Inflamation

Adam26

Hi guys,

Do you know how long it takes for inflamation to go down after treatment? Last year, my mum's only real symptom of her tumour was a pain in her butt bone, I don't know the scientific word. She still has that pain 1 month after treatment and it still hurts her to use the  toilet, so she is worried that the treatment has not eliminated the tumour. I've told her that in fact the tumour gets bigger post-treatment due to the inflamation, but now I see that people have said they were NED after only a month. Otherwise, she's doing well, she's back driving again, walking the dogs, getting bored with waiting for her scans etc!

z

Adam

After tx it takes quite a while for tissue to heal from what its been through.  The radiation keeps working up to 6 months after tx ends.  It is very common to be in pain for a while.  Tell your mum she needs time to heal and it will get better.

I wish you and your mum well. Lori

mp327

Adam

I second what Lori has said.  Healing does not happen instantly, especially when radiation can continue to work for several months.  Patience is key here!  I'm glad you mom seems to be doing quite well and I hope that continues to be the case.

Martha

Adam26

Thank you for your replies

Thank you for your replies guys.

My mum's really tired at the moment, is this normal? I'm not sure if it's the treatment, general fatigue or even depression. She finished a month ago today, is it normal to still feel tired? She had just got back from food shopping and went to bed. 

I think it may be depression though. I'm not ashamed to admit that I can't wait until her tests in January and am wishing the next two months away, including Christmas. We're both frustrated as you can't live a normal life until you know the treatment's worked. It's been 5 months now, June when this started and if we're lucky, some of the anxiety will be released in January, that's 7 wasted months. Everyone else is living there lives, we've been going to the hospital, worrying about recurrence and percentages of survival rates, adjusting to symptoms of treatment (which I'm sure you all know about all too well). This 'journey' is gruelling. Now she feels a throbbing pain where her cancer was (we use the past tense) and as I said, a pain on her bone where apparently, the tumour, or now dead tumour, is pressing against a nerve. But she still has it, which means the inflammation is still there. Is this normal? It's all so frustrating.

MKW213

Adam26 said:

Thank you for your replies

Thank you for your replies guys.

My mum's really tired at the moment, is this normal? I'm not sure if it's the treatment, general fatigue or even depression. She finished a month ago today, is it normal to still feel tired? She had just got back from food shopping and went to bed. 

I think it may be depression though. I'm not ashamed to admit that I can't wait until her tests in January and am wishing the next two months away, including Christmas. We're both frustrated as you can't live a normal life until you know the treatment's worked. It's been 5 months now, June when this started and if we're lucky, some of the anxiety will be released in January, that's 7 wasted months. Everyone else is living there lives, we've been going to the hospital, worrying about recurrence and percentages of survival rates, adjusting to symptoms of treatment (which I'm sure you all know about all too well). This 'journey' is gruelling. Now she feels a throbbing pain where her cancer was (we use the past tense) and as I said, a pain on her bone where apparently, the tumour, or now dead tumour, is pressing against a nerve. But she still has it, which means the inflammation is still there. Is this normal? It's all so frustrating.

Adam

I know for sure the tiredness is normal. I was done with treatment in May, went on "vacation" in October and was exhausted when I got home--took a couple of weeks to get back to what my new normal is. It's like walking into a brick wall--bam, I'm tired. Everyone is different. I know what you are saying about the waiting--the past year has been one doctor after another. But got excellent news the other day, nothing left to biopsy, so hopefully your mother will get that news, too. Have no idea about the tailbone pain, but could be unrelated or could a nerve, like you said. And the inflammation is normal, too. I still have "very delicate" skin. Hope some of this helps you.

jcruz

Adam26 said:

Thank you for your replies

Thank you for your replies guys.

My mum's really tired at the moment, is this normal? I'm not sure if it's the treatment, general fatigue or even depression. She finished a month ago today, is it normal to still feel tired? She had just got back from food shopping and went to bed. 

I think it may be depression though. I'm not ashamed to admit that I can't wait until her tests in January and am wishing the next two months away, including Christmas. We're both frustrated as you can't live a normal life until you know the treatment's worked. It's been 5 months now, June when this started and if we're lucky, some of the anxiety will be released in January, that's 7 wasted months. Everyone else is living there lives, we've been going to the hospital, worrying about recurrence and percentages of survival rates, adjusting to symptoms of treatment (which I'm sure you all know about all too well). This 'journey' is gruelling. Now she feels a throbbing pain where her cancer was (we use the past tense) and as I said, a pain on her bone where apparently, the tumour, or now dead tumour, is pressing against a nerve. But she still has it, which means the inflammation is still there. Is this normal? It's all so frustrating.

fatigue

Adam

I was seriously fatigued for months after treatment.  A month after my treatment ended the only thing I did each day was take a walk, whether to the grocery store or along a walking path.  After each walk I came home and took a long nap.  I also sat on various special pillows for months because of the pain.  As you know we are burned by the radiation as it shrinks the tumor.  It took me a long time to not feel that "special" pain in my rear end.  Anxiety and depression are normal.  I was encouraged to join a support group which I didn't do.  I'm not much for talking to strangers.  But a lot of people benefit from knowing they're in the recovery boat with a lot of other people.  About 6 months after my treatment I began to get individual counseling which has proved to be invaluable to me.

The waiting is hard I know.  I hope you all can find a way to enjoy the holidays together.

Janet

islandgirlculebra

Adam26 said:

Thank you for your replies

Thank you for your replies guys.

My mum's really tired at the moment, is this normal? I'm not sure if it's the treatment, general fatigue or even depression. She finished a month ago today, is it normal to still feel tired? She had just got back from food shopping and went to bed. 

