Pain Clinic
Pain may be caused by a number of things, including your cancer, treatment, or an unrelated medical problem. Most pain can be treated with medication or treatments such as physical therapy. Your physician and nurse will help you find the best possible way to control your pain. On occasion this may involve an expert from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) Pain Clinic, which specializes in managing complex pain related to cancer.
Cancer pain care needs to be carefully coordinated. It requires careful follow-up of issues and medications that can complicate a patient’s overall care. Cancer pain changes frequently, is complex, and can be addressed by many different care professionals. This contrasts with chronic pain, which remains relatively stable over time and can be managed by one or two physicians.
Pain Clinic services
Pain Clinic staff manage complex pain related to solid tumors, bone marrow transplant, and a variety of hematological conditions. Staff includes registered nurses, a registered nurse practitioner, clinical pharmacists, as well as an anesthesiologist, pain specialist, and medical director, Dermot R. Fitzgibbon, MD. You may speak to a Pain Clinic nurse to discuss pain issues or make an appointment.
How can we treat your pain?
Your pain can be treated or managed in many ways, including relaxation techniques, cold packs, physical therapy, over-the-counter medication, or prescription narcotics.
As a patient at SCCA you have the right to: be informed about pain and pain management; have your pain treated promptly; and have health care providers who believe your report of pain.
Your health care team relies on you to: describe and rate your pain; ask about pain management; discuss options; ask for pain relief when you first experience pain; inform your doctor if your pain treatment is not working; and work with your doctors develop a treatment plan for you.
Emergency signs and symptom
Call 911 immediately if you have:
- Severe chest/arm pain
- Severe squeezing or pressure in chest
- Severe sudden headache
Urgent signs and symptoms
Call your SCCA clinic or the after-hours phone number NOW if you experience:
- New or uncontrolled pain
- New headache
- Chest discomfort or heart “flip-flop” feeling
- Pounding heart
- Painful central line site or area of “tunnel”
- Burning in chest or stomach
- Strong stomach pain
- Pain with infusion of medications or fluids into central line