Help with RC radiation bum pain

[wifeandmother]

Hi everyone,
My husband is done 22/28 rad treatments and is experiencing 5/10 pain in the bum when he has a bowel movement. I'm looking for any tips or advice for him to help relieve some discomfort as he finishes this stage of treatment.
He uses galaxyl based cream on he bum in between and with bowel movements, and tried a sitz bath yesterday that didn't help much. Thanks in advance!

[ronnieciao]

Hi there,

I have no direct experience but I remember seeing this topic here on CT about Carafate viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52680&p=414710&hilit=carafate#p414468

It caught my eye as my gran had RC before my mum's CC diagnosis and suffered a lot from the radiation burn- and wished I knew about this forum back then....

Best wishes, Veronica

[Ontario Guy]

Let your medical team know ASAP. I let my BM pains go on too long and ended up on heavy narcotics. In the long run that wasn't a big problem, but better to avoid it if you can.

There may also be the possibility of changing your surgery options, i.e. doing the ileo as a separate operation (that which you aren't using can't hurt you). My doc told me he'd rather do all the surgery at once but was willing to change tactics if things got out of hand.

Talk to your medics right away. They will be able to advise you best.

OG

[Sams wife]

Is hubby on the BRAT diet yet?? The end of radiation gets pretty bad. Well, I guess for some people it does. It did for us! They give us some kind of cream with silver in it. I think it was silvadine. Good luck

[Tanya]

Sylvadein helps , but it is only for outside area, inside , for me nothing work. It is take a few week to go away.

[OrchardWriting]

I did a sitz bath about two or three times a day. Near the end it was the only thing that helped ease the pain. I also took a pain med, but that made the stools harder and so had a mixed result.

One word of caution, it is possible to get a condition call radiation cystitis, which can be very painful and cause problems. Basically, the urethra swells and there is some irritation/damage to the bladder from radiation. This happened to me and I waited far to long to address it and had a horrible night in the ER.

Also, be prepared for recovery to be quite a bit longer if he is having surgery next. He will heal, but can be frustrating.

Best to you both.

James

[OrchardWriting]

Just noticed on your signature you will have surgery. Recovery was tough for me, but it does get better. Keep in touch here and there are more than enough people who've been through it to help make it easier. When I was diagnosed in 2006 it took me a while to find this sight and I think it was relatively new so the hardest thing was not having contact with other people going through it or who had been through it. Community is exceptionally critical for the emotional side of things.

[CRguy]

I'm looking for any tips or advice for him to help relieve some discomfort as he finishes this stage of treatment.

The base Glaxal is good for soothing but is not medicated itself so he may need :
1. more of an external protectant
2. internal medicated products

the sucralfate suppositories could help if there are open ulcers or fissures inside ... BUTT the best product I found was either a suppository or cream along the lines of Proctosone / Proctosedyl / Proctomyxin ... there are lots of names and variations and your docs should know about and have recommended these to hubby already.

Check out my prior post here for more specific info.

Best wishes
CRguy

[ticktock10]

Hi there, if the pain is at 5/10 at this stage I think he's doing pretty ok. It's important to eat a bland diet, as anything with nuts, seeds, lettuce etc would only make things worse.

He will be sore for the next couple of weeks but should start to improve thereafter.

Don't do what I did and eat a whole bunch of chocolate covered almonds - that's a surefire way to hit the 10/10 pain threshold!
(i just thought they were chocolate and completely forgot/ignored the fact that almonds=nuts)

All the best,
Ben

[fwang910]

Hi there,

I had exact same experience, it felt like a razor blade shoving in while having bowel movements, which was rather painful.

At that time, nothing helped me (cream, pain relief) , it kinda reached peak last week of treatment. It will improve in about 2-4 weeks. The thumb rule is it takes the same amount of time as his treatment time to get a complete healing.

Just make sure he drinks lots of fluid and lots of veges and fruits.

Best Wishes,

Leo

[wifeandmother]

Thank you to everyone who responded. I so appreciate all the advice. And thank you for making me (and hubby) feel less alone.
In case this post helps anyone else, I'll mention David has found relief from the bum discomfort with a gauze glaxal cream barrier. To do this open up a piece of gauze that is big enough to completely cover the bum crack, slather the gauze with a thick layer of glaxal cream, then apply gauze with cream to bum with underwear holding it in place. This has helped hubby be able to walk around the house and sit more comfortably.
Hubby's pelvis area is looking pretty red and sore. He just has 2 more rad treatments left and I can't wait for him to be able to start to rest before surgery.

Wifeandmother

[Sams wife]

There is a "pillow" cmewrrie found. I'm not sure who told her about it but it sounded better than my hubby's "air pillow" from hospital. You might want to look into that now??!

[wifeandmother]

There is a "pillow" cmewrrie found. I'm not sure who told her about it but it sounded better than my hubby's "air pillow" from hospital. You might want to look into that now??!

Thank you. Would the pillow be used now or after surgery, or both?

[Sams wife]

There is a "pillow" cmewrrie found. I'm not sure who told her about it but it sounded better than my hubby's "air pillow" from hospital. You might want to look into that now??!

Thank you. Would the pillow be used now or after surgery, or both?

Both I would say.
I was trying to find a pillow early on. My hubby had low rectal cancer. I think she was trying to find one after surgery.

We tried a donut & that was a bad idea for us. It spreads stuff I will try to find her post.

[Sams wife]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52255&p=413520#p413520

Hey. I found it