Ideas for Pain???

mp327 said:

Hi lperry
I'm so sorry to hear that your mom is suffering from such extensive burns. I had pretty bad burns myself, so I have a pretty good idea of how much pain she's in. I found sitting in the tub in warm water the most soothing. Also, she might try putting wet washclothes on her burns like a compress. Pure aloe from the plant or the liquid from Vitamin E capsules may be soothing. Any creams that contain traces of metal have to be removed completely from the skin prior to getting radiation. Perhaps traces of the Silvadene left on her skin have contributed to the extent of her burns. Creams containing zinc oxide (such as diaper rash creams like A&D) can also have the same effect, so please make sure there is none left on the skin.

I know the last 3 treatments were really rough for me, but I only had 30 treatments. I can't imagine having 8 weeks of it. My doctor considered having me take a break before those last 3 treatments, but I begged him to just let me go ahead and get them over with. Has your mom's doctor discussed taking a break with her? Even if it's for a few days, it may allow her skin some healing time. It would be worth asking about and hearing what he has to say about the pros and cons of doing this.

My heart goes out to you and your mother and I hope that once her treatment is done, she will heal quickly. I wish her all the best.

Hello
I'm so sorry about your moms pain. I used the bath tub alot and bag balm, used on cow udders. I would take a bath go get zapped, come home apply bag balm and take the pain meds. I also used the water bottle whenever using the bathroom, as that was the most painful part for me. I would rather me have gone through this than my mom, and because you posted it made me think about that. i wouldn't want my mom to have to deal with this.
Your mom has 3 more zaps and then the healing will begin. I wish you and your mom well.

Angela_K said:

I'm so sorry
I can only imagine what she is going through with seven and 1/2 weeks of radiation. I only had 30 treatments and was in agony in the final day and the week following. Warning: It may get worse for her after treatment. I wouldn't think that the pain is from the cancer at this point, probably the burns. I took morphine orally for breakthrough pain and wore Fentanyl patch for about 3 weeks at the end and one week following treatment.

Be very assertive when letting her doctor know what kind of pain she is having and ask them how they plan to help alleviate it.

Blessings to you as the caregiver and to your mom. The both of you and her doctors are in my prayers.

Angela

You came to the right place
Everyone is really telling you the truth here. I am at the half way mark of 30 treatments, or my 16th treatment was today. I too would rather be in this position than have anyone else I know and love in it. I can't stand to watch people I love suffer.

The sitz bath is a wondrous simple treatment, both using the hose and sitting in the bath. Plus I learned from this site the following strategy: Last night I propped a fan up just right, aimed it right at my very sore bottom and propped pillows up underneath me and struggled to get the covers around me while leaving my bottom open to the wind and fell right to sleep.

I cannot role pain back once it sets in. Break through pain meds should be taken as soon as the first wince. I am having a hard time learning this lesson. It means having to have a driver all the time pretty much. I hate being stoned but it's only for a few more weeks and I'll be done and so will your mom, or much sooner.

That's why I'm backing up what Angela says. Be firm with your doctor's mom and your mom. She may feel guilty taking pain medication but it is so necessary. It may take a while to role her pain back but they can do it and they should right away. Then your mom needs to stay on top of taking her pain meds like a wimp would because this isn't a normal problem. This is cancer pain and treatment pain and it has to be pushed back forcefully with good medications taken as prescribed. The "as needed" thing seems blurry - let's look at it like this - "it is needed". Try to get her to take it on time for a while, especially since she is so acute. She won't get addicted or need them forever. When she gets better she will enjoy being her old self and not want a pain pill any more than she does now that she's hurting. It's medicine and that's what it will stay. I'd bet money I haven't earned yet on it.

I am also shocked she has to go through so many treatments. So sorry. I know everyone here really feels for her. And she is in our heart and prayers.

All the best,
Sandy

Pain Mgmt
Personally I had to be on round the clock morphine for about 10 days during the worst of it
and that was during the end of treatment and the next week. I took ER morphine 2x day and then IM morphine every 4 hours for breakthough pain, (and a couple of times I couldn't wait the entire 4 hours either.) My burns were really bad. My entire outside skin in my vaginal and anal area was blistered and they said I probably had internal blister as well, sort of like second degree burns.

