Anyone have Surgery success with tumor at the internal sphincter ?

Cyst bath was a life saver for me, along with keeping aquafore on my skin. Could not use the aquafore in the vagina area as it caused me to get a urinary tract infection. I had my doctor prescribe me with mupirocin cream. It was a life saver as well. No tight clothes. And when you are under chemo treatment make sure if possible your urine does not touch any other parts of your body. It will burn and cause lots of pain. Wipe with wet wipes. I know it will be hard but try and drink lots of fluids and eat when ever you get hungry. I was eating every 3 hours. I lost around 15 lbs. I did not lose all my hair but every time I brushed it I would have to clean my brush out. It really got thinned out. I had thick hair. My tastebuds changed and food tasted terrible or had no taste at all. It was miserable but I got through it with lots of tears. Have your doc prescribe you with anxiety meds and pain meds. You will need both! Good luck and will be praying for all going through this dreadful cancer!

I am in the same boat. 12 rounds of chemo (I have one to go) and 6 weeks of radiation every day which is over. Still quite painful but the tumor has shrunk from 6cm to 3.1cm and indicators from blood tests are good. Next is a consult with the surgeon and a colonoscopy and then see where that leads.

Your story is exactly the same as mine. One month out from completing 2 rounds of chemo + 30 days radiation. Recovery has gone much slower than I anticipated, and doctors could not give me an estimate of when I might start feeling like a human being again since everyone's treatment and recovery journey is different. I will be having a pelvic MRI and sigmoidoscopy in coming months to see if all cancer is gone. If so, there will be vigilant watching and waiting, since recurrence (if such is to happen) shows up in the first 12-16 months after treatment ends.
I plan on radically changing my diet and exercise programs to do all I can to avoid recurrence. This time between diagnosis - Feb 6 - and now has been hell. I do not want to go through this again and wouldn't wish this disease on my worst enemy - if I had any enemies, which I don't. I'm sending love and prayers to you and all my fellow cancer warriors.

So scary. I am 2 weeks out from treatment and still not feeling great! The doctors say I will have a petscan in 2.5 months to determine if I am cancer free! Praying that is the case! Good luck to you!

Question? Did you lose your hair during your treatment ? I did not lose mine but every day when I brush my hair it seems more and more is coming out. Will this stop?

My last treatment was 6 months ago. My hair didn’t fall out in clumps but it did thin out a lot. When the treatment stopped, it stopped thinning out.

I agree - this whole thing is very scary! I am 4+ weeks out from last treatment and just starting to feel like an operational human being. Most noticeable change is ability to get around without feeling like I'm going to fall on my face. I've been so weak and being mostly bedridden for several months resulted- to see in a trip to the ER last weekend and an overnight stay due to a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in my lung) plus blood clots (deep vein thrombosis) in my legs. So, I would advise you - and myself, in hindsight - to move around the best you can, even if it's minimal, to avoid this life-threatening complication.

My scans are being scheduled now - CT scan and ultimately a pelvic MRI. More anxiety.

Praying hard for you and myself - we will get through this.

Oh my. So sorry you are going thru this! I know what you mean about laying around but when you don’t feel good, it’s what you do. I am trying to be more active. A UTI has slowed me down a bit. I am so tired of being sick!! My cancer doctor scheduled me for a ct scan with contrast also. I am going to cancel it as a petscan is the only test that will actually show you are cancer free. My radiologist and my GP agree with me. I will have my petscan done in August. After that test they want me to get a sygmoidoscopy just to check how it looks on the inside! I am so ready for this all to be over!!

Sounds very much like my situation. I had a polyp(2.5m) 90%snare -removed from my anal canal. I was told for years it was a hemorrhoid. Turned out to be stage 1 squamous cell cancer. Hoping to possibly reduce the collateral damage from radiation, I entered a phase 2 trial . The computer picked me for the arm I was hoping for, 1 chemo round instead of 2 and lower dose radiation for the 30 treatments. Hoping to avoid Sexual_dysfunction and/or fecal incontinence. I'm on my 3rd day of chemo and radiation with no side effects yet. I know the radiation will eventually take it's toll. I"m really hoping for the best outcome as I'm 75 years old and not fully retired. I'm otherwise in great shape and still do alot of physical labor.

I had 2 chemo rounds and 30 rounds of radiation. It was not easy. Inflamed, open sores and irritation from radiation after approximately 2 weeks. They actually stopped radiation for a week because I was in so much pain plus my bloodwork tanked due to the chemo. Also got a couple UTI’s from chemo which were painful. Hoping you will have a better go at it. Keep aquafore on the radiated areas. Stool softeners will help. You will go through bouts of diarrhea and then constipation plus nausea will hit you off and on. I ordered a sitz bath that sits on the toilet. It was a lifesaver. Not trying to scare you but I wish I would have known what to expect. Good luck!