He has no pain

Jackyl307 · New User Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Posts: 6

My husband was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer on July 10. He also has it in his liver and lymph nodes. He went for chemo so far for 1 cycle and it was such a strong dose it put him in the hospital for 10 days to recover from the side effects. It was horrible. He is home now but we have not start4ed hospice care because he feels he wants to continue with a lower dose of chemo. He was severaly jauntice when he when into the hospital. Now it seems like the jauntice is gone. He hardly eats, maybe a bite or two during the day. He drinks alot of milk. His taste buds are shot from the chemo, so everything tastes horrible to him. He drinks ginger ale all day long, but that is it. He has no pain. Has anyone ever dies from this with no pain? Do you think maybe that one dose of chemo helped.????

Adagio7780 · Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 11:51 pm Post subject: Re: He has no pain

Jackyl307, I am very sorry about your husband. The questions you have should be answered by your husband's oncologist, especially regarding treatment options going forward. The effectiveness of the chemo can be determined to some extent by CT Scans and blood tests. Good luck to you and your husband, and I hope you will keep us updated on his condition.
_________________
Man tracht, Got lacht (Man plans, God laughs)

wannaknow · Senior User Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 145

J307:
I would not use Pain as an indicator of cancer progress or condition in general.
My Mom had pain early on in the process but it was not an issue through most of her treatments and in the end there was no pain.

Agree with A7780 on chemo effectiveness.......tests are the only way - I would include PET test too

Jackyl307 · New User Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Posts: 6

[quote="wannaknow"]J307:
I would not use Pain as an indicator of cancer progress or condition in general.
My Mom had pain early on in the process but it was not an issue through most of her treatments and in the end there was no pain.

Agree with A7780 on chemo effectiveness.......tests are the only way - I would include PET test too[/quote]

Thanks Wannaknow,
He did have pain when he was first diagnosed, but really has not had much pain since. He is losing weight and getting very forgetful and simple minded. He goes for chemo today. I wish I knew how much time he had left. In the past 2 months he went from a strong 315 lb teddy bear biker guy with a long Santa like beard and pony tail that reached his belt. To 210 lbs with no beard or hair. He seems like a shell of the man I love. I am having a hard time dealing with the changes. It doesn't make me love him any less, it just scares me. The changes are so drastic.

wannaknow · Senior User Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 145

J307:
It is very natural to want an exact or even general idea of how much "time is left". That applies to the patient or anyone else. Also natural to have fear.

You cannot get that answer but what you can do is LIVE every minute and get the most out of every minute.

It's hard to get past the physical impact on your Husband but your Love goes much deeper to his heart, soul and mind. So look past the weight lost and concentrate on those things that have not changed - they are still there.

Spend time with him creating distractions away from PC. There has to be a list of things he likes, places he likes to go, etc. You might have to adjust the way you do them or how long it can be done due to how he feels but do them anyway.

Jackyl307 · New User Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Posts: 6

He does not feel up to going anywhere. He is very tired and cannot walk far with out getting very tired. We are going to have to take 1 day at a time. Chemo went well today and so far he hasn't had any nauesa. The doctor does not want to give him another cat scan until he has had a few more treatments.

wannaknow · Senior User Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 145

J307:
OK, if he is weak and not that mobile........then use whatever you have at hand.......his interests that maybe on TV, rent some movies (use Netflix as they will mail to your house), sports on TV or even if you have to buy a special package from cable or Satellite co, music .........

Absolutely anything to create a distraction even for a short time.......just being together NOT talking or doing anything related to PC..........is a relief for both of You

Wishing both of You the Best

Jackyl307 · New User Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Posts: 6

We do sit and watch Tv ALot and family and friends have been stopping in for visits. Even friends that we have not seen in years are stopping in and laughing about the old days. It is so good to see these friends and on the other hand it makes me so sad that it took this horrible illness to bring us back together. It makes us grateful for the friends we have today nad the friends we have from days past. He still sits up and watches TV and gets up to go to the bathroom. I cannot imagine that the day is going to come that he is not able to do these things. It is good to know that he might not ever have any pain since your Mom did not have pain. Thatpart scares me the most. Thanks Wanna.......it feels good to talk to someone who has walk in my shoes

	Cancer Forums Forum Index -> Pancreatic Cancer Forum	All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

A website for discussions about any type of cancer, including lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, laryngeal cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and others