New to anal cancer club

Hi Roxi,

Welcome, and no, you are most certainly not alone :0)

You will hopefully swing back to positivity tomorrow; once you start your treatment you will start to feel it is the beginning of having some control back in your life. For many of us it's the huge unknown-ness of it all that's scary and I definitely found once I had met the radiotherapists and had my first zap - and of course the chemo which compliments it - that I felt I was beginning to move forward.

I don't know much about staging in the way you have described, I was T2N1M0 which is a stage 2 tumour, with some spread to lymph nodes and no mets, so I assume you have a stage 3.  But I think the chemoradiation is the same treatment we all receive regardless (apart from some of the stage 1 people who sometimes have surgery to remove the tumour) which is why there are quite a few of us on here who have gone through it.

I can only remind you it is a very effective treatment if a bit harsh on the old undercarriage, and we are here to support you in any way we can. Also don't hesitate to use the medical people you will meet - they will have lots of things to help you get through as smoothly as possible, so don't suffer any side effects without mentioning it to them.

All the very best for tomorrow, please let us know how you get on. xx

Hi Roxi6671693b 

Welcome to the club, you are definitely not alone everyone here is either going through it or out the other side and stayed around to support others. Good luck tomorrow, one step closer to getting your health back. Sending hugs. Xx

Hello Roxi

At the start there is such a lot to take in and it can be overwhelming.

I agree with Mrs Vanilla, once you get the first day over it gets easier. For me it's the unknown that gets my brain working overdrive. Once I had a plan and things were familiar, I relaxed and let the team do their work. I hope you also feel more relaxed after the first day.

I am T3N1M0, the letters you mention are normally part of the MRI results. My treatment is abroad so I have my full MRI notes and all other medical and scan notes. Regardless of the letters I believe the treatment is the same chemoradiation. It's very effective, well established and gets results at all staging.

Wishing you all the best for tomorrow.

Ally xx

Hello Roxi

We all remember the awful stress of the period following diagnosis when life is taken over by appointments for scans and tests, I walked round in a bubble of terror and found it extremely difficult to absorb far less remember anything that was said to me.   But you have come to the right place as each of us can empathise with your feelings and have gone through or are going through your experience.  So a warm welcome to the forum, and please post if there is any aspect of your treatment you don't understand or you want to share.  We truly have heard and been through it all.

But as it has been pointed out, once treatment starts you will feel a lot more in control of what is happening and the course is tough but doable and there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  I hope your first couple of days went well and you aren't suffering too many side effects (it would be the chemo at the moment) but your team will keep a very close eye on you.

Big hug

Irene xx

Hi Roxi6671693b , 

Another warm welcome from me to the MacMillan Online Community although I’m sad to learn of your recent diagnosis.

You'll already be through your first couple of treatments now & know what to expect from you daily hospital visits, most of us here found once those first few treatments were over that we relaxed into it a bit as it became a daily routine. A portion of the fear is fear of the unknown prior to starting treatment I think & once you know something is being done to begin the demise of the beastie within you begin to settle a little. 

I hope the beginning of your treatment has gone to plan although we all know that first day can be a long one. 

Please know we’re here to support you however we can & if you’ve any questions you think we may be able to help with please just ask, come here to share or have a moan if you feel the need there’s always a listening ear. 

Nicola 

I'm a couple of weeks behind you - I start my treatment on 22/9 for T2N2M0 (classified overall as stage 3) so I'll be following your treatment journey with interest. Hope the first few days have gone well. Any hints or tips very gratefully received.

I'm finding the lack of joined up-ness at the hospital very frustrating at the moment. I ask the consultant a question and she says 'ask the radiographer'. I ask the radiographer and she says ' your consultant should decide that'. The chemo admin team ring me to confirm an appointment I knew nothing about - 'oh, don't you have the NHS app?'. Yes I do, but there's nothing on it about appointments. Still, at least that anxiety is stopping me from thinking about treatment, and treatment anxiety is stopping me from thinking about success of treatment. So I guess there are some positives