Pain treatment update

johnsfo
johnsfo Member Posts: 47
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Friends,

Here's an update on the pain I've been having from the sacral met, pelvic radiation, and who knows what else. Yesterday I had the third nerve block, this one lower on the spine, and it is reducing the pain. That is amazing! After weeks of debilitating pain, of spending most of my time in bed just trying not to make excruciating pain worse, of being dopey from pain meds, I feel pretty good. I'm finding that feeling good feels strange -- I'm not used to it. Adjusting to that -- what a fine project to have!

For any of you who have or have had chronic severe pain, I'm curious about how you cope with it emotionally and spiritually, and how you have treated it medically.

For treatment, I had various forms of radiation, lots of pain meds, and now three nerve blocks. The radiation and pain meds each cause significant problems of their own, and the nerve blocks don't always last very long. I'm beginning biofeedback training today, and I have been trying to get an appointment with a psychiatrist who specializes in hypnosis for pain relief. If none of that helps enough, an intrathecal pain pump is another possibility (pretty intrusive, and I'm hoping I don't need to do that).

Any tips or techniques out there for living with and treating severe pain?

And thanks to all of you for your notes asking about how we're doing. Even with all the pain, last week we went to Mendocino just to enjoy the stormy weather and each other's company. Now we're enjoying the pain relief and hoping for a good long spell of it.

Lots of love and best wishes,

John

Comments

  • HollyID
    HollyID Member Posts: 946 Member
    #2
    Hi John..
    Just yesterday I was wondering how you were doing. I'm so happy for you that you're feeling pretty good. I have no tips or tricks of living with severe pain except for pain patches. Sometimes, they don't work so well either. Wishing you the best, though.

    Love to you,

    Holly
  • rthornton
    rthornton Member Posts: 346 Member
    #3
    lots of pills
    I have chronic pain that I attribute to a collection of subcutaneous tumors under my left arm, and one such tumor on my back. I have multiple lung mets and mets on the pleural lining, and a few of them are growing into the chest wall. Those are immensely painful! In a couple of weeks I am to meet with a pain specialist, but for now the approach is to use copious amounts of MS Contin and Dilaudid. Also, I started radiation last week to shrink the tumors and I am hoping that will help to alleviate the pain. I am eager to see if the radiation actually will lessen the pain, but the radiologist says I probably won't notice a difference until the end of this week. I had not considered hypnosis for pain, and would be interested to know how that goes for you. So far, for me, it has just been pills, pills, and more pills!
  • just4Brooks
    just4Brooks Member Posts: 980 Member
    #4
    Pain Pump
    I know of a Lady who had really bad pain for years and was on so many meds that she too was so "Doped Up" all the time that she couldn't do anything. She then went to a pain pump and it worked wonders for her. I looked up some information on it for you.

    Lov ya guys
    Brooks

    Overview

    Intrathecal drug delivery, or “pain pump,” is a method of giving medication directly to your spinal cord. The system uses a small pump that is surgically placed under the skin of your abdomen and delivers medication through a catheter to the area around your spinal cord – similar to an epidural that women may have during childbirth. A pain pump may be a treatment option if all other traditional methods have failed to relieve your long-term symptoms. Because the medication is delivered directly to the spinal cord, your symptoms can be controlled with a much smaller dose than is needed with oral medication. The goal of a drug pump is to better control your symptoms and to reduce oral medications; thus reducing their associated side effects.

    What is an intrathecal drug pump?

    The fluid filled space around your spinal cord is called the subarachnoid or intrathecal space. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flows through this area, bathing and protecting your brain and spinal cord. An intrathecal drug pump works much more efficiently than oral medication because it delivers medicine directly into the CSF, bypassing the path that oral medication takes through your body. In fact, you generally need about 1/300 the amount of medication (morphine or baclofen) with a pump than when taken orally.

    The pump is a round metal device about the size of a hockey puck that is surgically implanted beneath the skin of your abdomen. A small plastic tube, called a catheter, is surgically placed in the intrathecal space of the spine and is connected to the pump (Fig. 1). A space inside the pump called the reservoir holds the medication.

    The pump is programmed to slowly release medication over a period of time. It can also be programmed to release different amounts of medication at different times of the day, depending on your changing needs. The pump stores the information about your prescription in its memory, and your doctor can easily review this information with the programmer. When the reservoir is empty, the doctor or nurse refills the pump by inserting a needle through your skin and into the fill port on top of the reservoir.

    This therapy is completely reversible if you should ever decide to have the pump removed.
  • robinvan
    robinvan Member Posts: 1,012
    #5
    Finally!
    Glad to here that the nerve block is finally having a positive effect! I hope you weren't in too much pain on you coastal trip!

    Be well... Rob; in Vancouver
  • Crow71
    Crow71 Member Posts: 679 Member
    #6
    Hey John - I'm so glad you
    Hey John - I'm so glad you are getting some pain relief. I hope that you and Adrian can smile and enjoy some happiness. Take care.
    Roger

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