Patients with advanced cancer: the pain is so painful that they don't even have the strength to die. How painful is cancer pain?
What does it feel like to have cancer pain?
"It's like eating a piece of rice. Wherever the rice is in the body organ, the pain is unbearable."
"I'm not afraid of death, but I can't bear the pain of cancer!"
Han Jisheng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, once said that he has been competing with pain treatment for 60 years, and the most hope is to study pain well, so that people can be free from the pain of malignant diseases, and can walk through the last journey of their lives peacefully. When he was moved, the academician shed tears.
01. Late stage kidney cancer, the pain of thousands of cuts
One year after my father retired, he was diagnosed with a tumor on the left kidney. Less than 4 years after the removal, the cancer had metastasized to the bone, and the tumor had compressed the lumbar nerve.
Just after 11 o'clock at night, the pain began to spread through his body. My dad said it was a feeling of being slashed by a thousand swords, like falling into an ice cave.
For half a year, he suffered from pain almost every midnight, for a short period of time, and he couldn't sleep well.
So four young men would come to the house every day. When my dad started to cry out that he was in pain, the four of them hugged him tightly, grabbing wherever it hurt. But the pain was all over the body, and I couldn't grasp it at all.
And my dad struggled desperately, sweating all over his head, hoping to slam his head into the wall to relieve the pain. It wasn't until a few hours passed and the pain subsided that the suffering of the day was over.
My dad joked that day that if he hadn't had a pension and kept it for his children, he would have died.
02. With advanced tongue cancer, she wanted to climb to the top of the outpatient clinic and jump down
Xiaohui, who was diagnosed with advanced tongue cancer with lymph node metastasis, just turned 18 years old. She is optimistic and cheerful and has always been confident in the treatment.
But since the cancer pain found her, she often wondered if it would be a better relief if she jumped from the top floor, but she seemed to be in such pain that she didn't even have the strength to die.
My head is like a dizziness from lack of oxygen, and I drink water in small sips. Every time I go to the toilet, it is as painful as giving birth to a child, sweating profusely and exhausted. It was clear that my stomach was empty, but I always felt full and bloated, and I had to spit out some yellow bitter water.
During chemotherapy, when chemotherapy drugs are infused into the body, the mucous membranes seem to rupture everywhere they flow, from the mouth, esophagus, and stomach to the intestines and anus. After chemotherapy, in order to maintain the level of white blood cells, every time the white blood injection needle is given, the bones of the whole body are very painful, and it hurts wherever I touch it. I can't sit, lean on, or walk.
After four times of chemotherapy, Xiaohui underwent more painful radiotherapy, and the whole neck was very itchy, but she couldn't scratch it. Drinking water is like eating glass scum. The pain every day makes Xiaohui regret very much the indulgent days of staying up late and eating late-night milk tea. If there is still a chance, she will spend the rest of her life well...
One, is it okay to endure it? Cancer pain and cancer are two different things
Cancer pain is a general term for cancer-related pain, including pain caused by cancer, pain caused by diagnosis and treatment, and pain not related to the patient's own cancer. The medical profession divides the degree of pain into 10 grades, with a grade of 7 or more as severe pain, while cancer pain is divided into the highest grade of 10, and even 10 is not enough to describe it.
There are four main reasons for cancer pain:
The tumor directly compresses or invades the surrounding tissues, such as chest pain caused by the pleura being pulled by the lung tumor, and low back pain caused by the compression of the nerve by the pancreatic tumor.
After the tumor metastasizes, it invades or destroys other organs and tissues. For example, the bone metastasis of the tumor will destroy the bone and cause bone pain.
Tumor treatment is related to pain, such as chronic pelvic pain caused by radiation therapy, bone pain caused by stimulation of bone marrow hematopoiesis after taking Shengbai acupuncture.
Related pain caused by tumor comorbidities or complications, as well as pain caused by tumor obstruction or tumor rupture or perforation.
Many people think that it is normal to have pain after suffering from cancer. As long as the tumor is cured, it will not be too painful. Therefore, if you choose not to treat, you will be able to pass it with patience.
However , cancer pain is not over . There are few intermittent periods of cancer pain. The pain will become more and more severe as the cancer progresses, and the degree of tissue damage will also increase.
Therefore, forbearance will not solve the problem, but will cause a lot of harm. Cancer pain is a disease. The longer you delay and miss the best time for treatment, the easier it is to cause the disease to recur or even worsen, and the cost of treatment will increase accordingly.
Through standardized pain relief treatment, about 90% of cancer patients' cancer pain can be relieved, and some patients will be more confident because of the disappearance of pain, thereby improving their quality of life and prolonging their lives.
Second, the common misunderstanding of labor pain medication
At present, many patients do not know much about the concept of pain treatment and the drugs used, which leads to many misunderstandings about it.
1. Fear of addiction after use
Opioid analgesics are used in the treatment of cancer pain, and many patients are afraid that they will become addicted after long-term use. But in fact, as long as opioids are used scientifically, rationally and regulated, especially oral administration on time, the risk of mental dependence is very low.
2. Use it only for severe pain
The goals of pain treatment are to relieve pain, improve function, and improve quality of life. The minimum requirement for pain management is to allow the patient to sleep without pain, and the goal is to strive for pain-free rest and pain-free activity. It is safer and more effective to use analgesics for pain patients in a timely and timely manner , because in the early stage of pain, a lower intensity and dose are often needed to suppress the pain. .
3. Worry about the need for lifelong medication
After the cancer pain is satisfactorily and stably controlled, since the cause of the cancer pain has been removed, the dosage can be gradually reduced or even stopped according to the patient's condition. However, during this process, the withdrawal syndrome that may be caused by abruptly stopping the drug should be avoided.
4. If oral painkillers are ineffective, there is nothing to do
There are different types and grades of pain relievers taken by mouth, with mild pain relievers for mild pain and severe pain relievers for severe pain. If oral analgesics are ineffective, other pain treatment options, such as nerve block and destruction, patient-controlled analgesia, and radioactive seed implantation, can be used.
3. What can family members do in the face of cancer pain patients?
As a family member, when a patient has cancer pain, you can first use some things that the patient likes as a distraction . Relaxation therapy can also be used to relieve the mental tension of patients through massage, stroking and other methods. Stretch the skeletal muscles so that the patient's whole body muscles are in a relaxed state.
The patient's mood will be relatively bad, and family members should also pay attention to the patient's psychological mood, and relieve the patient by means of psychological dredging , so as to face the disease more actively and increase confidence in relieving pain and fighting the disease.
The "NCCN Guidelines for Adult Cancer Pain" pointed out that pain management should achieve four goals: pain optimization, daily life optimization, minimal adverse reactions, and avoidance of inappropriate drug administration. Abuse or misuse of drugs can cause serious side effects to patients, so family members should scientifically dispose, store and handle drugs, and regularly observe and monitor the pain status of patients and the side effects that occur after medication.
Although cancer pain is very painful, most cancer pains can be effectively controlled as long as the medication is prescribed. Enduring pain is an absolute and most unnecessary practice. Cancer pain patients should take analgesic drugs on time and according to the amount, and must not stop or abuse drugs on their own.
References:
[1] Cancer gets better and pain goes away? Cancer pain, you can endure it, right? .Healthy China, 2022-04-22
[2] Cancer pain is really painful! Top experts tell you how to solve cancer pain. Health Times, 2019-10-23
[3] "Cancer pain" is also a disease, and it is impossible to endure it. Cancer Friends Association of the Medical Field, 2020-07-20
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