New Member (Rectal Cancer)

Hi Stan

A warm welcome to Bowel (colon and rectal) cancer forum Group and whilst I'm not pleased that, because of your circumstances, you've had yo join us, but your journey has brought you to our door and we will all do what we can to help and support you.

I do hope that your research information has come from Cancer Research, Bowel Cancer UK and of course here on the Macmillans site these 3 charities and the NHS web site are the to go places for update accurate information unfortunately Dr Google is sometimes a bit slow at updating information and could be out of date.

Ask away on anything we will try and help and if we can't we'll refer you to our Ask a Nurse page where the specialist nurses will be able to fill in the blanks and this facility is open to you at all times, to ask the nurses questions just click on the green text and you will be taken directly to nurses pages, if you ask them a question please give them about 2 working days to get back to you.

I hope that you find benefit of being a member of the Macmillans Bowel Cancer Group.

Best Wishes.

Ian

Hello i have one question i am on radiotherapy and chemotherapy starting third week. I am getting frequent bleeding after radiotherapy session. Getting heavy constipation for last two days this is more to do with chemotherapy. Due to this it is really painful. Any suggestions. 

Hi ,

A welcome to the forum from me too . I can’t answer your question on treatment but if you use the search function you can read up on the discussions on Papillon therapy .

Macmillan also recommends that you read thoroughly the NICE guidelines as they are currently requesting up dated Research . I am not sure how far along the process that is at the moment . 

Anyway all the best and I hope you find the discussions of some benefit to you .

take care,

Court 

Thanks for your message and information. Cheers Stan

Hi Stan

Sorry can't  answer your question but I do have some other suggestions for you whilst you wait for one of the members to get back to you.

You could throw the question of bleeding and constipation into our Chemotherapy forum group or the Radiotherapy & Side Effects forum group to open up the discussion a bit more.

If the pain and constipation is  bothering you quite a bit we have nurses on duty tomorrow Sunday between 8 am and 8 pm and you are very welcome to give them a ring for advice on 0808 808 0000.

Ian 

Hello Lawyer1 

sorry to hear about your diagnosis but happy to hear you’re well into your treatment. 

My “alien” was roughly in the same place as yours (the remnants were removed on Monday!) I also did 5 weeks chemo-radio and started having issues about half way through. I didn’t have the same problems as you but I remember them telling me constipation and bleeding (and mucus) could happen. First of all are you drinking enough water? I had to drink at least 2L a day. Second they add me take movicol savhets: 1-3 per day just to mAke sure everything is regular. They told me to avoid internal laxatives as they irritate the Bowel and this wasn’t a good state for the radio. Definitely mention the issues to your radio team, they will definitely have some suggestions for you. 

Good luck with finishing the radio! 

S xx 

Good morning Strongsami,

Thank you for your message and suggestions. I changed my diet yesterday and started drinking more water and that has helped. The bleeding i have mentioned to the radiotherapy team they said it is common. The few side effects are manageable i do yoga and light exercise 5 days a week. However the treatment does take its toll on your daily life so looking forward to the end of the five weeks. I will definitely need to go on a weeks vacation.

You mention you had some issues halfway into the treatment so did you manage to complete the five weeks and what issues did you get and how were they managed? Only share your experience if you comfortable with it. After the treatment what was the results when you had the scan normally ten weeks after treatment finishes. Wishing you fast recovery. Kind regards 

Hi Stan, I hope you are doing ok. Sounds like we are in a similar point in time - I’m also on 5 weeks radio chemotherapy and am in week 3 too. 

In terms of my side effects I got

-week 1. Some feeling of nausea on Weds but the anti sickness tabs stopped this. Friday I got some mild chest pains when walking uphill (I’m a v fit 40yo triathlete so this was a concern!!!)

-week 2 - I sailed through week 2, I took anti sickness tabs when needed but got a few chest pains when on walks 

-week 3. The side effects are starting to kick in. I have a small patch of dry skin on my bum (the radiographers is diving me some cream for it If it worsens). My bladder has also felt irritated and I’m wee’ing more 

stay in touch, and we’re half at through today

Rich

Good evening Rich, thank you for your message. My side effects have been manageable without medication. Last weekend i had bowl inflammation and was uncomfortable and painful. I was adviced by the pharmacy at the hospital on Monday to take ibrofean and that helped only took 2. I had appointment with the oncologist yesterday he said ibrofean or paracetamol. I have been ok so took nothing further. However today after radiotherapy i had fatique more than normal so i went to sleep straight after lunch. When i woke up just before dinner i had chest pain on left side and digestion issue. Called helpline they said call 999 the ambulance arrived after one hour did necessary checks which were normal and chest pain started to get better. The ambulance offered to take me to hospital or i could go myself if things got worse. The digestion got better and the chest pain finished after a few hours. I stopped chemotherapy tablets till i see the oncologist tomorrow. Chest pain is a chemotherapy side effect so not sure if the digestion caused it or the chemo tablets. 

Regarding the frequency increased for bowls and passing urine is common i have same issue. I am getting bleeding after radiotherapy which i am told is normal. With nausea i drink a quarter of ginger beer which resolve the issue. I normally do yoga and light exercise every morning and that helps the immune system. Stay strong and positive. 

Regards Stan.

Hello just an update after the end of the third week. The chest pain was due to acid reflux. Everything back to normal and managable. Never have lunch and go to sleep after the radiotherapy due to getting heavy fatique which i had and it caused acid reflux.

I find yoga and light exercise every morning helps the immune system. Cheers Stan