Final days of treatment

Hello Mel77d2f884 

Ah, you really are at the sharp end of treatment now, but only two days left - you must be so relieved.  The next couple of weeks will probably be quite rough as the side effects peak after treatment stops but then most people see a rapid improvement.  The anus pain comes with the treatment and unfortunately opening the bowels can exacerbate this pain as the anus internally can be very raw and any 'traffic' in the area is likely to set off this pain.  Here in the uk I was given Instillagel, a local anaesthetic but I found that far too painful to apply and discovered that it shouldn't be used on broken skin but others on here found it really helped.  I am wondering if you need a higher dose of Tramadol, I know it is an opioid drug, and here we are routinely prescribed morphine syrup (oramorph) but because of my sores I was topped up with morphine tablets.

And be very careful - you may well find that when treatment stops so does the diarrhoea and as any opioid drugs cause constipation a stool softener should be taken daily to avoid this.  The very last thing you need is to be constipated in the next couple of weeks.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel and you are almost there!

Gentle hug

Irene xx

Hi Mel

I can’t really expand on what Irene has already said but just wanted to wish you all the best for the final treatments and the upcoming recovery,

not long to go now!

Monty

Thanks Irene!  I really appreciate the advice and the support!

Hi Mel77d2f884 

Nearly there and then you can concentrate on recovery. I remember the painful bowel movements I felt like I was trying to pass a razor blade dipped in acid. I had the instillagel thatIrene75359 has mentioned and flaminal forte that I used in that area and would apply after a movement but  nothing really helped while I was actually doing it. I used to do breathing exercises and would alternate between standing and sitting and this seemed to help but that could well have been in my imagination. Early on in my treatment I had really bad wind pain and was advised to cut veg from my diet in particular green veg which I did and it made a massive improvement. Sending hugs. Xx

Your Oncologist should give you creams and nerve ending pa.inkillers. go on a low residue diet too