I had chemoradiation for 6 weeks in April-May of this year. The treatment included 30 radiation treatments with FU5. I only made it through 1 of the 2 FU5 courses, because of side effects (the biggest problem was my blood, platelets got down to 11, I don’t remember the other counts, but my rbc, wbc, hemoglobin… all tanked as well). The burns & blistering got bad around the 10th treatment, & continued to worsen for a month after finishing radiation. It took about 2 months from when the burning stopped, to be healed to the point of manageable. I saw the colorectal surgeon at the beginning of the month, she assured me that I will heal completely. Mine is also hpv positive, & involves the muscle. I would say the state I am now in, is manageable. This was the second cancer I have been treated for in two years. The first one was thought to be ureter cancer (UTUC), but when they found the anal rectal cancer, they decided that it most likely is the primary cancer, & the ureter cancer was actually from a metastatic lymph node that invaded the ureter. I will have my 6 month follow up scans in November. The August scans showed that the tumor had diminished but was not gone, & the associated lymph nodes were gone. This is what the oncologist expected, as it can take 6 months to resolve.
If you decide to do this treatment, you will get through it, although it is extremely hard. I resisted pain medication, I would not do that again. Also, we attached a bidet sprayer to the toilet. It was very helpful. They can be found on Amazon, are inexpensive, & easy to attach.
Good luck to you. I’m sorry you are also on this journey.