Hi Tina, see my lengthy reply to yancy. Thank you for sharing your experience. I am a 74yo female. I was recently diagnosed by a Galleri blood test that detects 50 types of cancer. Squamous cell anal carcinoma was confirmed by a biopsy. I’m currently awaiting surgery, ct, scan, mri, and staging in late march before treatment begins. I read somewhere that women are predominantly diagnosed with this rare cancer. Cigarette smoking is a factor. I quit smoking nearly 25 years ago. I’m sorry to hear about your severe radiation experience. Are you being treated with a photon or proton laser?

Hello! I too had squamous anal cancer. It was diagnosed in 2022. I was 72 at the time. I had six weeks of chemo in pill form and radiation. I didn’t have much of an appetite and felt very tired. After the first week of treatment I could feel the tumor shrinking because the pain was abating. A couple of weeks into the radiation is when the after effects began. I was told that throat and pelvic radiation are the two most painful to tolerate. That was so true. Installing a bidet on our toilet really helped to soothe the pain. The pain was bad enough but then the fecal incontinence began. I either spent all my day in the bathroom or was looking for one. The radiation damaged my sphincter muscle. As a result of that in October of 2023 I had colostomy surgery and now have a stoma. I named her Libby because she’s liberated me from the bathroom! My quality of life has increased 100%. I have been having Ct scans and MRI every 6 months. I am awaiting an MRI on Monday. If the results are good I will be able to go a year until the next round of scans. To say it’s been a roller coaster would be putting it mildly. Hernias are very common after colostomy surgery. I unfortunately have developed one. I will probably be facing surgery to repair it in the next few months. It’s not easy but we do what we have to do.

Hi @tinamarie2025, I wanted to check in. You're almost done with radiation. How are you doing?