Radiation for cancer

On your taint?

My mom just went though chemo for lymphoma and survived. As someone who had major health issues for awhile, just focus on the day ahead of you and don’t overthink things. I had to make myself do that because I’d worry and even gave myself an ulcer. The Serenity Prayer is good to help keep perspective and to remember to focus on what you have control over.

Hugs to you, OP. I wish you peace during your treatment. You will be in my thoughts. Hugs 🤗

Good luck to you, OP. You'll do fine.

Lucky you OP to even have that option, so start from there and keep positive thoughts. You will beat this and whatever you will go through will be worth it in the end.

My aunt, who is on her deathbed from lung cancer, found out too late after it had already spread to her brain. No radiation can do anything for her.

Op - keep us posted and take it one step at a time .

OP, try not to worry to much. The doctors, nurses and techs will take good care of you. Good luck.

How did you find your cancer? A partner?

Thanks, luckily it sounds worse than I hope it will be, it's supposedly a slow growing cancer that rarely spreads but it's still cancer. He couldn't get it all, it went into the muscle and he didn't go further lest I become fecally incontinent. There seems to be 99% cure rate after 5 years. It's not like breast or lung cancer thankfully.

R8 I found it, this is the third go around with condyloma but the first cancer diagnosis. It was a bubbly lesion that I let go too far. It is HPV related but not unrelated to HIV they say, but Its hard to think it's not. Warning to everyone to get things checked out and let anything go. It's compound by having everybody look and poke at at my taint!

OP -- best wishes for this journey. Radiation isn't all that bad, and let's hope it is as effective as possible.

I wish you good health and comfort on this next stage of your treatments. Be very explicit if you feel discomfort or ill effects. If you are as fortunate as I in having a good team they will be respectful and considerate. Going for chemo again on Thursday for my lymphoma. It’s a recurrence and I worry about radiation. Keep your chin up! Not to be a Pollyanna, but a positive attitude can really help. No, it doesn’t defeat cancer but it keeps depression at bay. Losing hope can be awful — I’ve seen it in fellow patients.

OP: my own experience with radiation for prostate cancer was really pretty easy. I laid on a bed for 20 minutes while the machine did its thing. No pain, no discomfort of any kind. My only side effect was fatigue. I was warned that I might have pain in a particular place ( among a few other things) but nothing other than needing a nap. Preparation was a little frustrating in the early days. The bladder needs to be full and the bowel needs to be empty. Not as easy as it sounds. It took a couple of weeks to get into a rhythm but it all worked out.

As I said it was overall very easy. If you have any questions or problems ask the tech or the Dr. I was having a really hard time coordinating the bladder/bowel and was getting frustrated. The Dr and the techs talked me through it and everything worked out fine. Best of luck. Nothing to be concerned about!

You’ll be ok, honey. The anticipation is mostly likely worst then the treatment. We’re here for you.

Sending you love OP.

Why are you asking DL this question. There are much better sources.

Miss R15 hoped to be R1, but her fat fingers couldn't type fast enough.

R15 I'm not looking for medical information, just others personal experiences with radiation and what it feels like.

At least I got my medical marijuana license today, that might help especially if they get some product in soon, it's flying out the door as fast as they can get it in.

OP, just as R12 explained (I went through exactly the same treatment routine for prostate cancer a few years ago), radiation shouldn't be all that physically painful or difficult of an experience.

Having cancer "down there" isn't the most comfortable location on your body to have to discuss, diagnose, probe, treat, and physically bare to complete strangers on a regular basis, but, compared to more aggressive cancers, and those involving very invasive surgery, you should be able to handle this type relatively easy.

Of course, everyone copes with these things in their own way, so best of luck, OP.

Just an FYI, OP. Skin cancer is a different animal than the internal cancers. Radiation will cause burns, but they're weird—the effects are cumulative. Basically, you go a few weeks, and it's all, "Hey. This isn't so bad." And then, the burns start to develop. They are annoying as fuck. Depending on where they target the radiation, there could be involvement of the inner thighs, the anus, the area around the penis—it really does depend.

I see you're dealing with an HPV related cancer. I had anal cancer (also squamous cell) with some perineal involvement. Mine was stage IIIa, so it also involved lymph nodes. If there are still cancer cells there, they will basically melt, which is incredibly unpleasant, so it's better to be prepared. If there *is* an issue, you won't want to be traipsing around your local drug store in those moments.

Get a sitz bath (or get one of those heated, toilet seat bidets), in case the anus is involved. Unscented colloidal oatmeal is great for baths. Or just prepare to take long hot/warm baths. Those really got me through. Basically, my entire groin area burned and peeled. It wasn't fun. I needed opioids (and herbal remedies, which I had to find since I don't use that sort of stuff). The pot really helped keep my opioid usage to a minimum. It was not legal at the time, so I had to go underground!

The BEST thing ever (for me) is called Domeboro. I would COVER the couch or my bed with towels and dissolve the Domeboro in warm water. Then I'd take 4x4 gauze (not sterile, so I'd just get a big box), soak it in the solution, and cover the burned areas with the gauze Then I'd lay back, relax, smoke, and watch stupid TV shows. It really helped with the pain.

I don't want to scare you, but being prepared (thanks to a friend who had gone through it before me) was absolutely the key for managing the pain and wounds. I'm definitely going "worst case scenario" with my advice. Because of the cancer I had, they went at me pretty aggressively. I had radiation three times a week from October 2013 to December 2013. And I'm still alive & kicking and cancer free.

