Pre chemo/radiotherapy advice

Hi ,

Welcome but I am truly sorry after all that time that you are dealing with this again .

I don’t have the knowledge base to answer your questions but I will tag a few people who know more . Kareno62 , and process might be able to answer your questions , share their experiences and hopefully reassure you .

Take care ,

 Court 

Hi, only bit I could advise on is the cream for your bottom, do use it from the start to hopefully avoid any problems but if you do start to get burning or soreness do mention to the radiographer as mine gave me some gel stuff that worked better than creams etc. It may have been called Intrasite? 

Hi @Brodie 31 and a warm welcome from me too. What a horrible shock that must have been after 6 years. I found I was given a bag of pills and creams before my treatment. I didn’t have my Ileostomy at that point but I was given some boxes of diarolyte to replace lost electrolytes caused by diarrhoea. It’s imperative that you only use cream supplied by the nurses on the area being treated as it mustn’t contain anything like zinc that can be found in things like sudocream. 

I found the radiotherapy to be pretty doable and the nurses check regularly to see if you’re having any problems. The chemo tablets are quite a low doseage and given to help the radiotherapy work. Make sure you take them with food.

Have you joined the Ileostomy, Colostomy and Stoma Support page too? There will be lots of advice there for your stoma

https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_experiences/ileostomy_and_colostomy_discussions/

Take care

Karen x

So sorry to hear your news. I had cancer in my rectum which was surgically removed last November. Prior to the surgery I had 5 weeks of chemotherapy tablets alongside radiotherapy. I only had to use loperamide once! I did switch to a very low fibre diet. The daft things I found that irritated my bowel was salad, certain vegetables And fruits. Anything with pips/seeds triggered a visit to the loo. The diet can be bland, but it avoids the need for frequent and urgent visits to the loo. My hospital was an 80 mile round trip which I’m sure didn’t help psychologically. Wishing you all the best.

Hi Brodie so sorry to hear of your reoccurrence it must have been a shock and huge disappointment for you.

my husband was diagnosed with rectal cancer in March last year he had five weeks radiotherapy with chemotherapy.

on the whole nhs did well for the first weeks he had no symptoms from treatment, he did make sure he kept well hydrated.

as others have said only use creams supplied by hospital he did make sure he creamed up every day and he was fine.

he gradually started to become more tired but we had a long journey as well so they didn’t help. He used to listen to his body and slept in day when he needed to but this wore off as weeks went by.

he had urgency to pass water when treatment finished but the treatments carry on working for up to 20 weeks just want to say that to make you aware

because he was feeling ok at end of five weeks I think he overdid things and he body didn’t like it and he got lots of aching muscles etc and he needed to be reminded that it’s like having major surgery without the scars, so i would be mindful of that at when end, take it easy don’t over if but also try to get some exercise too just get a balance.

it is all very doable, my husband got a complete clinical response I wish you well with the treatments and good luck x

Apologies for any word or spelling errors I have typed on my phone and bad eyesight too!

Hello everyone and thank you for your kind wishes and advice. I didn’t realise that I had any replies as they had gone into my spam folder! I feel much more positive after hearing from you all! Xx