pain management

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Wpturner05
Wpturner05 Member Posts: 114
in Esophageal Cancer #1
Hello to all,

I linger here every single day and have posted occasionally. Wondering if anyone can shed some light on my husband's pain. Update is as follows - last chemo (taxatere) was July 11th, 8/3/11 - right lobe of the liver had the radiation infusion (SIR-spheres) - 9/9 MRI showed right lobe tumors were responding to the radiation and the left lobe tumors had doubled in size, but no new tumors. 9/21/11 - the left lobe was infused with SIR-spheres. Since middle of August, his back and between the shoulder blades pain has been getting worse and worse. At this point he is unable to make it through the night comfortably - He has been using oxycodone for pain relief. Today, we called the oncologist and he will start on oxycontin tomorrow.

My question is this - has anyone else experienced increasing pain between the shoulder blades? Once he started treatment last year, that pain had gone away and has not been an issue until the last 4-5 weeks. We see the oncologist on the 30th and we will be discussing it with him, but I just want to know if anyone else has had this and what it has ultimitely meant. We already know that he is inoperable, stage IV. I just thought you all would be a good place to start while we wait to see his oncologist.

Along with this increased pain has been bed soaking night sweats! Thoughts?

Thanks
Whitney
wife of Kevin
stage IV

Comments

  • LeeinLondon
    LeeinLondon Member Posts: 103
    #2
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    back pain
    Hi Whitney; I'm sorry for what you and Kevin are going through. Until we reached the right dosage of Dilaudid (Hydromorph codone, 20 mg/day) I was getting the pain increasingly between my shoulder blades. I always felt that the pain was coming from the esophagus closing, as taking a sip of water and getting my wife to slap my back (believe it or not) really helped. The pain is a tightness that seems to go right through you and out the front. Hydration seems to be relevant, and I believe the pain is related to dryness in the esophagus.

    hope this helps,
    Lee
  • Wpturner05
    Wpturner05 Member Posts: 114
    #3
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    LeeinLondon said:

    back pain
    Hi Whitney; I'm sorry for what you and Kevin are going through. Until we reached the right dosage of Dilaudid (Hydromorph codone, 20 mg/day) I was getting the pain increasingly between my shoulder blades. I always felt that the pain was coming from the esophagus closing, as taking a sip of water and getting my wife to slap my back (believe it or not) really helped. The pain is a tightness that seems to go right through you and out the front. Hydration seems to be relevant, and I believe the pain is related to dryness in the esophagus.

    hope this helps,
    Lee

    Thanks Lee
    Thanks Lee. Kevin has not been scoped since mid June, so that is definitely a possibility. Right now it does not seem to be related to eating, but it is definitely described as tightness - I often massage his back using my forearms and apply pressure - he says it is like a pain/pleasure experience. He has not bee great with drinking as of late either. His appetite has been terrible - He lost 6 pounds in 10 days . . .and counting. The last 2 days have been great eating days, so we hope to see an improvement there.

    How are you doing? Are you feeling better? I do not post here often, but I follow you and Chantal very closely - I was very saddened to hear that you were having more difficulties. From what I remember, things are getting better right?
  • chemosmoker
    chemosmoker Member Posts: 501
    #4
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    Shoulder Pain
    Whitney,
    Terrible pain in shoulder blades. Started with only pain in chest area.

    The back rubs DO help! My wife does that for me too, and it IS a pain/pleasure syndrome and helps.

    As for the pain, I take 80MG+ of Oxycontin every 6-8 hours (fast metabolizer they call me) and ALSO take 30MG Oxycodone as needed for breakthrough pain. That is UP from 20MG for short-acting breakthrough pain initially. The Oxycodone will NOT touch the real pain by itself. That's what they invented the long-acting for. It is a totally different kind of pain relief! ALSO I take Xanax XR .5MG and it gets to nerve pains that all the OXY's in the world will not relieve. You will need them ALL and together. I have NO drowsiness, no side effects, and I am NOT doped at all!

    I achieved NO real pain relief UNTIL I started the Oxycontin. They may both be MADE of Oxycodone, but they DO NOT work anything the same!! The Oxycontin was a MAGIC Godsend.
    Get that Oxycontin, and see if it isn't bearable.

    The night sweats could be either thyroid or just the anemia. I have had issues with both (Mets to thyroid and adrenal gland).

    God bless and update us soon!

    -Eric
    Stage IV with mets to everything
    DX June 2011 & Enjoying life.
  • jax568
    jax568 Member Posts: 57
    #5
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    chemosmoker said:

    Shoulder Pain
    Whitney,
    Terrible pain in shoulder blades. Started with only pain in chest area.

    The back rubs DO help! My wife does that for me too, and it IS a pain/pleasure syndrome and helps.

    As for the pain, I take 80MG+ of Oxycontin every 6-8 hours (fast metabolizer they call me) and ALSO take 30MG Oxycodone as needed for breakthrough pain. That is UP from 20MG for short-acting breakthrough pain initially. The Oxycodone will NOT touch the real pain by itself. That's what they invented the long-acting for. It is a totally different kind of pain relief! ALSO I take Xanax XR .5MG and it gets to nerve pains that all the OXY's in the world will not relieve. You will need them ALL and together. I have NO drowsiness, no side effects, and I am NOT doped at all!

    I achieved NO real pain relief UNTIL I started the Oxycontin. They may both be MADE of Oxycodone, but they DO NOT work anything the same!! The Oxycontin was a MAGIC Godsend.
    Get that Oxycontin, and see if it isn't bearable.

    The night sweats could be either thyroid or just the anemia. I have had issues with both (Mets to thyroid and adrenal gland).

    God bless and update us soon!

    -Eric
    Stage IV with mets to everything
    DX June 2011 & Enjoying life.

    night sweats
    Night Sweats come from chemo, sign of infection in a cancer patient, certain tumors of the liver.
    My husband seems to have this during chemo weeks.

    Jackie
    husband stage IV
  • Cora11
    Cora11 Member Posts: 173
    #6
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    jax568 said:

    night sweats
    Night Sweats come from chemo, sign of infection in a cancer patient, certain tumors of the liver.
    My husband seems to have this during chemo weeks.

    Jackie
    husband stage IV

    pain and sweats
    A few thoughts on the pain in the shoulders. Often times after big traumas, surgeries like this you get a lot of tight connective tissue that can cause myofascial pain. Keith has a tendency towards this already and he works with a myofascial release person. They work on the connective tissue to get the blood flowing through the tissues, to nourish the deeper layers of tissue and cells and nerves. Often times triggerpoints develop. A therapist trained in the John Barnes method also is highly skilled in this area. The use of a foam roller to roll on when capable, can really help move some of that tissue. THere is a lot of referred pain back and forth from the visceral organs like the esophagus and it gets relayed as pain in the tissue between the shoulder blades. I hope this makes sense. Look up google John Barnes or myofascial release work. All that time on the table in one position, then the stress of the hospital bed, breathing differently, can all create havoc on the tissues around those organs and get real tight. It can result in chronic pain. THe sweats can be a lot of stuff. One thing to consider is an effect of the pain meds. If you have been on them for a while and now stopping them, you might sweat but sweating can be just something trigger the sympathetic nervous system that is causing sweating. Hope this helps.
    Cora

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