Am I the only man on here?

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Hi,

I’m still new here. I finally got a formal diagnosis last week after 16 months of ongoing problems and tests.

I know this is still a relatively rare cancer and with even lower rates in men.

I have really appreciated being able to read all of your experiences, thank you for sharing. But, I am left wondering if I am the only man on here and whether there is a men’s group? I do not want to intrude into some of your deeply personal chats that are specific to the challenges you as women experience.

I hope this makes sense.

  • Hi. You’re not the only man on here

    I started my own journey this time last year and added some feedback post my treatment being completed back in March. I was diagnosed with Anal Cancer in December 2023. T2 N1a M0 . Stage 3

    Curative Chemo radiotherapy due to start January 2024 

    I have literally just updated my profile with the following…….

    Wow! Has it really been a year since I was diagnosed! My last treatment was on 20/3/24 and I’ve slowly been improving ever since. I saw both my oncologist and surgeon a few weeks ago. The tumour has gone. I’m officially in remission and have been given the ‘all clear’.
    Going forward I’ll be monitored every 3 months in year1, 4mths in year2 and 6 monthly in year3. 
    I can’t begin to thank the team at Norfolk and Norwich that have looked after me during this journey.

    I'm back to 95% of my old self. Have to perform a series of daily pelvic and lower back stretches but other than that I feel AMAZING. Getting the All clear was the best early Christmas present this year. You CAN get through this. 

  • Brilliant news. X

  • Great news, well done and congratulations.

    I cannot agree with you more about pushing for a diagnosis.

    My GP identified a mass, I now realise, in 2021. It has taken up to November this year, following appointment after appointment after appointment to finally get me referred to oncology.

    My diagnosis was made after a biopsy was taken when I was meant to be having a simple polyp removed. It was not the GP that delayed this but all the specialists that failed to identify the problem, or it took them so long to get to the biopsy stage that it had become cancer.

    Anyway, since my biopsy was taken the service has been amazing.

    My good news is that I do not have a melanoma, as I thought. The consultant said skin cancer when he gave me the news and I heard melanoma after that in my memory.

    My treatment will be chemoradiography. This strikes me as a better pathway than I thought I would be having if it had been melanoma.

    My treatment is now likely to start after Christmas after a PET Scan, that will hopefully be before Christmas.

    I think this site is invaluable.

    •  Thank you everyone.
  • Congratulations  , thanks for the update, it’s great to hear from you & wonderful to hear that you’re doing so well too. I’m 6 1/2 years post treatment & still do the physio to stretch my back out, if I don’t things get stiff, painful & the sciatica kicks in! 

    Wishing you a very Merry Christmas & a happy & healthy New Year. 

  •  That's wonderful news about the melanoma. Enjoy Christmas. Good luck with your treatment. X

  • This is good news regarding the melanoma (or lack of it)  , our minds do play these tricks, you’re definitely not alone there! Most of us here have been through this treatment (chemoradiotherapy) so we’ll be able to support you through. 

    Try & enjoy your Christmas & hopefully you’ll be ready to start the demise of this beastie soon after. 

    Nicola 

  • Hi LCraig. I too am a man. All the help and advice I have received on here hasn't usually been gender specific I have found and all has been so valuable. 

    I begin my treatment next monday 23rd. Thanks to everyone here I'm as well prepared as I can be and very aware of what I might expect.