Post op Hipec

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Thunder10
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 12:25 pm

Re: Post op Hipec

Postby Thunder10 » Fri Mar 24, 2017 2:37 pm

Hello. I'm new to the site. I just read your post about your boyfriend. My mom was diagnosed with colon cancer in January 2016. In October 2016 she had 2 tumors removed , full historectomy, hernia fix and HIPEC. In late December pain began in lower back following around her left side under her ribs. Oncologist says nerve damage from surgery and to see pain management. No amount of narcotics has helped with pain. She lives in a recliner doped up on meds around the clock. Nothing works - doctor are tired of hearing our complaints. Your boyfriend seems to have a very similar situation since his HIPEC. Has he found any help? Do you know of any others who are suffering like our loved ones? Any advice? I'm losing hope and I can't find anyone out there who can help.
LondonLovestoned wrote:My boyfriend has been diagnosed stage iiic/iv (staging has always been weird. One report said they overstaged him at one point but he had peritoneal metastasis and he had several infected lymph nodes) . He had a right hemicolectomy in July 2014 and HIPEC March 2015. He started chemo again January 2016 and is currently on a break. Since hes stopped chemo he has been having very bad stomach pain. He says its mostly burning sensation. He hasn't had more than 2-3 hours sleep/day in about 2 months because of the pain. His pain meds arent even able to control it enough for him to sleep.

He says the pain is worst when he lies down and stands up straight so he spends most of the day sitting up in a chair. Currently I'm at the hospital. He's been here 3 times in past week because the pain is so unbearable. So far even the meds he's getting at the hospital only provide relief for 2 hours max. Since he's been complaining about the pain we've seen his oncologist, GI specialist and talked to several ER doctors. They don't see any reason he should be having the pain and latest colonoscopy showed an ulcer and inflammation near surgical scars. So right now only thing we can do is try to manage the pain which is proving difficult. One doctor said it could just be nerve damage caused by the hipec or some kind of chemical reaction caused by surgery.

Its been frustrating for him and also for me watching him suffer. So I'm wondering if others had any similar intense pains after. It just seems strange this is starting over a year after his surger . Also any relief that you guys have found? I saw one post that mentioned a drug that helped but was hard to get off. Just trying to find something that will finally help. Also did anyone have luck working with pain management specialists or other specialized doctors? Any reccomendations appreciated.

Thank you to original poster for bringing up topic. I hope you are finding relief for the pain.

LondonLovestoned
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2016 3:33 pm

Re: Post op Hipec

Postby LondonLovestoned » Fri Sep 08, 2017 8:52 pm

Thunder10 wrote:Thank you to original poster for bringing up topic. I hope you are finding relief for the pain.
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I'm so sorry to be so late replying and hope I hope maybe something I says will still be of use or helpful. After the HIPEC he had constant pain still and then the pain began to spread to his thighs and upper leg area. He did manage to get his pain under control after seeing a pain management specialist. He's on the max dose of Morphine with some oxycodone for breakthrough pain and a high dose of Gabepentin to help with pain too (they also said its never related). Needless to say he nods off all the time and isn't having much quality of a life. Since my post he ended up going back to surgery and having 2 lymph nodes removed. His latest scan shows he is cancer free which is great but now he hasn't eaten in over 2 months because of a lymphatic leak. He goes to the hospital about every 3 days to get fluids drained. A lot of times its 4 liters or more but more recently it seems to have slowed down a bit. He's been on TPN for a while now and we were told that should help decrease the amount of fluids but it doesn't seem like that is happening. Currently he is still suffering and on pain meds but nauseated all of the time (probably bc such high dosage of pain meds without eating). He's already very thin so it's worrisome.

I guess in short to answer your question he did find relief on morphine and even now it's decreasing in effectiveness bc of his tolerance. However, now there's also this entire new problem with the leak.

I know this is a later post but I hope your mom was able to have some sort of relief. I know it is terrible to have to watch your mom suffer.


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