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Anal cancer stage 2

Supertrooper
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I've just received a phone call from the hospital to say my MRi results show stage 2 anal cancer. I have to have. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy combined. I will tell them I can't start it until after Christmas. I am visiting my daughter who hasn't spoken to me for 3 years and am not going to let this stop me. The treatment sounds horrendous and I want to know what will happen if I refuse treatment. I'm 67 and to be honest I've had enough of this world anyway. Maybe best to save the NHS time and money

  • Welcome to the forum Supertrooper although I'm really sorry to hear you've just been diagnosed with anal cancer.

    This must be a lot to take in but I'm glad you've reached out to us as so many of our members will know what you are going through, so you are not alone Supertrooper, and hopefully some of them will stop by soon to offer their support and advice.

    If it would help to talk things through with someone we have a team of cancer nurses available on 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m, and with their insight and knowledge they will do all they can to address the worries and concerns you have about your treatment.

    We are here for you Supertrooper and will do all we can to support you on this journey.

    Kind regards,

    Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

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    Hi Supertrooper

    I'm sorry to hear of your diagnosis. I was diagnosed with stage 2 anal cancer in Sept 2024 that had spread to my lymph nodes & went through the standard 5.5 weeks of chemo & radiotherapy. To be honest the first 4 weeks were fine. A bit of sickness but I had tablets to help with that which worked well. I did get quite sore from the radiotherapy in the last week but again it all healed. All my scans have been clear so far since and I’m feeling positive about the future. I’ve made lots of friends in this anal cancer forum who are also doing really well. It took almost 8 weeks for my treatment to get underway as there are lots of things to get put into place first. It’s all very scary at first but once I started my treatment and got to know my medical team I started to feel more in control about everything was happening. I didn’t tell my children until the week before my treatment started as I didn’t want to worry them & I needed to know what the plan was and get my head around it. I was told my stage T2 N2 M0 is very treatable and that has proved to be the case. So far anyway. Good luck with your treatment & if you want to chat on here or ask me anything that’s absolutely fine. Good luck & take care x

  • Offline in reply to Calia

    Thank you so much. That has put me at ease a lot. 

    I told my family as soon as I knew but my daughter lives in Holland and needs to sort getting here as I knew she would want to be here. Glad to here it took a while to sort out as I'm not wanting to start treatment until after Christmas as I want to spend time with my grandchildren and go to Holland and see my daughter and grandchildren. So that's a relief. 

    Waiting for my appointment at Bristol hospital when I get my treatment plan I'm worried about how I'm going to get there and back because it's 1 and 1/2 hours there and 1 and 1/2 hour back from where I live. But I'll sort that all out when I see them. Thank you again! So so glad it's all positive for you and thank you again!

    Joy

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