Real Pain After Fifteen Years

The last three weeks we've had a fairly torrid time adjusting to some real pain from my cancer. It came on quite suddenly just after having my 'flu jab. (Really? Well, that's when it came...) For a time we thought I might have strained my back but the pain quickly went to my pelvis, thigh and down my left leg. And it was continuous. Not to be compared with tetany spasms (my personal definition of the worst pain ever) but definitely very uncomfortable for sitting or lying around.

I already have an appointment for radiotherapy which may reduce the pain. So, in the interim, we embarked on a DIY programme of pain management. Not very successful, actually. I'd taken Paracetamol plenty of times before but hadn't really paid attention to exactly the conditions under which it should be taken. Voltaren also required more sophisticated administration than I allowed. And a little adventure with Metformin, to reduce the blood sugar levels that had been elevated by Abiraterone was an outstanding gastric blowout of a totally unexpected nature. Goodness knows what other interactions are going on with my other three or four meds...

We are now reading the fine print a little more carefully and trying to get all these things into a routine which doesn't allow one med to fight with the other.  With varying success, I may say. So we are looking forward to a meeting with our Radio Oncologist this week to discuss radiotherapy and then a session with my GP to get any subsequent pain into a properly managed programme.