Thanks for sharing @pkanders52, and I wish you complete recovery! My cancer story is quite similar to yours: just a week before my 60th birthday-in July 2023- I was diagnosed with rectal cancer T2, luckily no metastasis, (officially - Signet Ring cells adenocarcinoma ) My mass is located approx 4cm from the anal end, in the muscle wall, close to a lymph node but not in it. I had 3 separate follow up doctors' opinions-not by choice btw (as the first doctor missed the mass during a scheduled colonoscopy as a result of a long term constipation suffering (more than 8 mo..), and then backtracked and referred me for another 2 colonoscopies with another GI specialists.... Luckily for me, within 3 weeks I had my diagnosis, and I just completed my 25 chemoradiation treatment sessions last week, ON Oct 4th! Chemo therapy to follow depending on the MRI result mid November, and then surgery to remove- all full of hope🤞 My issue at the moment is the post radiation burns - with all the raw wounds, blisters, burning, itching pain in the pelvic and anal area, and the lack of sleep cause by the various pain in the butt, literally (this is why my un-official name is BadAssEva 😜) Sitz baths 4-5 times a day alternating with salty water, witch hazel extract, sumac, baking soda, and Flamazine cream--all this with little or not much relief in the last week 😞 I am told by my radiation nursing team that it might take 14 days or 2 weeks before it gets better 😔 Wondering if there is anything else I could try to get some relief, any suggestions, tips on managing the radiation burns, I d be really grateful 🙏
Best wishes,
BadAssEva😀