A real pain in the butt

steve g
steve g Member Posts: 58 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I'm new here and have a problem I can't resolve. For background, I'm 68 never broke a bone or spent a nite in a hospital, not a pill taker other than vitamins and thought I was in perfect health untill I started rectal bleeding. After 5 wks of chemo and radiation then 5 wks off the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville Fl. did the resection on Nov. 4th, now have a permanent colostomy with the butt sewn shut. Left the hospital with percocet 5mg for pain and have been taking them daily, they stop the steady pain but am now getting very sharp shooting pains that I can't seem to control and don't know what to do about it. I take 3 pills when I get up then 1 or 2 every 3 hours through out the day and seem to spend the time up 2 or 3 hours then in bed for the same length of time. The sharp pain is more often when I'm up but can't stay in bed all the time, hope someone can tell me what to take or do to get some relief.
Steve



















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Comments

  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    #2
    Same here ...
    I was dx in march and had the same thing done. Inner spincter muscle, rectum and have an ostomy at my sigmoid.(permanent). It took me a long time to manage standing over 2-4 hours because of the skin fold and sew job they have to do in order to have enough non radiated tissue to work with, They fold it back and to me it felt like a pair of socks had been sewn up in there. Very uncomfortable. It took me about 5 weeks before I could sit but then it just got easier all of a sudden. There was a little fluid that built up back here that caused me a little discomfort but it finally found a place to drain and felt like I had Peed all over myself. It sure felt a lot better after that though. I used Lortab to control what pain I had. I walked everyday as much as I could. I tried to stand as much as possible and when I got tired I went to bed. I stayed in bed and stood about equal time. Walking helped me a lot in recovery or it seemed to, but not to much to quick or you'll be sore for sure. It gets better, give it time......I had the shooting pains also , would be laying down and all of a sudden just holler out loud....mine weren't that bad though but enough to get your attention. If it persists call the Dr.....God Bless ya.......
  • tiny one
    tiny one Member Posts: 465 Member
    #3
    colostomy
    Have you tried sitz baths and warm wet washcloths? Hope you feel better soon.
  • hollyberry
    hollyberry Member Posts: 173
    #4
    tiny one said:

    colostomy
    Have you tried sitz baths and warm wet washcloths? Hope you feel better soon.

    It does get better
    I had 4 surgeries due to mucosal Melanoma in anal-rectal area that finally led to a full APR with permanent Colostomy. I also had sharp pain and the usual dull ache; sitz baths helped ( i did 3 a day for the first 2 months), also got a waffle cushion to sit on- that helped tremendously.
    Have you tried the ostomy website yet? It is www.uoaa.org; they are very helpful and the discussion boards taught me so much. In fact, after 3 months, I learned how to irrigate my colostomy and only wear a little patch over my stoma now. It is such a boost to your self-esteem to be in control of your B.M.'s again!! It is only possible for colostomies however, and not for folks with ileostomies. It is certainly worth a look.
    If you don't feel better soon, I would suggest you get back to your Doc and see what he advises.
    Good luck to you,
    Hollyberry

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