. My deepest condolences on the loss of your husband too. 

I was in a similar situation to you when diagnosed, I’d lost my husband some time ago, not to cancer but he was only in his early 40’s & had my 2 girls, my youngest was still at home & at 16 was about to begin her GCSE’s, those 2 girls gave me all the fight I needed to face my diagnosis head on! 

I’m so pleased you’re already finding the site useful, it really was my source of information, support & comfort at one of the scariest times of my life. Please just let us know if there’s anything at all we can do to help make things a little easier throughout your journey, we’re always here with hints & tips & a listening ear when needs be. 

Take care. 
Nicola 

Thank you for your lovely reply Nicola, I really do appreciate it, it’s nice to communicate with people who have already been through it.
My concern at the moment is that I’m not feeling in the best of health before my treatment starts, I have bouts of pain, particularly after I’ve been to the loo, I’m also lacking in energy and my bottom often feels quite uncomfortable and sore. I’m no longer working and doing very little. 
Kind regards, Adele. (Coco70) xx

Hi Suz,

Thank you so much for replying to my message it’s very kind of you, I’m sure I’ll fine this forum very useful in the days and weeks ahead.

Kind regards, Adele. (Coco70) xxx

Hi Irene

Thank you so much for messaging me back it’s really kind of you, I’m sure the advice and tips you guys can give will be extremely valuable to me. 

Kind regards, Adele (Coco70) xxx

Hi Chrissie, 

Thank you so much for messaging, I hope your treatment is going well, you certainly have had a long wait before it could start which must have been extremely difficult for you. Now that it’s started hopefully the time will pass very quickly for you

Kind regards, Adele (Coco70)  xxx

Hi again Adele ( Coco70 ),

I don’t think you’re alone in the fact that you’re experiencing some pain & discomfort prior to your treatment, to be fair it’s a really awkward place to have something going on isn’t it? The lack of energy could possibly be a response to the pain also, there really is nothing more wearing than constant pain & discomfort, also you’ve had this going on for a while if you’ve been misdiagnosed prior to this so your body has been dealing with a lot!

Do you take any stool softeners at all to help ease the discomfort with bowel movements? If not maybe you could ask for some to be prescribed, they do what they say on the tin & just make your stools softer & easier to pass unlike a laxative that works in a totally different way. I didn’t have difficulty prior to diagnosis but had surgery to remove my tumour before treatment & was really sore after my surgery, I was prescribed softeners as I was in so much pain going to the loo afterwards & the painkillers prescribed just slowed everything down which made everything so much worse, I was prescribed Movicol to start with then Laxido but both did the same job. 

I hope this helps a little. 

Nicola 

Hi Nicola, 

Thank you for this advice, it really is helpful, I have been using Laxido but I’ve only taking one sachet a day so I might increase this to see if it helps. Actually today hasn’t been too bad, I’ve managed to get a few jobs done around the house which makes me feel better

Thank you again, I think I’ll find this forum extremely helpful and it will help me through this process. 

Best wishes, Adele. Xxx