Posted 7/5/2022 8:06 AM (GMT 0)
“Things I learned along the way” … in the event this may help others, I thought I’d share …
If you or your loved one is struggling a great deal with pain, you may want to consider 1) having a pain pump placed 2) acupuncture.
As my Jeff’s pain became harder to manage with his drug regimen, we were referred by palliative care and his orthopedic surgeon to an actual pain management specialist.
Jeff’s drug regimen was working, but wasn’t lasting as long as it had in the previous months. He was coping with extensive bone mets, but he also had pretty significant arthritis in his hips which caused a great deal of pain and limited his range of motion.
Many of the medications that Jeff took for the bone mets, unfortunately didn’t cater to arthritis pain. His orthopedic surgeon suggested that Jeff try cortisone shots, however after we were referred to the pain specialist, we learned he wasn’t a candidate for said treatment as it had the propensity to spread the cancer into his joints.
It was suggested that Jeff try a pain pump. In retrospect, we should have moved forward with this option right away, but at the time Jeff just didn’t want to endure another surgery or hospital stay. Although his pain was getting harder to manage, it hadn’t reached a point to where it was unbearable.
As it was explained to us, a pain pump would provide more consistent, fluent, 24 hour relief. It would have taken the place of his long acting pain medication, although he’d still have meds for breakthrough pain.
By the time Jeff changed his mind and wanted to move forward with getting the pump, his health had started to decline more. We never even made it back for the follow up appointment to discuss having it placed.
It’s a small regret as Jeff’s palliative care team was just so incredibly awesome and they did everything in their power to keep Jeff comfortable. I just think had he had the pump, we would have avoided the times in which he hurt more while palliative care tweaked his medications.
Just something to consider as you navigate this journey.
Additionally, Jeff was referred to acupuncture. Much to our surprise, acupuncture provided a great deal of relief.
They targeted areas from his head almost down to his feet!
He only managed 2 sessions before passing, but it’s something he wished he had started sooner and he would have definitely continued.
~ Stephanie