Pain and ways to describe it?

Hi Astralita. You are nearly there! Not long to go till you finish treatment. Your descriptions of pain are very accurate. I finished my chemo radiotherapy a week ago, I would say the pain is getting a bit less, I managed without the morphine yesterday and slept through the night last night. Somewhere on here I had seen somebody describe it felt like having a light bulb up your bottom, well my description would be it’s like having a broken light bulb up your bum! A felling of broken glass, or like knives.Sometimes it almost feels like the labour pains of having a baby. The stretching and splitting feeling when passing a bowel movement , then all that has come out is a bit of mucus, even though it feels like you are trying to poo a melon! The feeling of burning when having a wee is intense and makes me curse out loud sometimes. I rationalise the pain associated with going to the loo by saying it won’t last for ever, it’s just a sensation which will pass. Lying down is the most comfortable position. Standing for any length of time causes a dull ache and heavy feeling in my pelvis . Walking feels like my skin is going to split open or tear in the groin. That all sounds grim , but it is manageable. The nurse at the Cancer centre did say it would get worse for a few days after finishing treatment, and it has as the skin has broken down and come away more, but I do feel I am coming out the other side a bit now. I get tremendous relief from lying in the bath. This pain is not  forever and I find treating it in my mind like some unpleasant job that just has to be done is helpful. Keep telling myself it will pass as I am sat on the loo screaming ! Not sure if that helps or not, but hope it helps to know what you are experiencing sounds familiar and it will pass. Be brave. 

Hi Astralita you are nearly there to the end of your treatment. How you describe the effects are pretty much familiar with what many of us experienced. When you finish the treatment as Pita said you can get worsening symptoms for a couple of weeks or more in some but unfortunately that is the price to rid us of this nasty cancer. I used to shout out loud sometimes when sitting on the loo and warned my neighbour  that I was fine and it was just my way of releasing the energy. I used a sitz bath which I found absolutely essential when I went to the toilet which eased the pain no end. I also used to sing in my head as a way of distraction. I was on regular morphine during the worst time and had to take a laxative to help prevent constipation. I had to make sure I didn’t eat junk foods or I would really pay for it and when I finished treatment it was so good to not have the day spent going to and from the hospital and just pamper yourself into getting well. When you are starting to get back to normal it still takes a while mentally to accept what you have been through. Keep your team informed about your symptoms and they will help you get through it with different creams etc. This site is a godsend for us to share these experiences some good and some not so good but not all of us go through all the side effects. I am six months post treatment and was great and getting back to normal but a few weeks ago I started my long walks and experience really painful hips and groin pains and reading on here it can happen and it’s not always something to worry too much about other than find the right treatments to help. Also not to try too hard to get back to normal and listen to your body, you will get there

Thanks all <3. Thanks for the ideas including the 'sitz bath', Jaycee. I've just skimmed through about 10 videos on sitz baths. (I am very lucky to have a real bath at home, so have been doing shallow salt baths in that every day or so). But with the sitz set-ups though, how is it used? In all the instructional videos they do not show how you sit on them and if your bottom / vagina is hovering above the water, if you are 'hovering' and the water squirts up onto your sore 'bits', or if the water level allows you to have your 'bits' immersed in the water? And is it just used to soothe you after going to the toilet, or are they sometimes used while our are going to the toilet? (excuse my confusion if this all  seems obvious!!!)

Really useful! Helpful to get these warnings of what it can be like after it's (theoretically) all over - eg mental adjustment and possible hip/groin pain (what is that pain?). I really like the idea of singing  - I usually sing chants / mantras for relaxation... but this may need something more like heavy metal???? Good idea to warn the neighbours.... (I've put a separate post here enquiring about how the sitz bath works). <3

Thanks Pita. Very helpful to read your 'evocative' descriptions. I SO get that pain and effort leading only to some minimal 'squidge' being produced.... SO frustrating! Sounds like the intensity of the pain is likely to worsen before this is all over - sigh, but, yes, knowing it's not forever, and that 'unpleasant job that's got to be done' approach sounds helpful <3

Hi Astralita, a sitz bath can be filled to a level where your nether regions are immersed in water. I suffer very easily from morning constipation due to stool not moving fast enough through the elementary tract causing it to dry out whilst you are in bed. In the morning when I feel ready to go I fill the sitz bath and sit in it which immediately relaxes the muscles and helps ease the poo out much more easily. I don’t think this would be pleasant if you suffer from very loose stools. I have had fissures where early morning constipation has torn the anal canal and it was left very sore and using the sitz bath prevents it. I also use the sitz bath to keep the area clean as you would using a proper bidet. I previously have never talked about poo habits but since this treatment it’s no big deal and we shouldn’t get hung up over this subject as we all do it! Some use the sitz when just having a wee if you get the stinging from treatment which I did. Luckily I don’t need to use it in the day and if I fill up with whole meal bread and heaps of vegetables it’s not too bad but as it’s Christmas I cannot have too many mince pies etc as the digestive system is not the same as it was and has slowed down. It saves filling a bath for those short trips. Use warm water and then I use cold but you find your best way of doing it. As my oncologist said you can find out a lot by looking at your poo!

Hi Astralita,

 I’m sorry you’re having these difficulties right now but on the positive side you’re almost done with treatment which is great. In response to your questions about the sitz bath I just went on Amazon & searched ‘portable bidet’ & got mine from there. The bidet literally sits on top of your toilet & you can fill with warm water & use it either way, to ease going to the loo (sometimes when things are sore it eases the discomfort a little to go this way as front & back are submerged in the water) or you can just use it to soak. I didn’t use mine a great deal I preferred getting in a nice warm bath but if I used it to soak I’d add a little Epsom salt & found this really soothing. Many of our members here have found the portable bidets a godsend. 

All the very best of luck with the rest of your treatments, you’re almost at the finishing line. 

Nicola