Myeloma/lung cancer

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Good Morning,

My husband has Myeloma and Lung cancer he had a Laminectomy in Dec and Lobectomy in Feb . Had 10 sesions of Radiotherapy on spine in Jan. Started Chemo last Thursday for Lung. Which may help Myeloma but unsure. He always has a dull ache in his lower back over the last couple of weeks getting slightly worse . Last Friday up to now getting worse every day he can hardly walk cant get upstairs . A and E visit Sunday in desperation , spoke to Haemo team as well patch increased on Sunday , Started Oral Morph 5ml every 4 hours , he on other pain relief as well and also Paracetomol with no relief at all. We ask why so sudden with intense pain all these pain killers and still no relief. It is a desperate situation watching someone you love in so much pain and no one seems to be able to help including me.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thank you kind regard

Eunice

Louise R - Macmillan over 3 years ago

Hi Yankee21

Thanks for getting touch on our online community. My name’s Louise and I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurses here.

It sounds like you are having a difficult time. It can be hard seeing someone you love in so much pain. It’s natural to want to do something and reaching out is a way of helping your husband get the support he needs.

It’s difficult for us to say what might be causing the sudden intense pain as we don’t have access to medical records. One thing we would always want to rule out with any cancer diagnosis is spinal cord compression. This is a rare but serious condition caused when cancer spreads to the spine. Common signs of spinal cord compression are lower back and difficulty walking. We would suggest you phone 111 straight away for assessment to rule out spinal cord compression, and for an urgent review of your husband's pain.

It’s important your husband is comfortable. Everyone is different and people’s experiences of pain can vary. This means that sometimes it can take a while to find the right dose and type of pain relief to manage someone’s pain. For example, this may depend on the type of pain and where it is.

Different types of pain relief work in different ways. Some types of pain relief can take a while to work whereas others work more quickly. If pain relief is not working as expected, we would always suggest letting the healthcare team know.

This booklet explains managing pain in more detail, and might be helpful.

Kind regards

Louise, Cancer Information Nurse Specialist

You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.

Our Ref: SMc

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Myeloma/lung cancer