Just over 3 months ago, quite out of the blue after getting back from holiday, we got the news that my lovely wife had stage 3 Ovarian cancer, when we just thought it was food poisening. She was also deteriorating fast due to more than 3 litres of fluid that had built up pressing on all essential organs and her lungs. We felt a mixture of devastated and scared. (we are not otherwise faint hearted souls) The consultants were worried about her deteriorating condition and rushed her into her first chemo asap on the cancer ward, where she stayed for nearly 2 weeks. Pain control was a major problem for the first two weeks, until when transferred to our most excellent small local community hospital, she was immediately put on a syringe driver to deliver her Oxycodone (allergic to morphine) and Haliperidol. The syringe driver approach to pain relief has been brilliant. She had a second chemo as an in patient yesterday, and this time all appears to have gone well, especially as we got the excellent news yesterday too, that her CA readings have halved from 477 to about 235 in just three weeks. We are still at the start of a long and unknown journey, although if you or a loved one are having problems with pain relief and/or nausea prevention, we thoroughly recommend the syringe drive approach.
