I never thought I’d be posting this! I have been diagnosed with stage 2 anal cancer.
How did I find this out? I got E.Coli back In January 2020. (Thanks Ensenada!) OMG I was so sick. After I recovered I developed what I thought was an internal hemorrhoid. Since it was during the COVID shutdown I could only do a virtual visit with the gastroenterologist. She agreed that all my symptoms sounded just like an internal hemorrhoid. She told me about the procedure to treat it. She explained that l, before they could treat it, I would need a colonoscopy as a regular course of treatment. Also, I’m 48 so close enough to 50 when you are supposed to get a baseline colonoscopy.
Had the colonoscopy and the doc said it was not an internal hemorrhoid, it was a polyp. He removed it with clean margins.
On Wednesday, June 17 I got the call that every person dreads. It’s cancer. Wait! What?!
I met my oncologist today to discuss treatment. I will have two scans of the abdomen - an MRI and a CT. Hopefully there are no lymph nodes that are affected. Right now it is stage 2a. Lymph node involvement would change that.
Anal cancer is hard to treat just due to its location. You can’t just do a surgery and chop it out. So... the plan is 6 weeks of chemoradiation.
