DEALING WITH YOUR MEDICAL TEAM: DEALING WITH PAIN
One of the main fears of many cancer patients is that they will suffer prolonged and uncontrollable pain. This should not be the case as advances both in understanding of the causes of pain and in methods of pain relief mean that pain can be effectively treated in most cases.
The nature of our society is such that men are encouraged to be physically strong and to shrug off pain, so the acknowledgement of a fear of pain or actual pain is not necessarily an easy matter. Most of us can tolerate some degree of pain for a short time: the pain from toothache or sporting injuries is unpleasant but we generally know that it will be short-lived. Pain resulting from a serious illness is a different matter, partly because of its physical effects and also because of the fear which arises from the inability to control what is happening within your own body. Around a third of people who have cancer suffer no pain at all. For those who do experience some pain, it can generally be controlled extremely effectively.
There are some people for whom a fear of needles (needle phobia) is a source of discouragement from admitting to pain, as they are very much afraid of being subjected to painkilling injections. This is a perfectly valid fear, and one which should be treated sympathetically by medical staff. Furthermore, there are many forms of pain relief which do not require any injections so you should not be afraid to voice your fear to your medical team. In fact, many people manage to overcome their fear.
The degree of pain or discomfort you experience is not necessarily an indicator of how advanced your cancer is. Pain is often not caused by a tumour per se but because, for example, the tumour is pressing on its surrounding tissues or on a nerve. The pain caused by pressure on a nerve may manifest itself in a part of the body quite remote from the tumour site. Pain may also be caused by other factors, such as
infection;
because a tumour is obstructing the normal action of your bowel;
because of a secondary tumour in a bone.
We all have different levels of pain tolerance, and in any case, people with the same type of cancer may not have the same symptoms or experience of pain or discomfort. For this reason, it is very important for you to be able to describe your particular pain to your medical team so that they can treat it in the most effective way possible. As with your other symptoms, it is easy to overstate or understate pain depending on your frame of mind that day, so keeping a written note of the points you want to tell your doctors may help.
Describing pain is not easy especially if it is quite severe and you just want a doctor to make it disappear. There are a number of points that will be helpful to doctors in working out what is causing your pain and therefore in prescribing the most effective form of pain relief:
• Where do you feel the pain? Does it spread?
What type of pain is it – a continuous dull ache, a brief stabbing pain or a burning sensation, for example?
Do you have the pain all the time or does it come and go? How long does it last? Does it keep you awake or can you sleep through it?
Does anything make the pain worse – eating or drinking, moving around, coughing, lifting or stretching?
Does anything make the pain better – painkillers (what sort?), lying down, keeping still, heat or cold?
Analysing your own pain in terms which help your doctors can be difficult and frustrating at first, especially when you are getting used to communicating with them – there may be times when you just want to shout at them to make it go away. Be assured that they genuinely want to ease your pain, and will do all they can to do so.
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