Mom had her last radiation treatment just under 2 weeks ago on her very painful bone mets to her pelvis and left shoulder area. She is still in quite a bit of pain and still on the hardcore pain meds. Is it normal for radiation to take this long to kill pain? Is it possible for it not to work at all?
What's been your experience?
Thanks!
Hi Amethyst - It's so funny (relatively speaking of course!), our experiences continue to be quite similar. My mom is also 15 days out of radiation and still has pain and is on 30 mg of long acting morphine and some short acting stuff. She thinks she had some improvement in pain at the end of last week, but on that Friday she started chemo so it's really hard to tell since she's kind of miserable from that.
I really think it can take a few weeks....
Hi hopefuldaughter,
Yeah, I was hoping the radiation would kick in sooner but I suppose I'll just have to be patient.
She had to change some of her pain meds since she'll be starting chemo and I think that's added to her pain because apparently it can take the body a couple of days to get used to a new painkiller. My mom is also taking long acting morphine, however, she is only on 15mg. Considering she can barely sit down for 20 minutes due to the pain, I think she should up the morph.
How did your mom's first chemo session go?
My husband has had radiation for bone mets a couple of times. In the smaller bones, the pain relief seemed quicker -- perhaps 2 to 3 weeks, but for larger bones (hip) it took about 3 weeks to start to feel the improvement, and things continued to improve after that, so that by about 5 or 6 weeks, he was feeling up to walking some distance. With radiation, it continues to work for quite some time after the treatments end, and after that, the bones continue to heal, so positive change can take awhile, but then improves from there.
gonehiking,
Thanks so much for the info. I will be sure to pass it on to my mom. I know she'll get some relief knowing it's "normal" for it to take this long.
The radiologist told us some people get relief in the first two weeks but usually it takes 3 or 4. My husband just finished up week 2 and so far he's had very little if any relief.
Hi. My mom did NOT want to up the morphine, but after getting the okay from her Drs, she did go from 15 to 30 and is glad she did. Your mom should not hesitate to up the meds to get relief. Being in pain is very mentally and physically draining.
Her first chemo went okay. It's been one week. She was fine for the first 24 hours, then has just been beat since. The nausea meds worked great the first few days (the ones specifically for before and after chemo), then she spent a few days really nauseous and has been adjusting her meds. The kicker is that she is constantly taking one medication or another, so it's making it really tough for her to eat. And she's just exhausted. She's in pain and not moving around much, but she's really trying to be upbeat, which is great. She sleeps alot too. Her treatment is every three weeks, so I'm hoping she goes on the upswing this week and has some good days before it starts all over again....
She had Carbo and Taxol.
I hope your mom starts to feel a little better too before the next treatments! Keep me posted.
hopefuldaughter,
That's great that your mom has started chemo. My mom doesn't start until next week. The side effects sound hideous though. I wish I lived closer to my mom so I could help her through the treatment process a little more.
I mentioned to my mom that her perhaps she should up her morph and she's received permission from her doc to increase it to 18mg.
Anyways, best of luck and I hope your mom recovers from the chemo aftermath soon.
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