nandie Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 Hello all. I have been reading the forums here for a couple of months and reading all of your stories has been very encouraging. I have a question about radiation that I haven't seen answered directly, so I hope you all have some ideas for me. My mom underwent combo chemo/radiation therapy--the last radiation treatment was about two weeks ago. She still has extreme pain from the radiation, to the point where she can't really do anything, including eat. She was hospitalized at the end of the radiation treatment cycle due to low weight and dehydration, but is home now. She is on a lot of pain meds. My question is--has anyone else experienced lingering, extreme pain from radiation and had it get better eventually? If so, how long--2 weeks, 3? 4? Is there potentially something else going on here? Thanks for your insight.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoniRobertWilson Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 This is only our experience, your situation is probably different. During radiation Robert had some unexplained pain that the doctors just kinda looked at him like he was crazy. He ended up having more cancer than what the doc originally thought which was causing his pain. I hope your pain ends up to be nothing but I say have the docs check it out. Pain is telling you something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 Hi Nandie, My mom also had chemo and radiation together. During her last five treatments and after, she had lots of pain. Her Onc, gave her a presc for liquid morphine, but she had a real tough time swallowing it. He switched her to fentanyl patches which worked wonders. She swallowed a mixture called pink lady just before eating. Drinking aloe vera juice also seemed to help the healing. She didn't really feel better and eat well until about a month after her last treatment. Hope that helps, Faylene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hebbie Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 I had the chemo/radiation combo treatment and I had a TERRIBLE time at the end and for a while after. My final treatments ended mid-June (last year) and I had a lot of weight loss/problems swallowing/dehydration towards the end of treatment. The doctors assured me that within a few weeks I would feel back to normal. A month later I was still having trouble swallowing/eating without pain.......by the beginning of August they finally decided to put a scope down there, even though my radiation oncologist said it was risky because my esophogus was "fragile", but they needed to know what was going on. Turns out that, my esophogus had really been fried. I believe the scope doc's exact words were "It's really ugly in there". They told me to hang in there and it should heal. About another month from then I started noticing that I could eat without too much pain, and I still recall what a great feeling it was to swallow more than one gulp of water at a time and not feel pain. Woo-hoo!!! Now, the only lingering problem I have is that my esophogus apparently healed with a slight stricture, which causes things like my larger vitamins to get "stuck" when I swallow them and I have to coax them down with slow sips of water. I have been told that this is correctable with a procedure that will stretch my throat, but I am not anxious to endure another procedure.... As for your mom, I would check with her doctors and see if they feel there is any need for concern, but honestly, if it has only been two weeks, it's probably pretty normal. I hope this clears up for her very quickly and she finds relief soon!!! Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamie Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 nandie, My dad had some pain for about 3 weeks after the radiation ended. Hes all good now, and has no pain whatsoever... Hope it goes away soon, Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nandie Posted July 12, 2004 Author Share Posted July 12, 2004 thank you so much for your replies. hearing others' stories really helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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