Pain Living with Pain

Pain Management and Improving Quality of Life in Terminally Ill Cancer Patients

One morning, the mother of a terminally ill cancer patient called my office. Her son had renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer), which had spread to his liver and lungs. He was recently discharged from the hospital and was given a very poor prognosis (two to three weeks to live). Since conventional medical treatment failed to control his disease, he was advised to seek hospice care. She realized it was a hopeless situation, but still wanted to know if it was too late to do anything to help her son. I reassured her that it's only too late if you never start. When I entered the home, I observed a young man, who was very pale and suffering from cachexia, the wasting syndrome commonly associated with advanced cancers. (In fact, it is estimated that 40 percent of all cancer patients actually die of malnutrition.) He was nauseous and kept a bucket nearby because he was constantly vomiting. His appetite was almost nonexistent. I noticed his abdomen was swollen, often caused by a buildup of fluid called ascites. This is generally regarded as a sign of liver failure from protein malnutrition and correlated on blood tests with a low serum albumin level. In addition, his bowels had almost ceased to function. However, the most distressing symptom of his disease was the intense pain that even morphine taken every four hours could not alleviate. As a naturopath, I am often called to help terminally ill cancer patients. At this point, my focus is directed toward improving the quality of remaining life. This is where natural healing can provide dramatic results.

Most would agree that few diseases cause such excruciating pain as that experienced by many terminally ill cancer patients. This added suffering contributes to increased stress to both the patient as well as family members. Sometimes death is almost welcomed as the final relief to such an unimaginable degree of suffering. Family and friends console themselves with thoughts that their loved one is finally at peace. Unfortunately, those suffering from advanced cancers find that not only has conventional medicine failed to cure them, but it also offers them few options other than to spend their last days in agonizing pain only partly relieved by strong and toxic drugs.

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