liznparadise's Journey with Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Anal Cancer

I had been having problems with diverticulitis and then C-Diff because of the antibiotics for the diverticulitis. I had blood in my stool and diarrhea. My gastroenterologist didn't want to do a colonoscopy because I had a totally clear one 6 years prior. After my primary Dr. sent me back 2 months later he scheduled one expecting to find ulcerative colitis. We were all surprised to find the malignant tumor. I am a married woman and the only risk factor I had for this type of cancer was my age. I was tested for HPV and HIV and both were negative.

Before treatment began I had a port installed in my left shoulder. I had 28 days of radiation, 5 days a week with weekends off. The first week of radiation I had chemotherapy. Mydmiacine @ the infusion center then hooked up to a pump and had 5FU for the following 5 days. This chemo was repeated the 5th week of radiation.

With the first round of chemo I had the expected drop in white count that came back up in the following 2 weeks. The second round didn't go so well. On the last day of radiation I was admitted into the hospital (isolation) with a fever of 102. I had a urinary tract infection, extremely low white count, bleeding ulcers, thrush all down my esophagus, mucositis throughout my intestines & mouth, & pneumonia. I was given blood transfusions, platelets, IV antibiotics & fluids. My bottom was all badly burned, but I guess it could have been worse. I was fortunate enough to have had the radiation with the new rapid arc technology which is supposed to minimize the burning of healthy surrounding tissue. I was in the hospital for 10 days. I had fatigue, hair loss, vision problems, "chemo brain" and vaginal stenosis. I didn't have a lot of nausea until the last week of radiation and when in the hospital. The actual radiation treatments were painless, but the effects of the radiation burns were anything but. It was painful to sit and extremely painful to have bowel movements. Lidocain ointment and percocet helped with the pain. I still have stiffness in the hips.

My Pet scan 4 months after treatment showed no evidence of disease. I see either my surgeon or my radiology oncologist every 2 months for check-ups and will have another PET scan in November. My Dr.s do not expect that I should have a recurrence.