Help Pls- What Is Causing Stomach Pain?

Hi. I'm new to the boards. My mom is currently being treated for colon cancer.  She had chemo and radiation back in dec/jan then surgery in April.  And now she is getting chemo again.  She was doing Ok until this last Friday when she started getting incredibly bad stomach pains.  She had to be admitted to the hospital to be treated.  They are not exactly sure why she is having this stomach pain but think it's related to her radiation which she had back in january.  Has anyone heard of this?  Do you know of anything else that could be contributing to her pain.  Any ideas would help.

 Thanks so much.

Hi,

I'm sorry about your mom's diagnosis-my mom unfortunately in the same boat.  I wanted to answer you as my mom always had intense abdominal pain for the week after chemo.  It is actually a fairly common side effect if you look up the chemo drugs. (barring any bowel obstruction or something mechanical)  After the first week it usually subsided but always there to some degree. My mom however has mainly peritoneal disease and had a pain pump implanted a few months ago which has made a HUGE difference in her quality of life.  Her pain pills just were not effective anymore.

Best of luck -

Chris

On 6/2/2008 sweetreese wrote:

Hi. I'm new to the boards. My mom is currently being treated for colon cancer.  She had chemo and radiation back in dec/jan then surgery in April.  And now she is getting chemo again.  She was doing Ok until this last Friday when she started getting incredibly bad stomach pains.  She had to be admitted to the hospital to be treated.  They are not exactly sure why she is having this stomach pain but think it's related to her radiation which she had back in january.  Has anyone heard of this?  Do you know of anything else that could be contributing to her pain.  Any ideas would help.

 Thanks so much.

Hi,

I have stage 3 colon cancer but am on an experimental treatment with 5FU and erbitux (usually used for stage 4). I had just finished my third treatment (second full treatment with pump, etc) when I started to feel horrible.  It got worse and worse with horrible stomach pains when I even moved a little bit or tried to drink pedialite.  The diahrrhea and concomitant pain was enough to kill me.  i was flat on my back for two days with a fever, etc. Turns out doc thinks I have a deficiency in an enzyme DPD that is need to metabolize 5FU.  Only 1% of the caucasian population have this deficiency (a genetic mutation).  The University of Alabama is researching this. Meanwhile, I see the onc tomorrow to see what alternative chemo he can recommend.

Hi, I am stage IV colon taking the chemo also--had horrible stomach pains also--UNTIL- stopped drinking any coffee at all. it was like it changed my life....I mean it.

try this option-it could help. Doc said it could be that coffee is so acidic, it was causing my bowels to react all day and night.

Best of all Blessings,

ellen

Hi, I am stage IV colon taking the chemo also--had horrible stomach pains also--UNTIL- stopped drinking any coffee at all. it was like it changed my life....I mean it.

try this option-it could help. Doc said it could be that coffee is so acidic, it was causing my bowels to react all day and night.

Best of all Blessings,

ellen