My journey with rectal cancer: What's your experience?

Hola Que tuvo usted cáncer de ano Porq me han diagnosticado eso a mi y no se que procedimientos será mejor lo mío estaba en un pólipo y lo sacaron pero la biopsia salió cáncer .espero su respuesta

Day 63. Jan 7 2023. This chemo treatment is proving to be a roller coaster ride for me - scary, spills and thrills, in that order. The first cycle ended with the thrill of being off pills for a week and enjoying a wonderful 3 days away on the coast, clocking up over 11,000 steps on one day, together with swimming and exercise biking, and feeling 100%. The second cycle started on Thursday 5 Jan and that's when the scary and spills bit set in. Scary because the infusion of Oxaliplatin caused an allergic reaction this time resulting in much pain / discomfort around the canula site and eventual need for intravenous Piriton to solve numbness around my mouth and throat making it difficult to speak and swallow. The vein system around the canula site seemed to go on strike. Discharged from hospital eventually at 19.30 after having had a very pleasant start to the day at 10.00 with reflexology treatment for an hour. Little did I know how I would be feeling 2 hours later! Now feeling much better - 1,700 steps so far today which is an improvement on yesterday's 165 when I felt rough all day. But now it's a diarrhoea / spills day to manage and hopefully not a return to the constipation experienced 3 days after the first cycle. Can't wait for this 2 week period to finish and for another week of thrills before the third cycle commences. The good news is that I've been told that the combination of an Oxaliplatin infusion at the start of each cycle followed by 14 days of Capecitabine (Xeloda) is the gold standard treatment for my condition, so the effort must be well worthwhile.

Day 57. January 1 2023. Happy New Year to everyone on this wonderful forum. I have found it so helpful during this journey learning from the experiences of others. We're all sailing the same type of boat but in different styles!
I'm sorry to read of the discomfort experienced by @quilthouse1 and @kerryos. It sounds like I've been lucky not to have needed radiotherapy but, on the other hand, I experienced awful constipation for several days during my first chemo cycle and when that finally cleared up, much gas / wind production took over and so I sympathise with @kerryos. Finding the right diet and drinking plenty of water / fluids seems to be the key to avoiding or minimising this issue. I'm now in the middle of a week's 'holiday' from the pills and so it will be interesting to see how my bowel behaves once I start my second cycle of chemo on January 5 ( a single infusion of Oxaliplatin followed by 14 days of Capecitabine (Xeloda). The first cycle included 3 days of steroid pills (not sure why) and anti-sickness pills, but nausea was never experienced.
Tomorrow is the start of 2 days away on the coast - a real holiday. Can't wait!

Hey Martin, I'm 2 weeks ahead of you having been diagnosed with a 10cm rectal cancer 4 weeks ago in Australia. I have had the MRI's & CT's & the Investigation of a liver issue which came back clear. I have also had a PET scan yesterday looking for Mets.
I have an appointment with surgical team next Tuesday, followed by Radiation Oncologist & Medical Oncologist. I think the plan is concurrent radiation/chemo, but with get confirmation Tuesday. I need to ask if you or anyone else with this diagnosis suffers from monumental amounts of gas/wind which is very painful? I am taking large amounts of supplements & have started a process of elimination beginning with high dose Vitam C to see if this is causing the issue. Do you be much pain?

Martin77 it has been interesting reading your journey. I was diagnosed with anal cancer in April of this year 2022. My treatment was very different from yours. I didn't have surgery but had 6 weeks of radiation and 2 weeks of chemo while doing the radiation. For the chemo I was hooked up on a Monday and wore a pump for 4 days during the first and last week of radiation.
Radiation was bad, I hope you don't have to go through that. Treatment went well and it looks like the cancer is gone but now I'm having side effects from the treatments. The chemo caused a blood clot and now the blood thinners are causing some very unexpected bleeding. Its been hard to stay positive as I just wish I could put this all behind me. Keep posting about your journey, it helps to know I'm not the only one on this path right now.

Thanks, Colleen. Any advice / tips from others would be much appreciated. It's a lot better now and so it could have been the combination of the Oxaliplatin, Capecitabine (Xeloda), steroid and anti-sickness pills during the first 3 days that caused the constipation? But nearing the end of the first cycle and a 7 day holiday coming up before starting the second cycle. Yippee!

No. Did not have similar symptoms.

Martin, that does not sound like it was pleasant. You must’ve been grateful to have been able to connect with a symptom management nurse before the holiday. I’m tagging @jennipwalters @bea1972 @opheli @suziq52 @kenc and others to see if they have experienced similar issues with constipation while on chemo and what helped.

How are you doing today, Martin?

Day 46. December 21. Six days into chemo and a different story now! It started well and continued fine until Monday evening / yesterday when a severe bout of constipation set in, plus increasing fatigue, necessitating several calls to my helpful hospital team. Not sure of the cause, possibly the anti-sickness pills prescribed rather than the Xeloda. Anyhow, a Dulcolas pill on Monday evening, and 3 packets of Movacol yesterday eventually shifted the obstruction but has left me sore and lacking in energy through not being able to eat much. I was worried about the effect of all the straining on my reconnected colon but a nurse said that after 6 weeks I should be fine, which was a relief to hear.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Thanks for your reply and tips for dealing with the cold. It's unusually cold here in the UK, -6C this morning but bright and sunny. We have mild winters usually and rarely see snow in the London area. I hope your Chicago winter is not too cold and that you remain comfortable.
Best of luck with your continued treatment and thanks again.