Abdominal Pain

drmrgirl47

Hi everyone,
For those of you who remember me, I read this message board every day but haven't posted anything for various reasons. I had so many problems with chemo, and radiation. I suffered with terrible abdominal pains that still come and go. But on the brighter side, I finished radiation in June, had my ileostomy reversed the end of June and finished chemo in September. AMEN! What a nightmare as you all know. I had a cat scan the beginning of September and NED!!! I also had a sigmoid in August which also was clear. I go for one more sigmoid this coming Tuesday. I still get this awful belly pain. None of my doctors know why I get it. There is no warning. It was so severe one time that I was hospitalized for 2 weeks. X-rays never show a blockage. Chemo blamed radiation and radiation blamed the surgeon and no one had any answers. So when the pain starts I take Toradol and if that doesn't work I have morphine tabs. I am kind of like my own doctor. I will do anything to avoid going into the hospital. I was just wondering if any of you have this problem and what you do to help yourself. I would appreciate your input. Anyway, I am going to sunny Aruba with my hubby November 8 for 2 whole wonderful weeks. Looking back I never thought I would go away again. This is a much needed vacation for us and I am going away with an arsenal of drugs!!! (Just in case the belly aches!) I pray for you all every night and never forgot any of you. Love and peace, Annette

jsabol

HI ANNETTE,
It's so good to hear from you; you really have had a time of it, but it sounds like things are going OK if only this pain could get under control; no sign of adhesions? Sometimes the healing takes a long time, and some adhesions and scar tissue can heal better with time. Hope that happens for you.
Isn't it great being done with chemo? I still feel incredibly fatigued by the end of the week, and I finished in July.
Enjoy the much deserved trip to Aruba and celebrating that magic phrase "No Evidence of Disease." Hubby and I talk about going away, but we just sent number 1 daughter off to college, with number 1 son going next year! We will make some definite plans after my 1 year colonscopy later this month.
Hang in there; hope you keep feeling better. Judy

spongebob

Aoy, Annette -

I would get stabbing belly pains, too sometimes. They decided it was gas passing from the large area of my colon through the anastoma (or whaever they call the place where they cut out the bad and sewed the two good ends together) - there isn't a blockage there per se, but there is a significant reduction in the size of the pipe and that caused some discomfort.

Hey, have a great time in the friendly island of Arooooooba! Be sure to get out to the lighthouse and natural bridge. There's an excellent seafood restaurant out that way, too - past Beni Hannas and Hooters (yes, they've infiltrated the islands)... I can't recall the name of it but if you ask a cab driver, they should know it. Where will you be staying? I know the island fairly well (having spent most of my career at sea cruising the islands) and I was just there in May. Drop me a note if you want some more tourist tips.

- Bob

kangatoo

spongebob said:

Aoy, Annette -

I would get stabbing belly pains, too sometimes. They decided it was gas passing from the large area of my colon through the anastoma (or whaever they call the place where they cut out the bad and sewed the two good ends together) - there isn't a blockage there per se, but there is a significant reduction in the size of the pipe and that caused some discomfort.

Hey, have a great time in the friendly island of Arooooooba! Be sure to get out to the lighthouse and natural bridge. There's an excellent seafood restaurant out that way, too - past Beni Hannas and Hooters (yes, they've infiltrated the islands)... I can't recall the name of it but if you ask a cab driver, they should know it. Where will you be staying? I know the island fairly well (having spent most of my career at sea cruising the islands) and I was just there in May. Drop me a note if you want some more tourist tips.

- Bob

Hi Annette, nice to hear from you again. RE; the pain? Mmmm?--with a reversal in june and radiation and chemo to boot you have sure had it all thrown at you. I found that belly pains were an off and on affair for many months after surgery and I also had all the doctors in a quandry. I finally figured that my diet was causing problems and it took considerable time for the bowels to settle down after surgery. I noticed that even reasonably soft bowel motions caused at times a lot of pain. Mind you chemo had both effects on my bowel. Constipation and diarrhea. Is the belly pain an "inside" feeling Annette or more of a healing wound pain?? It took ages for my tummy wound to settle down--some of the pains were very bad but put down to the healing process of the tummy muscles. Of course, me just guessing is no reason to become complacent Annette, so do go back to the doc. if yours persists. I even had " severe chest pains" and dizziness after completing chemo. Many weeks of testing found no heart problems but the tests were worth it to rule out heart trouble. Those chest pains were also attributed to chemo effects by my specialist.--and you had radiation as well--phew!
Chemo has some nasty ongoing effects for some.
Maybe what you really need is a GREAT holiday Annette, nonetheless, be vigilant and we hope you can enjoy your holi in peace free of pain.
huggs--kanga n Jen

babywatson

I've had no surgery

They found lesions on my liver and my lungs. I don't understand why but the doctor says removal is not a good option. They're just chemo'ing me to death.  I have a tumor in my colon as well. Surgery also not an option.  Sometimes I get belly pain and I'm largely aysytmpomatic but I worry that the pains will increase with time. I'm not on any meds except Xanax and Zolfan. My regulars before are and were: Zoloft, Simvastatin, Ambien. Any ideas?

Trubrit

babywatson said:

I've had no surgery

They found lesions on my liver and my lungs. I don't understand why but the doctor says removal is not a good option. They're just chemo'ing me to death.  I have a tumor in my colon as well. Surgery also not an option.  Sometimes I get belly pain and I'm largely aysytmpomatic but I worry that the pains will increase with time. I'm not on any meds except Xanax and Zolfan. My regulars before are and were: Zoloft, Simvastatin, Ambien. Any ideas?

Hello there

This is a very old thread, and I think it would probably be best to open a new thread and ask your question, as none of these folks post any more. 

TRU

traci43

try a new topic

Baby watson, this is a really old thread.  To increase the chances for a response, it's best to start a new thread.  Thanks!