Newly diagnosed with anal cancer, just started treatment

Hello DeeLynn 

A warm welcome to the forum although I am sure you would rather not be here; however all of us know exactly what this course of treatment involves either in part or the whole lot.  I had the same regimen as you except I had six cycles of chemo. Due to various difficulties in establishing the type of cancer I had I was rescanned after the first chemo session so my scans were up-to-date.  That scan showed that just that one had shrunk the primary tumour, the lymph nodes and also the spot on my lung.

The cold cap - gosh, you are braver than me!  I lasted all of two minutes and decided I couldn't bear 18 chemo sessions with that on my head so bit the bullet and lost all my hair.  It has all grown back now and apart from initially having a full head of curls I am now back to my poker straight bob.  

The steroids definitely play havoc with sleep patterns on the day of chemo.  I gave up trying to sleep and it wasn't unusual to find me doing housework or ironing at 2am in the morning.  But apart from that and constipation, I tolerated the chemo very well and I hope it is the same for you.  I am retired but certainly would have been quite able to carry on working during chemo too.

The chemo/radiotherapy can be a lot tougher with more symptoms.  However, it is important to remember these don't all come at once and your treating team will keep a very close eye on you.  And it is only 28 days - many of us kept a calendar and marked off the days.

This is a very supportive community and there aren't any subject off limits on here, so anything at all that is worrying you, just shout out.

Big hug, we are here to support however we can.

Irene xx

Hi DeeLynn ,

Welcome to our little corner of the MacMillan Online Community although I’m sorry to hear of your recent diagnosis.

It sounds as though you’re coping with your chemo really well & I see Irene has already replied to your post having been through the same kind of treatment.

I can imagine it was unnerving seeing the other lady have a severe reaction before you’d even begun yours! & I’ve heard the cold cap can be hard to tolerate so well done with persevering with that too. 

I had the oral chemo alongside my radiotherapy & had little to no side effects from the chemo, the most prevalent side effect from the radiotherapy is the skin reaction, similar to sunburn, but as Irene has said it’s a gradual process & won’t happen all of a sudden. I also had a lot of fatigue but that’s to be expected & it was nothing that an afternoon nap & early nights didn’t remedy. 

Please just ask if there’s anything you think we may be able to help with & remember we’re here to support you however we can.

Nicola 

Thank you Irene, that is really helpful and really appreciate your insight and kind words xx

Thanks so much Nicola, really appreciate your support and kind words xx