Does cancer hurt?
2006-11-27 22:43:15 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Cancer
There are over 200 different types of cancer. Pain depends on the type of cancer and the location in the body. If the tumors are invading tissue or pressing on nerves or engulfing organs or blocking the intestines than it can be painful. But there are cancers that are life threatening but you are also totally asymptomatic.
My son had a stage IV widepred abdominal sarcoma and he had no pain at all. He did have ascitis, which is what finally clued us all in that something wasn't right. Ascitis is when the tumors begin to 'weep' and fluid can fill the abdominal cavity and extremities. This made his stomach bloat and his legs swell. But he was still able to move around normally for quite some time. The only other symptom (in hindsite) was that he would eat two or three bites of food and than feel full or nauseous. Yet when you looked at him he looked fairly normal. At 17 years old it just didn't seem that unusual at the time.
He's been fighting the disease for 20 months now (8 months in remission). Other than when he has had surgery (which he always recovered from within a weeks time) or high dose chemo . . he is uncomfortable with nausea, but not really pain. He always used ativan and zophran to control those symptoms and is off meds when off chemo.
The point is . . that there are many cancer patients other than my son . . who live with their cancer. It could threaten their life at any moment, but you can co-exist and seem quite normal to most people.
2006-11-28 00:32:11 · answer #1 · answered by Panda 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on the type of cancer and the stage it is in. Emotionally it takes it toll on your perception of time. Some people try to speed up their life too much after cancer. My brother has had it twice and he only sleeps about 3-4 hours per night and he is trying to do everything at once. I have had it in a minor form and it make me think that my life was over at a young age. My personality is one that takes life one day at a time while including plenty of sleep and a good diet. I think lung cancer is very painful, I have known a few people that have died from it. To tell you the truth I think life can be very painful.
2006-11-27 22:56:36 · answer #2 · answered by BS 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not all Cancer will show signs until it gets worse. I do believe though that some will start off wil some mild pain, a good website is About.com it has alot of general information and links to other websites If you think you might have cancer do not put it off go see a doctor
2006-11-27 22:48:20 · answer #3 · answered by frigga88 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
from what I can tell , from my family members & friends that have had it YES, it eats away @ the part of the body that it is in (depending what type of cancer) the chemo is very painful too & my Aunt said that when you are on the chemo it's tough to even swallow a pill, due to the pain.
2006-11-27 22:46:16 · answer #4 · answered by start 6-22-06 summer time Mom 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Like an S.O.B. I just lost my dad. He had lung and liver cancer and I kept him on morphine for months before he died. At the end he was just completely doped up on it to keep the pain at bay. It completely sucks.
2006-11-28 02:52:08 · answer #5 · answered by Zelda 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes- i had a brain tumor and had very very very bad headaches. then the chemo makes you even sicker: throwing up, after that my throat was so sore from the medicine and vommiting i could not eat anything. then i found out i had osteoperosis when i had several compression fratures in my back which was the worst pai i have ever had in my life. so yeah it hurts
2006-11-28 03:29:51 · answer #6 · answered by iluvhipos 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's like any other thing in life. You have to go thru it yourself. I mean personally to feel it. Everybody take it differently. it's not a bed of roses. But just having that moral support behind you makes a big different.
2006-11-28 00:11:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