I just stayed on the morphine because it would basically knock me out for a few hours, but the pain would wake me up and it would generally be about 4 hours later so I would take another pill. I had family and friends staying with me during that time. It was more to take care of my animals than me, because if I was eating anything at all it was maybe a milkshake a day. I mean I would be up probably a total of 2-3 hours/day, but most of the time I slept. My doc said that it was OK, because my body needed the rest in order to heal and recover. I did have to post a shedule to keep track of when I took my meds however because I would get very fuzzy. Usually I kept my meds by my bedside, but we moved them to the kitchen so I could have to physically get up and check the schedule and not OD on them which I was afraid I might do if they were bedside.

lperry01 said:

Hi Angela:
Thank you for
Hi Angela:
Thank you for your feedback and kind words. Can you tell me how long after treatment shoudl I expect her to continue in pain. She finished radiation last Thursday. Yesterday she was crying in pain telling me that she is done trying. She is taking Morphine ER in am and pm and in between Percocet for breakthrough pain. She is doing Sitz baths twice a day also and using Silvadene cream to help with burned skin. With all this, and radiation being done, I'm just wondering how long this pain lingers.

Thanks for your help,
Lorraine

lingering pain
Hey Lorraine, it sounds like your mom is going thru hell. My radiation treatments ended Sept 2010, and I'm ready to go to Texas or Arizona because the pain is still with me. I've tried pain pills, the Lidocane, the Lidocane and the meds they give you for heart attacks, all in one cream, the Desitin, the sitz baths, yada yada yada. I bleed from my anus, I have constant diarreha, I can't do the things I used to do before this cancer took ahold of me, and I'm tired of weekly blood and platelet transfusions. I'm 50 years old and my husband is afraid of losing me. More important...I'm afraid of losing me. So my hubby and talked and after a year and a half of treatments, we're gonna go to one of theCancer Treatment Centers. I don't wish this pain on anyone. If it seems like your docs are telling you the same same thing week after week...go to someone else. Good luck to your and your Mom. Melodie

Worden4 said:

ointment
My doctor had me use this skin protectant called Aloe Vesta by ConvaTec. I also used compresses and hot baths. I pretty much lived in the bath tub. Best of luck.

Radiation Pain
My pain actually didn't kick in until the end of week three and the beginning of week four. I had awful itching and awful perineal pain ... esp around my vagina and skin folds. I had a total of 28 treatments ... I took oral narcotics around the clock for the last two weeks of treatment and for about 10 - 12 days after. I hurt so much I couldn't wear underwear toward the end of treatment. I was raw on my perineum and buttock skin between cheeks, but didn't have blisters on my anus. I was so swollen I could not see my vaginal opening. I hurt inside my anus and rectum as though a round hair brush was inserted in my tail. I soaked in the tub with Aveno Colloidal Oatmeal quite a bit. No lotions helped. My radiation oncologist used domeboro's solution which helped ... I would use telfa or 4 x 4s soaked in it and placed on my skin. Sometimes I worry because I didn't have blisters on my anus ... anyone else out there not have burns on anus?

lperry01 said:

Sandy:
Thank you for
Sandy:

Thank you for answering my post. I see you mention when she gets back to her old self she'll feel better. So there is hope then that she can get back to her old self. Right now I see her always tired, very weak and in pain so many times throughout the day. And as you can see what I replied back to Angela, she is on pain medicine daily. And radiation is done! Ended last week. We are going to see her oncologist tomorrow August 4th and I'm curious to see what the next step is. He said at the beginning of treatment that he will need to repeat scans after radiation is done to see if tumor shrank or went away hopefully. I plan on asking him about pain management at this point. What scares me most is the amount of pain she is in despite doing all the recommendations i.e. sitz baths, pain meds, creams. We do this daily faithfully and from day one. We have used aloe creams, vitamin e ones and in the last few weeks the Silvadene because the radiation oncologist said she needed it for the extent of burn to her skin. Funny however, the oncologist said no to the Silvadene but the radiation doc said absolutely yes. Oh and we've even used Lidocaine cream per docs' orders. I also asked Angela, but how long does pain linger on once treatment is done?

Thanks,
Lorraine

Silvladene
I have a sensitivity or allergy to sulfa medications. Silvadene is a sulva based medication and I can't take that either so they are giving me Radiadress gel sheets which work very well except I have a hard time keeping them. Somewhere in your file it may say that your mother has a sensitivity or problem with Sulfa medication and if so this is not a good time to flirt with the danger in a reaction.

