Peter has developed a femoral hernia which is causing excruciating pain. It came about 3 weeks ago, he has no idea how it happened, he just had terrible pain in his groin. saw the GP for a referral to a consultant and we are meeting him on 1st July. However I had to take him to A and E on Friday evening. Eventually we saw a doctor who gave Tramadol and spoke to the on duty surgeon who said that there is no way that Peter can have it operated on whilst he is on chemo, currently ended cycle 5 of Velcade etc. He said that he would have to be off chemo for a minimum of 6 weeks before an op. Peter is still in terrible pain and after a long talk with our immediate family Peter has decided to come of chemo in order to hopefully get the hernia repaired. We are speaking to his haematologist tomorrow with this info and hoping that he will agree. If Peter continues on chemo he would not be able to have the op done until middle of October. There is now way that he can live in pain until then. Just one more problem to overcome.
I am so sorry to read about this latest complication for Peter. I know everyone is different in their treatment and reaction to it and I do not know anything about hernia operations but when Phil had his two leg operations he was only off his treatment (Velcade-dex-dox) for about a week and a half before they operated. This was after only one and a half cycles so maybe because Peter has had more cycles he needs more time to recover from the chemo before an operation but it might be worth asking for another opinion?
Has Peter's mysterious rash (chicken pox?) stopped appearing with each cycle, did the doctors ever figure out what it was?
I hope your meeting with the haematologist is productive and that you can make plans to have the hernia dealt with as soon as possible.
Sorry to hear of peters current condition and hope that they are able to,sort him out soon….what would they do if someone needed an emergency operation, they would have to do it then wouldn't they?
Vicki makes a good point about an emergency operation, now that I think about it that is probably what Phil's ops were. He was told the lesions at the top of his femurs were so large that if he stubbed his toe he might shatter his legs and they thought a preventative operation would be better than trying to fix broken bones. They would have been done even quicker but he kept getting bumped as the Royal London where he had the ops is the main hospital in London for accidents and every time the air ambulance arrived Phil's operation was cancelled. Peter's pain may mean the operation is urgent.
Hopefully you and Peter know more after your meeting today.
Megan, Peter still gets the rash on the same day at the time in the cycle….the doctors now believe it is a type of acne caused by the steroids We have an appointment with the haematologist tomorrow, Wed, to discuss Peter stopping his Velcade chemotherapy in order to have his hernia op done. We spoke to the specialist nurse yesterday and she had a conversation with the doctor who agreed that Peter needs to get the op as soon as possible and he said that having to wait for 6 weeks is cruel. Peter is still in tremendous pain and is feeling very depressed at the moment.
Will let you know how we get on
The decision was made today by the haematologist to suspend Peter's chemotherapy to allow the hernia operation to go ahead. We are meeting the surgeon on Monday and are hoping for a date for the surgery which we are hoping will definitely be within the next 2 to 3 weeks maximum. The problem with surgery is not with the chemo but the steroids. It causes the skin to have very slow healing properties. Chemotherapy will start again as soon as 2 or 3 weeks after surgery.
Well lets hope its over and done with soon,no more pain,that Dex has a lot to answer for.
Will they be able to do key whole surgery,or will they cut!!! it amazing what they can do these days ,lets hope its,done and dusted as soon as possible.
That's good news and Lets hope its done as soon as poss get rid of that pain.
and hope its not too long before the treatment for the MM is started again.
Thank you Eve, Peter is expecting to have open surgery, the hernia is extremely large. He is in tremendous pain and has been given tramadol……doesn't really help much. We are hoping it is done asap.
Hi Trish, I have been following your troubles. Can you not get anything stronger than Tramadol. Could you ask to be referred to the hospital Pain Team, if they have one.
We seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place……A and E doctor was going to give Morphine but then down graded it to Tramadol with the proviso that Peter only takes it as and when he needs it!!!
Our own GP has passed Peter over to the hospital for his hernia care, so not much joy there.
Hoping that the hernia consultant will prescribe something stronger on Monday.
Trish xx
eve 11 years, 4 months ago.
