We haven\'t posted in quite awhile-Update on Bob

Good Morning Everyone- Thanks to you all for the replies- it really helps to know we are not alone.

The constipation is a huge issue right now- it's been 6 days now. Bob's nurse gave him an enema last night but it still has not worked. She will be here this morning so will likely do it again. The constipation is putting a lot of pressure on his back & increasing his back pain.Poor guy.

Hard to believe but the Cancer Hospital in Kitchener was closed yesterday (Easter Mon.)- so I will be on the phone 1st thing trying to get an appt. with the Oncologist & Pain Mgmt.Dr. I have absolutley no faith in the Guelph General Hospital here & at this moment treatment is relying on the MRI done in Guelph. (This is the hospital that tried to kill him on more than 1 occasion)

On an even sadder note- yesterday Bob actually started to talk a little- several times he made suggestions as to how I should do things & who I should call about things around the building. He wrote a supply order & circled things in the catalogue so I would know what to order. This is a huge step for him, so I just let him do it & I didn't argue.

Thank you for the info. on Radiation TR. I also asked his nurse. She said they could treat the places on the spine & then he hopefully wouldn't be paralyzed. That was the 1st time I had heard that word & I guess I looked so shocked, she apologized for scaring me. We didn't say anything to Bob.

That's about it for now. We are praying for a 'good poop' today.
Regards,
Lorrie

Lorrie, My heart goes out to you, and my prayers are with you! I know you will keep him comfortable...I am so sorry you both are on this roller coaster ride.

Karen

Lorrie,

I did not experience what your husband is experiencing - but my father did. Yes - his time from all clear to full blown bone metastasis was very quick. He was scanned at the end of September and given the all clear and then in mid-October he started having very bad back pain. He went to his GP who said he must have pulled something and gave him some muscle relaxers - he went to a chiropractor who said he needed to see him every day and worked on him for a week (can you imagine being adjusted every day when you have cancer in your back - the guy is a quack) and then finally, my stepmother took him to the emergency room when she could not get him out of a chair and he became delusional. The delusions are something to watch when the cancer hits the bone - be sure they are monitoring his calcium.

As for radiation. My father had a full cycle of treatments and it was painless and left no burns etc. It helped with the pain - where they could reach - but, it did wipe him out pretty good. I think it is best to work with the doctor to create a full pain management plan, where drugs, radiation etc. are considered as well as quality of life.

I hope this helps.

T.R.

Thank you everyone for your replies & good wishes.He is still getting up & dressed= of course he is on morphine injections so not moving fast but still fighting it. The morphine causes constipation & even with his regime of Lactulose, Senokot, etc. the constipation is becoming an issue again. He took a couple of strolls along the hallway yesterday hoping to move things along.But- it's been several days since a BM so I think it likely that the nurse may use suppositories on him today. Thank goodness for CCAC & their wonderful homecare nurses- while he was feeling so good, we cut back their visits to every couple of weeks, but now have them coming in every day.


I have a couple of questions if I may- this seems to be moving quite rapidly pain-wise- from 0- 10 in less than a month. Is this a 'normal' progression? The GP & the Pain Dr. both mentioned radiation for pain- our only experience with radiation was over 20 yrs. ago when Bob's dad had it- it was awful & left huge burns on him. Does anyone have knowledge of the new procedures? Has it improved? They said something about 'pinpoint' radiation- would that be easier on him? Or should we just let things happen?

Thanks again everyone
Lorrie

That is just really bad news, Lorrie. I'm glad he's got that adjustable bed, and the shots. Is he able to get up and around? He probably doesn't feel like it right now, with the stunning turn of events. I wish him peace of mind right now, and good sleep. He'll deal with it in his own way.

How are you doing? Are you getting enough sleep? When you see the doctor next, you might discuss your sleep, if you need help right now, to get through the initial shock. You'll both need to work through this.

Thank you so much for sharing this news with us, so we can hold out our hands and offer to listen and help.

Stephany in Iowa

Lorrie, Thank you for letting us know how you and Bob are. I am sorry you had such difficult news. I certainly know how it feels to go from things look good to oops there is this problem. I have been thinking about you both. I am praying for you both. Julie