Dear all,
I’m at my wits end. Movicol (and similar) are just not working for me. They just make my stomach gurgle and give me wind.
Im just about to start my final cycle so now have burns internally in my vagina, anus and externally. I’m in utter agony despite pain relief regimes.
I feel ready to throw in the towel. I resorted to picolax yesterday which cleared a little but the agony was just beyond and today I have just spent the entire day sobbing and in such pain I don’t know where to turn.
On top of this I’m expecting my period to begin mid week. I can’t even fathom how I will cope with that on top of the sores and burns and pains. I have my usual blood tests tomorrow but my nurses can offer no explanation for what to do about my period! Surely I could take a delay contraceptive pill like one can for holidays etc? But maybe because my liver and bloods are so bad I can’t?
I feel so unwell I can hardly function at times. I can’t bear my husband to see me like this so I hide away in my room. I am genuinely at my wits end. How can I get out if this? I just want it to stop now.
There are no other laxative options that I haven’t tried. No pain killers that work. I just don’t know how I can carry on like this? Can anyone help?
M x
Prettypinkroses Your fellow cancer patients’ comments say a lot about your attitude
Illness is a normal life event, but recovery seems to me to be as much about attitude (& luck) as about time…
Just a thought… my community palliative care team are experts in pain control, & are completely on my side. They have offered all sorts of other help from the practical to emotional too. While they’re not miracle workers, I’d absolutely recommend them to anyone with cancer xxx toni
Hi Prettypinkroses,
I really wouldn’t concern yourself with not having the chemo, especially in this last week. From what I understand the capecitabine is a cell division inhibitor therefore it holds the cancer cells stable & stops them dividing whilst the radiotherapy does its thing on the tumour. You’re at the business end of your treatment now & your tumour will hopefully have had enough radiation at this point that the chemo really won’t be needed as much as at the beginning of treatment. I know of a few members here that have had to stop the chemo very early on, mainly due to heart issues, they’ve still gone on to have successful outcomes from the radiotherapy alone.
Unfortunately your oncologist is right in the fact that in most cases the symptoms of the treatment do continue to build even after your last session, mine peaked around 11 days later but after that recovery can be fairly swift considering how rough you feel by the end of it all. I found I needed to build my stamina again as fatigue was a big issue for me so short walks with my doggo was about the limit of my exercise regime. I went back to work part-time 5-6 weeks later but my job is mainly seated & I was only in for 4 hours per day. We all recover at different rates in the same day that our reactions to this treatment can differ also so do this at your own pace, you’ll get there.
Nicola
