Radiotherapy

3 replies
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Hi All

I've been diagnosed with Stage 3b rectal cancer and completed a 5 day course of radiotherapy 2 weeks ago prior to possible surgery. I am currently experiencing urgency to empty my bowels up to about 8 times per day. These occasions turn out to be mostly wind accompanied by a discharge of mucus/slime. Apart from porridge, I am finding it very difficult to find anything I can eat which does not seem to exacerbate the need to get to the loo. I would be interested to hear from anyone who might have had a similar experience, how long did these symptoms last and what were they able to eat?

LJCBoy

crankshaft over 4 years ago

Hi LJCBoy, sorry to hear of you problems. Was the 5 day course very intensive? I had 5 weeks and only had a small amount of urgency. During the 18 months of my treatment though I relied heavily on loperamide to control the flow. You can take quite a lot and I used to take a couple 30 mins before a meal.

Do you have a colorectal specialist nurse you can have a chat with? Hope you can get it sorted soon and best ok luck with the operation if it comes to it. John

LJCBoy over 4 years ago

Hi Crankshaft, many thanks for your reply which is appreciated. The radiation is supposed to be cumulative but I do not know whether you have the same amount of radiation over 5 days,- hence more intensive, as over 5 weeks. I was not offered the latter and do not know whether this indicates a greater urgency to start treatment. My colorectal nurse has suggested trying loperamide but is keen to ensure that the dose does not result in constipation.

Guy W over 4 years ago

I had five weeks of radio and it was like that all the way through. It carried on but gradually tailing off for about two weeks after the radio finished.