Good luck to you, OP. Cancer fucking sucks, and I'm sorry you have to deal with it. But you've got this, and it sounds like you've got the right attitude to get through it.

God bless you r19

I had mohs surgery for my squamous cell carcinoma, and had seventeen stitches. I had no idea they offered chemo for this. I didn't get any.

OP, whatever you eat the day of radation treatment might very well turn your stomach after the treatment is over. It happened to me with chemo.

Good luck! I’ve heard radiation is easier than chemo. I thought most treatments last mere seconds (if not nanoseconds) & that the positioning takes far longer. I’m sure you’re very grateful to have it caught this early.

My late husband went thru chemo after surgery. He died months later. OP get your affairs in order.

Your skin WILL get burned. So take very good care of it, for at least 6 months after radiation. I had radiation on a foot for a cancer and didn't do this because no one told me. . I ended up with an open wound on the top of my foot which is still there 25 years later. (Have to dress it and cover it daily). By care for it post radiation, I mean use lotions, vitamin E, aloe, try to keep the skin moist and healthy. It's a little trickier around the anus of course. On the other hand, the anus has a very rich blood supply, so things around it heal much quicker than on many other parts of the body. Be sure to take metamucil daily along with plenty of water and other liquids, so that your bowel movements will be soft. You do not want to be straining after surgery and radiation down there, Give your tissues an opportunity to heal. I have had precancerous anal lesions, and after two operations where they sliced and diced I was DONE with that and opted for fulgeration, which is basically burning them off with high frequency electrocurrents. I've been happier with that, but even so, the week afterward is not fun. I think I'm basically done now, (they have found and zapped all lesions), and I only need to be checked every six months or so. YAY!!!

I know someone who had radiation for anal cancer and he tolerated it extremely well. He had some discomfort near the end of the 6 weeks but was not in agony or anything close to it.

OP, I had the same thing you have. The radiation for me was no big deal. I never became nauseous, ever. Never lost appetite (I actually gained weight). The only hair I lost was on my groin and in my ass crack. I'm still smooth as a baby's bottom down there, so the hair loss is permanent. I NEVER had any burns on the skin, although there were times that it felt warm, like from a little too much sun exposure. I think if you get burns, you probably don't have a good doctor, technician or equipment. My radiation was at 7am each morning, so I was able to do that and still get to work on time. I never missed a day of work due to the cancer. Of course, other people have different effects. The one annoying thing was to have to drink a huge amount of water before each treatment, to get the bladder full so that the weight of the water in it would shift it out of the way of the radiation beam. The moral of the story is that there is a range of possibilities, so you may be fortunate and have the same easy ride that I had.

I was fortunate to find the lump early. True story, one day I was lubing my hole for taking a fairly large dildo, and when I had my finger inserted and was spreading the lube around, I felt a growth on the inside wall. I made an appointment with my family doctor immediately to look at it. I was referred to a proctologist who did a biopsy and the analysis of it indicated cancer. I then was referred to a hospital's cancer center for treatment. From finding the lump to being diagnosed and then getting a treatment plan was less than two weeks. I was reading recently that in the UK with its NHS, it could take months for people to get diagnosed and treated. I'm thankful for our health system where you can see a specialist and get CT scans in less than a week.

Thanks everyone, even the surgeon said he wanted it healed from surgery before the radiation because radiation is the opposite of healing. Mine was between the anus and testicles, he took a good chunk out, I knew he would because he checked my clotting factor beforehand. It was a mess for a while down there, they said just use gauze to absorb it, well that didn't work, I used female incontinent pads and that was great. Yes I'd much rather have radiation than chemo. I'm hoping this will stop it for good but I have my doubts, I will expect it to come back sometime but I so hope it does not. We have a good cancer center because we seem to have a lot of cancer down here.

I just have visions of being roasted alive, even though I know it's not quite like that now. Ironically, my grandmother had cervical cancer, also probably HPV of course, way back in 1974 and she had cobalt treatments but I was only nine and don't remember it. She died quickly. I don't think they use cobalt anymore. I think mine is stage two, no one has mentioned lymph nodes but I guess the oncologist will tell me more.

My second recheck was supposed to be Jan 4 but the doctor got sick, I'm sure covid, I hope he is well now, I'm ready to go NOW and get it over with. I'm wondering what it will do to my viral load which has always been undetectable, and less than optimal CD4 cells which have never been normal after ten years.

Radiation CAUSES cancer not cures it.

Go take your Ivermectin, R29.

Op here, for those who know something about it here's the lab report, a bit gruesome sounding but it is what it is. My computer skills are not good hence Dropbox.

Good luck to you, OP

I wish you nothing but the best.

Radiation is easier to go through then chemo.

Hello friendly Gays! Op here, I had the PICC line inserted yesterday for the treatment, it went well but I am sore today. Treatment starts a week Monday. After two surgeries the tumor is very small and no lymph node involvement so it should go like butter! Just joking! Even then it going to be uncomfortable, but it has to get done. I heard cisplatin and something else with the radiation. I will be interested in my HIV counts and how they will react.

...how are you all getting these specific cancers? Is it an American thing? Too much sun? Plastics? Toxic lube?

Or is the anus/rectum/prostate just a high-risk area, like the breasts? Being a woman, I'm a little paranoid about the mammaries...

Happy healing OP!! It’s gonna be fine.

Sending you good vibes OP!!

r35 I let the bad man touch my naughty bits, many many times. NEVER let the bad man touch your no-no zone and you'll be ok.