I think it may be depression though. I'm not ashamed to admit that I can't wait until her tests in January and am wishing the next two months away, including Christmas. We're both frustrated as you can't live a normal life until you know the treatment's worked. It's been 5 months now, June when this started and if we're lucky, some of the anxiety will be released in January, that's 7 wasted months. Everyone else is living there lives, we've been going to the hospital, worrying about recurrence and percentages of survival rates, adjusting to symptoms of treatment (which I'm sure you all know about all too well). This 'journey' is gruelling. Now she feels a throbbing pain where her cancer was (we use the past tense) and as I said, a pain on her bone where apparently, the tumour, or now dead tumour, is pressing against a nerve. But she still has it, which means the inflammation is still there. Is this normal? It's all so frustrating.

Tired & Worried....I Remember.....

Everyone is different, but as for me, I was exhausted for four months after treatment. Finished treatment in April (2012); took me until August of that year to finally start feeling somewhat like myself. The complete exhaustion and weakness after treatment is shocking. And just like you and your Mom are doing now, I worried that every strange pain I had meant that I still had cancer.  The healing from radiation is very strange, one step forward, two steps back kind of thing, like nothing I'd ever experienced before.  Different kinds of pain come, leave, then come back again; really weird.  I was so very glad that my Oncologist explained to me that radiation keeps working for quite a while after treatment ends, that's why they wait three months to do a CAT scan. Try not to worry that all the weird pain means she still has cancer; I worried just like you are doing now, and everything came back clear three months after treatment.  All the pain is probably due to the radiation damage. It kills the cancer but wow what it does to us is tough.  The bright thing is, as you can see on this board, this cancer can be eliminated successfully through treatment and survivors are thriving and enjoying their lives!

Ouch_Ouch_Ouch

islandgirlculebra said:

Tired & Worried....I Remember.....

Everyone is different, but as for me, I was exhausted for four months after treatment. Finished treatment in April (2012); took me until August of that year to finally start feeling somewhat like myself. The complete exhaustion and weakness after treatment is shocking. And just like you and your Mom are doing now, I worried that every strange pain I had meant that I still had cancer.  The healing from radiation is very strange, one step forward, two steps back kind of thing, like nothing I'd ever experienced before.  Different kinds of pain come, leave, then come back again; really weird.  I was so very glad that my Oncologist explained to me that radiation keeps working for quite a while after treatment ends, that's why they wait three months to do a CAT scan. Try not to worry that all the weird pain means she still has cancer; I worried just like you are doing now, and everything came back clear three months after treatment.  All the pain is probably due to the radiation damage. It kills the cancer but wow what it does to us is tough.  The bright thing is, as you can see on this board, this cancer can be eliminated successfully through treatment and survivors are thriving and enjoying their lives!

Tell her to have a nap on me.

I can relate very well to islandgirlculebra's comments, though I'm only about 4 months away from treatment.

The anal canal is epithelial tissue - good old skin!, just like what covers us on the outside and holds all those funky nerve endings. (From the rectum on up, it is not skin tissue and therefore doesn't have the pain. For the anatomy of it, see: http://id.medicine.ucsf.edu/analcancerinfo/diagnosis/anatomy.html) The damage done by radiation is brutal. It can take a good (bad?) long time to heal. In some cases, the damage persists for a person's life. Your mother is tired because she just had cancer, chemotherapy, radiation, lost weight and strength, and most likely, ALSO has anxiety and perhaps depression. I am dealing with "parakeratosis", a condition of very dry skin that causes it to fissure. Yikes!!! It took me a while to accept the fact that I was declared cancer-free, but still had pain. Remember, the presence of pain does not indicate the presence of cancer.

Get Mum enrolled in a physical therapy program designed for cancer patients. It will strengthen her, help with brain-fog issues (Lumosity-type sites do not help), and believe it or not, pelvic floor therapy can help with cutting back on pain. When I force myself to do them, they reduce my anal pain by about one half. See: http://www.analcancerfoundation.org/2014/09/24/can-pt-help-anal-cancer-recovery/

eihtak

Adam26 said:

Thank you for your replies

Thank you for your replies guys.

My mum's really tired at the moment, is this normal? I'm not sure if it's the treatment, general fatigue or even depression. She finished a month ago today, is it normal to still feel tired? She had just got back from food shopping and went to bed. 

I think it may be depression though. I'm not ashamed to admit that I can't wait until her tests in January and am wishing the next two months away, including Christmas. We're both frustrated as you can't live a normal life until you know the treatment's worked. It's been 5 months now, June when this started and if we're lucky, some of the anxiety will be released in January, that's 7 wasted months. Everyone else is living there lives, we've been going to the hospital, worrying about recurrence and percentages of survival rates, adjusting to symptoms of treatment (which I'm sure you all know about all too well). This 'journey' is gruelling. Now she feels a throbbing pain where her cancer was (we use the past tense) and as I said, a pain on her bone where apparently, the tumour, or now dead tumour, is pressing against a nerve. But she still has it, which means the inflammation is still there. Is this normal? It's all so frustrating.

Adam26......

Hi, wishing you both well and just ditto-ing some other comments regarding fatique, rest, physical therapy, pain.....

Recovery from this ordeal is ongoing and in some ways as difficult or more than the dx and treatment!

Patience wears thin for both patient and support people, we think that since tests, check-ups, scans, look promising we should be feeling great, but the truth is the healing is a slooooooooooow process and because of that the anxiety and worry escalate.

Try to take some deep breaths yourself and encourage mum to rest as it is probably just what her body needs. I did become extremely anemiac during and after treatment causing extreme fatique myself. During,I received several iron infusions/blood and after (still, 3 1/2 yrs later) take a daily iron supplement. My energy level is great now but I do notice a difference if for some reason I run out and don't take for several days.

Hang in there, be well......

katheryn