Your mom, even with her extra weeks is ahead of me in treatments. God bless her heart for getting through all this and you! Oh I can't imagine what it has been like for you. My heart aches thinking of this being my mom. I would far rather it be me.

I finish radiation and chemo, God willing, this week. Please keep us posted on how your mom and you are doing. You are in my prayers.

lperry01 said:

Hi Angela:
Thank you for
Hi Angela:
Thank you for your feedback and kind words. Can you tell me how long after treatment shoudl I expect her to continue in pain. She finished radiation last Thursday. Yesterday she was crying in pain telling me that she is done trying. She is taking Morphine ER in am and pm and in between Percocet for breakthrough pain. She is doing Sitz baths twice a day also and using Silvadene cream to help with burned skin. With all this, and radiation being done, I'm just wondering how long this pain lingers.

Thanks for your help,
Lorraine

Everyone is different
For me, the pain peaked at 6 days post treatment. By the 9th day I was off of all pain medicine except for Ibuprofen, I did have some minor withdrawal symptoms that took about 3 days to shake. Please let me know how she, and you, are doing.

z said:

7243
Hello I had burns and no blister, thank goodness. I am going to the gyno today for a perineum tear. The tear was small initially and would open then heal, this happened about 5 times since tx ended on 6-30-09. About a month ago it opened bigger, after a pabs smear, and I went to the gyno and he gave me a cream to apply and it has been healing. He wants to do a biopsy today to make sure due to my history, that it is not a cancer. After reading through the posts I found one that said the radiation makes healing difficult, and that makes sense to me. I know my anal area is discolored with a redder tint than the other tissue around it. I didn't have blisters. My perineum area was painful as well, and I think its because we are shrunk and burned via the treatment, and then everything has to be stretched back out. Don't be worried that you didn't have blisters, that would have not been good. I wish you well. Lori

Good luck today, Lori!
I hope that your biopsy procedure will go well and that the results come back clean and clear for you. You are right about radiated skin not healing well. I hope you won't have any problems post-biopsy. Please let us know what you find out. Sending you some prayers!

lperry01 said:

Sandy:
Thank you for
Sandy:

Thank you for answering my post. I see you mention when she gets back to her old self she'll feel better. So there is hope then that she can get back to her old self. Right now I see her always tired, very weak and in pain so many times throughout the day. And as you can see what I replied back to Angela, she is on pain medicine daily. And radiation is done! Ended last week. We are going to see her oncologist tomorrow August 4th and I'm curious to see what the next step is. He said at the beginning of treatment that he will need to repeat scans after radiation is done to see if tumor shrank or went away hopefully. I plan on asking him about pain management at this point. What scares me most is the amount of pain she is in despite doing all the recommendations i.e. sitz baths, pain meds, creams. We do this daily faithfully and from day one. We have used aloe creams, vitamin e ones and in the last few weeks the Silvadene because the radiation oncologist said she needed it for the extent of burn to her skin. Funny however, the oncologist said no to the Silvadene but the radiation doc said absolutely yes. Oh and we've even used Lidocaine cream per docs' orders. I also asked Angela, but how long does pain linger on once treatment is done?

Thanks,
Lorraine

I must have completed
I must have completed treatment about the same time as your mom. July 26 was my last treatment. I can absolutely vouch for the Fentanyl patch if she still needs it. Beginning dose is 25 micrograms/hour and goes up in 25 mcg increments. I also used lortab (hydrocodone) and vicodin (oxydone) for break-through pain. But the narcotics and radiation together gave me alot of nausea and vomiting. I used a new version of Zofran that is an oral/sublingual disolving slip of (something like) paper.

I've been blessed to be able to talk to a friend of a friend who completed treatment 18 months ago. She recommended Balenol (available at Walgreens and CVS) to clean and sooth. If you look it up on line, there are lots of testimonials and $2 coupon also. I am going to get some TODAY!! I used the silvadene cream too until my skin healed, and the lidocaine too. My friend who was treated said that she will be tender for quite some time. She felt significantly better at 6 months and almost normal at one year. She is in her 50's and had a stage I. I have a stage II.