No Pain, really

[BeExcellent]

Here is something interesting. I have a pt dying in her own home with metastatic mesothelioma with NO PAIN. None, zip, de nada. First one like this. She worked with a therapist for a number of years when she found out she had cancer. Is it possible that hypnosis can alleviate pain?? She has loving family caregivers, wrote letters to the grands (kids) became weaker and more confused and took to her bed and is now close to death. All without the usual pain/discomfort. It really is extraordinary. Any thoughts?

[leslie :-D]

i was under the impression that mesothelioma was very aggressive... she's had this for yrs??

and depending where the tumors present themself makes a difference in the magnitude of pain. if it's in the pleural lining, then pts can either get chest pain or dypnea. if it's in the peritoneum, then it can get alot more uncomfortable. that has been my experience anyway. it remains a highly unusual cancer but still, highly aggressive.

i'm thrilled your pt. did not suffer.

leslie

[BeExcellent]

yes, you are right. THAT is what makes it highly unusual. She has had diagnosis a little over two years and used the therapist throughout conventional treatment. She has "seeding" throughout peritoneum with ascites and in plerual space but NO pain. I would not have believed it. I am going to talk to the therapist and see if she used hypnosis.

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

I have a friend who is a counselor and uses hypnotherapy with great results for chronic pain patients, but that's amazing that there's no pain at all. However, the patient would know if she received it. The whole 'You will have no memory of this session' is just a TV thing/myth. Patients can even be taught self-hypnosis.

[CANRN, MSN, RN]

yes, you are right. THAT is what makes it highly unusual. She has had diagnosis a little over two years and used the therapist throughout conventional treatment. She has "seeding" throughout peritoneum with ascites and in plerual space but NO pain. I would not have believed it. I am going to talk to the therapist and see if she used hypnosis.

I am very curious about this DX. My father died of mesothelioma and lived 8 months from day of DX to his death. He was in terrible pain, had tumors growing between his ribs (actually breaking them as they grew) and all this while having radiation (which was palliative to begin with for pain management and possibly to "buy him more time") The only sure way to DX mesothelioma is tissue sample and at the time, his docs said he was too weak to have this done. He did however, want one post mortum for legal reasons and it was confirmed mesothelioma. The docs told us at time of DX the life expectancy then was 6-8 months and they were right on.

Did she have a BX? Just curious. Was she exposed to asbestos?

[BeExcellent]

Update. Pt died today. No pain, nada zip. What you all have said is absolutely true. Pt had full work up with BX and conventional treatment, yes exposure to asbestos, yes post will be required for documentation. Pt was private about her therapy visits and I never thought to ask about hypnosis until she was actively dying. But i plan to contact therapist and ask. I usually struggle to provide comfort with SQ infusions on and on. Not this time. I makes me very curious. One of our Social Workers said another pt with wide spread cancer lived and died beter becasue of massage therapy. What do you think?

(I didn't ge the quote about the salt and margarita. ?Que?)

[CANRN, MSN, RN]

Update. Pt died today. No pain, nada zip. What you all have said is absolutely true. Pt had full work up with BX and conventional treatment, yes exposure to asbestos, yes post will be required for documentation. Pt was private about her therapy visits and I never thought to ask about hypnosis until she was actively dying. But i plan to contact therapist and ask. I usually struggle to provide comfort with SQ infusions on and on. Not this time. I makes me very curious. One of our Social Workers said another pt with wide spread cancer lived and died beter becasue of massage therapy. What do you think?

(I didn't ge the quote about the salt and margarita. ?Que?)

When you find out, let us know. Very interesting!

[Nickle]

You have to have seen the movie (Office Space) to get the quote. Highly recommended, it's one of my faves. If you've ever worked an office job outside of nursing, you'll probably relate. We watch it over and over and over again . . .

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Nickle is correct - highly recommended movie that you'll only relate to if you've been burned out in a dead-end job in the past. Would explain the context of the quote, but I don't want to ruin the movie for those who might see it. A more famous quote (by the same character) is 'Excuse me - have you seen my Swingline stapler?' - but I had to be a little different.

But I digress...

[BeExcellent]

O, i will have to add Office Space to my movie queue. I call the office I visit briefly and painfully, the "caldron of chaos". It is hard to motor in off the hiways and byways to pick up a necessary item or worse yet to be summoned only to stand outside a cubicle until the ENTIRE veggie mix surprise recipe is discussed by the local cubicle creatures. These are the things that make me cranky.

[Angels']

:) BeExcellent

Welcome to allnurses.com

Angels’

[BeExcellent]

Thanks for the welcome. I love all the dancin', smilin' flyin' things on many emails. i bought a bluetooth..not yesterday. And i can't find the time to get groovy with it. I need more than 24h in a day. (Sometimes I just wear it and pretend I know how it works. Does that make me a bad grandma?)