OT: Dealing with anal C

[oldpotatoe]

Very sorry to hear..seems everybody, everywhere is touched by this awful disease. FU%#Cancer!!
Hang in there, trust yer docs..glad you found it early.

[etu]

Sorry to hear about your dx. Anal Cancer is associated with latent HPV viral infection which is very common, but very few people develop cancer or warts from it. Skin trauma isn’t really known to contribute. It is highly curable at the early stages but the radiation will cause mild scarring to your skin and your rectum and anus. You might want to use chamois cream regularly and wear nice padded shorts after you have beaten this!

[redir]

Best to you my friend on a quick and full recovery. My wife's sister was just diagnosed with a throat cancer at 50 years old. We spent the last several days preparing her for it by setting up a Carebridge calendar which sets up on a calendar all her appointments and that sort of thing so that friends can help at her time of need. It takes a village. It's a battle, think of it as a fight and go out there and win it.

[veggieburger]

Quick bow of the head for you here at my desk. Take care. Strength in the days and months ahead.

[batman1425]

So sorry to hear but also so glad you caught it early. Direct relationship (particularly with lower gastric cancers) in positive outcomes and stage at detection. Hershey is a good shop, you'll get great care there. Stay strong.

[MattTuck]

Wish I could add some great insight, or helpful advice. Stay strong. You can count me among the people in your corner.

[seanile]

Originally Posted by skiezo

What made me get checked?
In late 2017 I did a double metric century in high heat and humidity and suffered saddle sores that did not really go away totally. In mid/late 2018 I noticed a small lump on my anus and thought it was an external hemorrhoid. In January of 2019 I went to my family Dr. and he also stated it was a external roid. In july/august of 2019 my bowel habits changed significantly both in frequency and shape even tho I am on a high fiber mild protein diet so I had a scope ordered with biopsy and that is when they ordered a second scope and better biopsy.
That is where I am now. Waiting to hear from the Dr.'s to get everything rolling in the right direction.

well, that's concerning, i've just had the same thing happen this past month. just scheduled a dr. appt for tomorrow at 9am...

[MattTuck]

Originally Posted by seanile

if i could ask, what didn't feel right?

OP responded to this already, second to last post on the first page of the thread.

[wc1934]

Hoping you are steadier, stronger and better every day.
Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

[harlond]

I am 18 months out from my rectal cancer diagnosis, for which I received chemo/radiation and a second round of chemo. Hope all goes well for you. Everybody responds differently, but chemo/radiation totally wiped me out. Are you doing fluorourasil (5FU)?

Anyway, a couple suggestions. Chemo/radiation tends to cause severe diarrhea, which makes it very easy to become dehydrated. And if you're doing 5FU. you can't drink anything cold. That made it harder for me to stay hydrated, because very few things taste as good luke warm as they do cold. So you're already feeling bad from the chemo/radiation, then you add dehydration on top, I was weak as a kitten. Moral of this story: be proactive in asking for IVs. Once a week is not too much. I didn't start asking until the end of my six weeks, and one week I needed three liters to get back to feeling normally bad instead of totally weak.

Next, if you're on 5FU, start taking vitamin B12. 5FU often causes nerve damage in your extremities (and I think the condition known as chemo brain--it's a real thing --is also a result of nerve damage, but I'm not sure). If you're having your colon irradiated, you might well have some nutrient uptake issues due to inflammation and radiation damage to the colon. (From my reading, low B12 levels are not generally known to be caused by chemo/radiation; in my particular case, I did experience low levels, and that likely exacerbated the nerve damage I'm dealing with.) A low level of B12 can itself cause nerve damage. So either get your B12 levels checked weekly, or just as easily, take 1000mg of B12 a day as a prophylactic measure.

Good luck.

[skiezo]

Thanks for all the support. I have a great group of guys here for support as well as my wife of 35 years who is a HVICU clinical head nurse at the facility I will be treated at.
As far as the B12, I do take both B12 and B6 on a daily basis. Just waiting to get the ball rolling and get it over with.
Good thing I picked up disability insurance a few years ago. That will help out alot with me being off work for a few months. It will pay my salary based on a 40 hour work week.
I will be updating this as things get moving.
Thanks again.
Brian

[YesNdeed]

A response from one of my best friends, anal cancer survivor, after asking him what kind of treatments he underwent, and sharing your diagnosis...

It's usually caused by HPV; and yes, I did 29 radiation treatments, 2 types of chemo= a 96 hour slow drip through a mediport twice, and a less toxic chemo twice...had stage 3, one more week and it would have been stage 4....I would not wish it on my worst enemy... the real pain comes after about 5 radiation treatments.... surgery was an option also, in conjunction with the radiation and chemo... I'm terrified of knives and needles...in hindsight, I would have had the surgery and less radiation....here I am 9 years later and still in pain
But I'm alive
He'll be able to ride again

He's not a cyclist, and there are likely many contributing factors to any type of cancer. Hang in there, skiezo pal.

[avalonracing]

Best of luck and thanks for posting this. I know a lot of guys here are 50ish and your post, which will soon be a success story, might inspire people to get checked even though they have no symptoms.

[veloduffer]

Wishing you a speedy recovery and best of luck.

[colker]

Hang in there. It will go away.