Pain after radiation therapy/ personal advice request

Irrapture

Hello. My mother, age 59, was diagnosed with colorectal cancer about two months ago. She originally had a lot of pain in that area, so they gave her a colostomy. Every since then, her pain had stopped. We were also thankfully informed that the cancer had yet to spread. She started a 5 and a half week radiation therapy process to shrink the cancer. Her blood pressure started to act up and we've had to make three emergency visits to the hospital to help with that. She finished her final radiation session four days ago. Ever since then, she has had moderate to severe pain in her stomache area that comes and goes. Not constant, but comes and goes very quickly. And when the pain hits her, it hits her at anywhere from a 5 to 10 on the pain scale. A lot of nausea, a lot of throwing up, and diarrhea. We took a trip to the ER yesterday, and had to wait two hours until we could get in because it was too busy and no available beds. Around 30 minutes in, my mother was crying from the pain. When they finally took her in and gave her morphine, not even the morphine was stopping the pain completely. Just numbing it slightly. They did a CAT scan on her (mind you this is not her main hospital), and the results came negative, as in there was nothing wrong. The doctor gave us the option of either transferring her to her main hospital, or prescribing pain medicine (HYDROcodone-acetaminophen to be specific- NORCO) and sending her home. She decided on being sent home with meds. Not even that has helped. It takes around 40 minutes to kick in, she rests for a bit, and the pain resumes an hour and a half afterwards. She is barely eating, and I try to keep her hydrated. She doesn't want to go to her hospital because she insists that it is the same as staying at home- The pain will still be there.

 

 I'm just trying to figure out if these are regular (I understand that regular isn't a good term to use as these types of things vary patient to patient) symptoms of radiation after-effects. I've been reading around these forums all day and some posts assured me that this is regular. And can last around four weeks (possibly longer?). She has nausea pills, diarrhea pills, and the pain pills that the doctor prescribed. (Only 20 pills, and she takes two a day). Her soonest appointment with her main doctor is on the 20th. I'm wondering if she can last until then. It's truly heartbreaking for me to see her in this pain. It's like she is being tortured. She tells me not to worry and believes this is common. It's funny because throughout her entire radiation process, she felt fine. Slightly dizzy sometimes but fine. It was the last two trips that caused her to be like this. The doctor at the ER told us to contact my mothers main Dr within 2-3 days. No point, because they will refuse until the appointed time. (We've tried before). If the pain becomes constant or REALLY bad, I will of course call emergency services and we will rush to the ER. And again, the pain isn't constant. But it is there. And varies from a 5 to a 10 on the pain scale.

 

Any advice? Is this regular/common? She tells me to go to a different room so I don't worry too much about her, and she believes that these are the after- affects of the radiation. I worry there is a problem within her colon area/ colostomy. I'm not sure. The CAT scan, as I said, didn't show any problems apparently.

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this. God bless you. I am just a very worried son, very heartbroken and stressed and clueless on what to do in this situation.

JanJan63

Welcome to the forum, I'm

Welcome to the forum, I'm sorry you're here but you've come to the right place. I don't think I can be any help because I didn't have any pain with my radiation, not even my skin from the burns. I'm wondering if she has a blockage. They did a ct scan but might not have checked the right area, they could be looking too high or too low. Also, a partial blockage doesn't necessary show up well on a ct scan. And she has a colostomy but they gave her something for diarrhea? I'm not sure that's the way to go.

Of course I'm not there and I know nothing about her situation but if she's dehydrated and having pain and doesn't want to eat, that's exactly how I feel when I have a blockage. They're partial blockages that resolve themselves on their own with no surgery but until whatever it is passes it's pretty miserable. I'm generally bedridden for days to a couple of weeks. And I have to go to the hospital to get IV fluids for the dehydration and IV anti-nausea meds and painkillers specific to the abdomen. It's best to drink as much as possible during this time and not to eat anything that isn't soft like mashed potates or ice cream or yogurt. My doctor said a milkshake eaten with a spoon can be good. Prolonged dehydration is bad for the liver and last time they scolded me for waiting so long to go to the hospital and said my liver would have shut down if I'd waited any longer. I'm not sure how true that is but I will go sooner next time, if there is one. I have an ostomy and have been following a non-residual diet to prevent blockages. 

Or I could be totally wrong but it sounds exactly like how I feel. The cramping can be really painful and sudden. I end up so weak I can barely function. I've had them from eating celery, corn on the cob, things like that. Many things don't get dissolved in the stomach and they can easily cause a blockage that will still allow fluids to get through but are really nasty while it's going on. Vegetables with skins are bad such as corn, peas, beans, things like that. Mushrooms are bad, so are oranges because of the membranes on each section. Pieces of onion are bad, too. I carefully chew everything I eat so it's as broken down as possible before it goes in. It's annoying but it's alot better than being sick for over a week.  I have to watch out for things that would normally be swallowed whole, too. Like pieces of veggies in a soup. 

I hope you get this figured out, she must feel pretty horrible right now. Someone else might have some better ideas. Good luck!

Jan

NHMike

I'm sorry that your mother is

I'm sorry that your mother is going through all of this pain.

I'm assuming that she has rectal cancer and that the mass was big or painful enough so that they did a colostomy.

