Finished chemo/radiotherapy last Tuesday

Hi Andy, well done, and i hope you get good results ,i start my radiotherapy on Monday and will also be taking  chemo tablets, should be finished in time for Christmas,long haul ahead ,but as long as my tumour shrinks also, it will be worth it, and if i get the same symptoms as you (sore bum ,trots) i can cope with that,,,,, sending you Good Luck x.

Good luck with your chemo/radiotherapy xx

That’s a big part of your treatment over . Sounds as though you managed really well . Hope the scan shows significant shrinkage . 

One more step to go .

take care ,

Court 

Cheers court  I’ve got everything crossed 

Hi Andy

Congratulations on getting through your chemo/radiotherapy without too much damage!  Thats another phase you can tick off. 

You now need to get through the waiting phase. I am just coming to the end of mine as I have my scan on 11th November.

I found the waiting phase to be quite frustrating counting the weeks down unable to do much as you recover from your treatment.

My pain has reduced over this period as the chemo/radiotherapy continues to work ( i am assuming).  I have continued to take my medication, though my need for it has reduced, which is hopefully a good sign.

I will let you know the results of my scans when I know them. I am also anticipating some big surgery but it all depends on how well the chemo/radiation has gone, so best to try not worrying about it until we know the actual results. 

cheers

Sean 

superfly all the best with the scans got fingers crossed for you 

they reckon my scans will be six weeks from last Monday. 

Only needed cream for a very sore bum all my symptoms seem to have stopped and getting less as each day Here’s hoping that it’s working 

and please do let me know how you get on with your scans all the best 

Andy 

Hi Andy

I finished Radio and Chemo 18 months ago.  If you get the all clear then you start the journey of recovery.  For me it was mostly getting over the soreness from the radio therapy and getting some sort sensible bowel movements back. The review programme I am on is 3 monthly checks for two years followed by annual checks for a further 3 years, five years in total.  Up until now the biggest issue for me is trying to get the bowels to relearn the signals and get some sort of regular movement back. Often I didn't know if I want to pooh and feel as though I have wind, then suddenly find that its not wind. I've often found myself walking along the road quite normally and then doubled up in pain, because I need to pooh, but the signals were not there. For me the adage that there is no such thing as a safe fart is very true after bowel cancer treatment.  It is getting better and more controllable but it is taking a lot longer than I thought and a source of frustration for me. 

I have also found that the side effects of chemo can last for some considerable time, often I have days of feeling totally exhausted for no apparent reason. I believe now that the chemo can linger for some time. For example on a recent visit to the Dentist they had to very carefully clean around my gums (four sessions) before conducting a deep clean because of the residual chemo. Even though they were very careful I still felt "off colour" for two weeks after the deep clean. Your GP should also sign you up for annual Flu Jabs, if you don't get them already as your immune system is weakened.  My GP had me on anti-histamines for 12 months, the side affects were quite bad but it was supressing cold viruses. I stopped taking them becasue of the side effects and four weeks later I felt miles better but then had a cold which quickly developed into pleurisy, resulting in being nebulised, given morphine and admitted to hospital for 48 hours. You may have been advised during treatment to have a thermometer handy whilst undergoing treatment and if your temp goes up to get to A&E for emergency antibiotics, my point is that this may still be the case after your treatment has finished.

I have always kept myself competatively physically fit, the biggest frustration is trying to get that fitness back, the mind is willing but the body does struggle. I was in denial over the affects for a quite a while and needed counselling in the end to come to terms with it all,  I have now accepted that getting back to where I was pre-treatment is a long term thing and it will take time, I do Pilates regularly, swim and cross train, until the pleurisy hit me I was managing 30 minutes each day.  I did go back to work straight away post treatment and during treatment worked from home to avoid travelling on public transport and getting bugs. 

This is my post chemo personal experiences and everyone will be different I am sure.  But by way of reassurance there is light at the end of the tunnel but some tunnels are longer than others.

I hope this helps.

Best wishes

Barry

Hi Barry BarryR01

thank you for posting your journey and very interesting reading for me, I have been trying to find out how many are on watch and wait having had a complete response to chemo radiotherapy and no surgery, am I right in that is what you are saying?

my husband had a complete clinical response, but only fairly recently, he is due to have his next sigmoidoscopy nad MRI this month, where you given the option of surgery or just told you were on 3 month checks?  I hope you don't mind my questions.

my husband has not had same after effects has you, apart from he doesn't have as much energy as before, and issue with dentist, and gets some tingling in one arm occasionally.

thanks and best wishes

process x

Ok no worries. Firstly I had rectal bleeding, bright red and put it down to piles. Went to GP with it, referred to Endoscopy. Colonoscopy discovered single polyp right at the end of the rectum, which was removed there and then using gas and air. I think the camera had a heat cutting tool using a heated wire loop to cut through the base of the polyp, it certainly got warm. The subsequent pathology came back as cancer. The oncologist insisted that the base of the polyp had to be targeted to ensure all cells were destroyed and reduce risk of secondaries developing. 6 week tablet chemo and daily radio. Followed by 3 monthly MRI, bloods and Sigmoidoscopy, annual colonoscopy and CT.

Best wishes

Barry

Thank you Barry, my husband was picked up by routine screening no symptoms prior, told same day tumour found during colonoscopy biopsies taken and confirmed. He had scans and told he had tumour in rectal sigmoid area no clear margin so couldn’t operate so plan was long course chemo radiotherapy then scans then onto surgery if treatment worked, but at this stage told complete clinical response so 3 month watch wait then a sigmoidoscopy and scans 

so different route etc everyone is different aren’t they in this cancer journey x thanks again