My mother had a compression fracture in her L4 vertebrae. She was treated with 12 rounds of radiation to reduce the pain and now she is on dex and Velcade weekly. The doctor did not start Revlimid as her blood counts were low. The radiation helped her a lot with pain. Before she was completely bedridden, but now she can do normal daily chores without bending.
My question is how long does it take for the pain to go away completely after radiation is over. Currently sometimes she complains of having pain when she sits or walks in certain position. Also, sometimes she has pain from thigh till behind her knees in some positions.
So just wanted to ask if anyone has experience with spinal radiation, how long did the pain last?
My mother had last round of radiation on 12th December 2015. I remember the radiation oncologist saying it will take some time before the pain goes away completely, but I am still very much concerned.
Also wanted to mention that after 3 rounds of dex and Velcade, the doctor gave a break of 15 days, so that she could go ahead with her cataract surgery in both the eyes. Now again she is back with the treatment.
The oncologist does not believe in any spinal surgery or kyphoplasty as he thinks they are not always successful. And the place she is currently in does not have very reliable spinal surgeons, so I am not pushing for it.
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Re: How much back pain does radiation remove?
Spinal surgery is needed when a neoplasm is endangering the spinal cord. In my dad's case, both the surgery and radiation did lower the pain somewhat, but did not remove it outright.
Where (state/province, or better yet city) does your mom live in?
Where (state/province, or better yet city) does your mom live in?
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Little Monkey - Name: Little Monkey
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Father-stage 1 multiple myeloma
- When were you/they diagnosed?: March/April of 2015
Re: How much back pain does radiation remove?
I also had a compression fracture in the spine L2 which was incredibly painful. I did radiation treatment called radiotherapy. They did it in one visit, no pain at all during the procedure. Regular radiation treatment would have been about 8 visits.
Important to note that the radiation removed the cancer cells but not the majority of the pain. It wasn't until I had the kyphoplasty to repair the L2 that I jumped for joy, literally. To go from a constant back pain for years until peaking with a compression fracture then having the kyphoplasty which transformed my back to totally pain free was priceless to me (other than a copay!).
Important to note that the radiation removed the cancer cells but not the majority of the pain. It wasn't until I had the kyphoplasty to repair the L2 that I jumped for joy, literally. To go from a constant back pain for years until peaking with a compression fracture then having the kyphoplasty which transformed my back to totally pain free was priceless to me (other than a copay!).
Re: How much back pain does radiation remove?
Thanks for the replies. Currently my mother is in India, in a state named Gujarat.
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