I finished radiation treatments two days ago and I had some burning, some holes and going to the bathroom can be quite painful. This has been the case since week four of the treatments. My response has been to eat less and use MiraLax to soften stools. It's still painful and I expect to be in this mode for another two weeks. The last three days of the 28-day sequence were different from the first 25. They took pictures for documentation and then they narrow the beam. I'm not sure if this makes the radiation more intense for the smaller area or not but I did feel it a bit more than the other radiation treatments (where I didn't feel anything at all).

Your mother shouldn't have the pain during BMs though as it isn't going through the rectum.

I do have horrible gas problems and these can result in a lot of stomach discomfort. I have worked on using a BRAT approach for now to decrease bulk and gas but it is still a problem. The BRAT approach was recommended by doctors and nurses. I recall eating burritos regularly and had to stop as those could cause problems for me for hours.

 

 

 

Irrapture

Thank you Jan and Mike for

Thank you Jan and Mike for replying. It means a lot to me! I finally convinced her to let us go to the hospital. We found out she has inflammation in her lungs. Either from the radiation, or from infection. She is staying there for a couple of days. She still has pain but it's slightly eased thanks to the medicine they give her. I'll post any updates I get.

Annabelle41415

So very sorry

So sorry that your mom is going through this.  I'm really not sure what is causing your mom's pain but I'm sure when she's in that pain the hydrocodone can give some relief (that never worked for me anyway).  It can cause the pain to lessen but she shouldn't take more than prescribed as it is highly addictive.  She should talk to her radiologist/oncologist and get an opinion immediately (don't wait until the 20th) as to what is causing this.  My rectal pain was so bad I'd cry just from sitting down from the radiation and going to the bathroom almost took my breath away it hurt so bad.  Please get her in to see her doctors soon.  Wishing her better soon.  Keep us informed.

Kim

Bellen

Abd pain

About 12 yrs ago, I had pelvic radiation and in 2010 I was diagnosed with a small intestinal stricture - 4 inch scarred area that can cause partial blockages that are extremely painful spasms that last for hrs.  At that time, I was told to follow a "low residue diet" - foods that are easily digested and go through your system easier.  You can look this up on the internet - very important to chew your food well, no fresh vegetables, cook the veggies (the ones with no seeds, skins) very well, little fiber as it bulks, no seeds, grains, skins, etc.  It helps to reduce the occurence of a partial blockage, but does not necessarily prevent.  All of the suggestions that Jan mentioned above are very important.  A "complete" blockage would be constant pain and is life threatening.  I wonder if following the suggestions included in this low residue diet would be helpful to reduce some of her pain.  Even beef is harder to digest - I eat mainly chicken, turkey, fish, well cooked veggies, soft foods, etc and chew everything well.  I hope something gives her some relief.  I also take an anti-inflammatory because I suspect that the initial mild spasms I get before the partial blockage starts may be associated with some swelling (inflammation) and be contributing to the food not passing through the intestines (narrowing the area).  Partial blockages cause extremely painful spasms that hurt for a few minutes, subside, and then start again in a few minutes and can last for many hours.  Good luck helping your Mom.  I hope she finds some relief.  I also use supplements, like Ensure and Enlive to help on days when my stomach is not feeling great.

NHMike

Bellen said:

Abd pain

About 12 yrs ago, I had pelvic radiation and in 2010 I was diagnosed with a small intestinal stricture - 4 inch scarred area that can cause partial blockages that are extremely painful spasms that last for hrs.  At that time, I was told to follow a "low residue diet" - foods that are easily digested and go through your system easier.  You can look this up on the internet - very important to chew your food well, no fresh vegetables, cook the veggies (the ones with no seeds, skins) very well, little fiber as it bulks, no seeds, grains, skins, etc.  It helps to reduce the occurence of a partial blockage, but does not necessarily prevent.  All of the suggestions that Jan mentioned above are very important.  A "complete" blockage would be constant pain and is life threatening.  I wonder if following the suggestions included in this low residue diet would be helpful to reduce some of her pain.  Even beef is harder to digest - I eat mainly chicken, turkey, fish, well cooked veggies, soft foods, etc and chew everything well.  I hope something gives her some relief.  I also take an anti-inflammatory because I suspect that the initial mild spasms I get before the partial blockage starts may be associated with some swelling (inflammation) and be contributing to the food not passing through the intestines (narrowing the area).  Partial blockages cause extremely painful spasms that hurt for a few minutes, subside, and then start again in a few minutes and can last for many hours.  Good luck helping your Mom.  I hope she finds some relief.  I also use supplements, like Ensure and Enlive to help on days when my stomach is not feeling great.

I had doctors, nurses and

I had doctors, nurses and nutritionists that recommended the low-residue (BRAT) diet before and during treatment so it's definitely important.

danker

brat

Just in case you don't know what is meant by brat, it is a diet of Banana, Rice. Applesauce, and Toast. All of these are very digestible.  Good Luck!!!

BRHMichigan

Some of my most difficult

Some of my most difficult moments have been with pain management.  I have only used Norco when desperate.  I have relied heavily on medical marijuana.  Every day after my radiation I would come hone and have the marijuana and it offered almost immediate relief with no side effects, except to help me nap.  

I didn't indulge prior to the cancer.  I hope you're in a place where it is legal.