Dr says NO to TENS, but radiation working

Bennette
Bennette Member Posts: 65
in Kidney Cancer #1
Well, the physical therapy doctor we saw on Tuesday said she would not use the TENS unit on my mom because of the cancer. She said she is concerned that it would also stimulate the nerves and blood supply to the cancer. But, she did prescribe lidocaine patches to help with the pain as we try to cut down the pain medication as the radiation treatments reduce and/or eliminate the pain from the mets in her spine and femur. She does seem to be doing better, she had her 3rd treatment yesterday and was able to go 10 hours instead of 6 between pain med doses yesterday afternoon. So I am now keeping my figers crossed that through the next 7 radiation treatments it will end the pain altogether or make it managable with the over the counter pain meds. The narcotics (even at the lowest dose) really impact her thinking and memory negatively. Now I just have to get her to eat more, so she can be ready to try the IL2 in 8 weeks.

Comments

  • Texas_wedge
    Texas_wedge Member Posts: 2,798
    #2
    Pain control
    I'm very glad to hear that things are moving in the right direction for your Mom, but may I ask why you started a new thread for this message instead of continuing on the thread you started for the topic, namely "Does Radiation Treatment stop the pain?", where TENS was under discussion? One of the problems we have here is the pointless starting of new threads which causes confusion and leads to information dropping out of sight as existing threads are driven down the archive for no good reason.

    Here's hoping that your game plan, which seems eminently sensible to me, works well and sets your Mom up for IL2 in 8 weeks time.
  • foxhd
    foxhd Member Posts: 3,181 Member
    #3
    Texas_wedge said:

    Pain control
    I'm very glad to hear that things are moving in the right direction for your Mom, but may I ask why you started a new thread for this message instead of continuing on the thread you started for the topic, namely "Does Radiation Treatment stop the pain?", where TENS was under discussion? One of the problems we have here is the pointless starting of new threads which causes confusion and leads to information dropping out of sight as existing threads are driven down the archive for no good reason.

    Here's hoping that your game plan, which seems eminently sensible to me, works well and sets your Mom up for IL2 in 8 weeks time.

    tens
    Bennett, sounds like the Dr. doesn't understand how a tens unit works. But glad to hear she is getting relief.
  • donna_lee
    donna_lee Member Posts: 1,045 Member
    #4
    foxhd said:

    tens
    Bennett, sounds like the Dr. doesn't understand how a tens unit works. But glad to hear she is getting relief.

    TENS or ?
    Differing opinions from different Docs. Altho not in an active stage of metastacised RCC, I have used a TENS and/or an Alpha Stim at various times over the past 6 years and not been advised to stop.
    My main treatment was for Tempero-Mandibular-Joint (TMJ) Dysfunction; but sometimes the muscle tension would show up as low as the hips and back. (No orthodontia until nearly the age of 50 but a lot of wear and destruction on the cartilage in the jaw.)
    Perhaps the Dr. could advise you on where the pads may be placed to do the most good, but not intfere with her other care.
    Dentists with a DMD-Dr.of Medical Dentistry and work with Myo-Facial Pain Relief are a good reference source. And although many don't believe in chiropractors, some do sell TENS units. Mine sold me a unit for my husband at a much reduced price as long as I didn't run it thru insurance and paid by check. Most of the cost of those units goes into the insurance billing process. Yes, there are good and not so good Chiropractors, but so far, I've done my homework and had good results.
    Don't give up hope. And mom, Hang in there.
    Donna_lee
  • Bennette
    Bennette Member Posts: 65
    #5
    Texas_wedge said:

    Pain control
    I'm very glad to hear that things are moving in the right direction for your Mom, but may I ask why you started a new thread for this message instead of continuing on the thread you started for the topic, namely "Does Radiation Treatment stop the pain?", where TENS was under discussion? One of the problems we have here is the pointless starting of new threads which causes confusion and leads to information dropping out of sight as existing threads are driven down the archive for no good reason.

    Here's hoping that your game plan, which seems eminently sensible to me, works well and sets your Mom up for IL2 in 8 weeks time.

    Sorry
    Texas,

    Sorry, new at this!

    Bennette
  • Bennette
    Bennette Member Posts: 65
    #6
    Texas_wedge said:

    Pain control
    I'm very glad to hear that things are moving in the right direction for your Mom, but may I ask why you started a new thread for this message instead of continuing on the thread you started for the topic, namely "Does Radiation Treatment stop the pain?", where TENS was under discussion? One of the problems we have here is the pointless starting of new threads which causes confusion and leads to information dropping out of sight as existing threads are driven down the archive for no good reason.

    Here's hoping that your game plan, which seems eminently sensible to me, works well and sets your Mom up for IL2 in 8 weeks time.

    Sorry
    Texas,

    Sorry I am new at this, didn't think about that problem.

    Bennette
  • Bennette
    Bennette Member Posts: 65
    #7
    donna_lee said:

    TENS or ?
    Differing opinions from different Docs. Altho not in an active stage of metastacised RCC, I have used a TENS and/or an Alpha Stim at various times over the past 6 years and not been advised to stop.
    My main treatment was for Tempero-Mandibular-Joint (TMJ) Dysfunction; but sometimes the muscle tension would show up as low as the hips and back. (No orthodontia until nearly the age of 50 but a lot of wear and destruction on the cartilage in the jaw.)
    Perhaps the Dr. could advise you on where the pads may be placed to do the most good, but not intfere with her other care.
    Dentists with a DMD-Dr.of Medical Dentistry and work with Myo-Facial Pain Relief are a good reference source. And although many don't believe in chiropractors, some do sell TENS units. Mine sold me a unit for my husband at a much reduced price as long as I didn't run it thru insurance and paid by check. Most of the cost of those units goes into the insurance billing process. Yes, there are good and not so good Chiropractors, but so far, I've done my homework and had good results.
    Don't give up hope. And mom, Hang in there.
    Donna_lee

    Tens
    Donna,

    I figure it is because the pain we are trying to handle is coming from bone mets in 2 places in her spine and she also has mets in her adrenal gland and lungs. Plus she hasn't started Votrient yet, so her cancer is not inactive at this point. So I might check into it later if we can't handle the pain in another way before then. The Radiation treatment seems to be reducing it - she has had 4 of the 10 treatments, so it may handle it all together. But thanks for the info on other sources.

    Bennette
  • Bennette
    Bennette Member Posts: 65
    #8
    foxhd said:

    tens
    Bennett, sounds like the Dr. doesn't understand how a tens unit works. But glad to hear she is getting relief.

    tens
    Fox,

    That could also be a possibility. She gave us a script for physical therapy that we are going to use closer to home after she finishes radiation treatment. So I might ask there, if we are still trying to stop the pain at that point. I thought I would also ask her oncologist about it and see what he has to say when we see him again in a couple weeks.

    Thanks,

    Bennette

Discussion Boards