WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

​

You have pain in the lower back.

You go through investigative procedures such as an MRI and a CT Scan.

It shows an enlarged node in the lumber vertebrae.

You have a long history (early 80's) of cancer so  decision is made to zap the area with a short burst of radiation.

Pain in the area pretty much disappears a few days later.

All good.

Except you are told it could be cancer in our spine and it need looking into.

Then much more acute pain appears in the thoracic vertebrae of the mid to upper back.

Unusual you are told but not uncommon.

You are now in a real battle to control the pain.

It is really unlike anything you have ever felt before.

Some really brilliant local nurses help you with the pain.

4 weeks later you are able to function a lot better than you were as you find the hard way that you have a pretty high pain threshold.

Way to go!

Then you find that the side effects of the pain killers cause constipation - big time. And naturally you are given laxatives to sort that one out.

So now you have 2 points of pain.

The one n the back needs a couple of short (30mins) rest periods each to support the pain killers and they also cause fatigue and befuddled thinking.

Not good if you have to work.

So for a month or two you get by.

And as the back pain begins to settle down a little  in the mid to upper back, pain appears in the lower area of your abdomen.

And the pain killers don't work for this and when it happens it is disabling.

The oncologist thinks it is stomach pain but it is not.

It is definitely in the area of the bowel or bladder which is much lower.

Another CT4 scan and more blood tests don't provide a clearer picture for them and they declare that they don't know what it is.

Meanwhile this pain comes back with a vengeance once or twice a week.

And the feeling in the area - whilst not painful - is always "there" every day.

And then when it comes back it wipes me out for most of the day and brings on incapacitating  and painful constipation.

But - funnily enough - not when I go to sleep at night.

​

We have just moved so I had to register with a new surgery and go and meet our new GP.

As you would expect - a very nice guy.

​

And he also wasn't prepared to posit a guess as to what it was and said  -  - he just didn't know.

​

So I am left with this horrendous pain in my lower abdomen.

​

I started thinking.

​

If i stop taking the pain killers that should stop the constipation.

I would  not have to take the laxatives..

But the back pain may come back.

​

As I said, I have a pretty high  pain threshold so.........

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​