Hi everyone. Hope your all as well as can be. I was confirmed to have Anal cancer on Tuesday.

Hello Michelle, welcome to the forum.

There is lots of information here about items you might like to buy before you start; I would say think about a sitz bath, it's very useful just for soothing and cleaning your bottom, and some people find it's really good to use as a loo. It can be much easier to poo into warm water and it's easy to flush and clean.

I found the radiotherapists gave me lots of cream, so I would chat to them to see what they advise - it seems to vary depending on where you are. They were my go-to people as they seemed to heard it all before and had lots of stuff to help. 

I would stick to basic unscented shower gel or soap as you might find your bottom gets very sore towards the end of the treatment - which leads me to pants. Just make sure they are soft and comfy with no seams, some people prefer shorts or men's boxers.

Finally, working can be tricky, particularly towards the end of your treatment. Your bottom can get very burnt and sore and you might feel pretty tired, so it might be good to have some time off planned as you come to the end of the treatment, and for the week or so that follows as there is a bit of lag where you have finished radiotherapy, but it is still affecting your body. See  how you feel but I would definitely prepare to have some time off if you can.

xx

Hi Michelle F6eb802 

Another welcome from me although I'm sorry you have found yourself here. With regards to creams etc there is a lot of advice and recommendations on here. I only used the creams recommended or provided by my hospital and when I used something not recommended by them I was told of, so I would run anything you are thinking of using however harmless you think it is by them as different hospitals seem to ok different things and some are more generous than others in what they provide. As for work I'm sure there will be some people on here who did work all the way through and that may be you, but i would prepare myself for potentially not being able to. I completely understand the financial side of this, have you looked into seeing if you are entitled to any benefits, i think macmillan would be able to help you with that, there is a benefits calculator on the site, you also may be entitled to PIP ive seen some people on here have got it. Sending hugs. Xx