Pain
If your parent is in pain from cancer or cancer treatments, there may be some ways to lessen it. There are many medicines to help lower or get rid of pain. Talk with your doctor to learn about medicine that can help. Ask what other things, like massage or acupuncture, could also help. Remember, being in less pain will help your parent cope by feeling stronger and better.
To get the most of pain medicine:
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Ask how much pain medicine your parent should take. Make sure they take the right amount of medicine at the right time, on a consistent basis.
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Ask when to take the pain medicine. Take the pain medicine on time. If your parent takes the pain medicine too late, it may not work as well.
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Don't stop taking the pain medicine unless the doctor tells you to.
Call the doctor or nurse if:
- The pain isn't getting better or going away
- The pain comes on quickly
- Your parent feels new pain
- The pain medicine is not working as fast or for as long as it used to
Keep track of the pain. Each day, help your parent keep track, in writing, any pain they feel. This will help your doctor to manage the pain. Write down this type of information:
- Are there certain times of the day when the pain is worse?
- Are there activities or movements that make the increase the pain?
- Are there activities that your parent is unable to do because of the pain?
- Is the pain is dull, sharp, burning, shooting, throbbing?
- Rank pain on a scale of 1 to 10, where "10" is the most pain and "1" is the least pain
- Things that make the pain feel worse (and what makes it feel better)
It is normal for the body to get used to the pain medicine. It may not work as well as it did at first. This is called "tolerance." It happens to many people. If this happens to your parent, your doctor may change their pain medicine or change the way they take it.