Hi @virtuous! I'd like to share some words of hope for your back pain and digestive woes. I had colon cancer at the age of 28 and at that time went through radiation and a colon resection. I'm now 62 yrs old and have not had a relapse of the cancer. Throughout the years I also had lots of digestive problems, lots of times planning my days around where the nearest bathroom was. Nine years ago I had a colon blockage and had emergency surgery to remove my entire large bowel and some of the smaller also. I now live with an ileostomy and deal with dehydration. I have a wonderful team of gastro drs that keep me where I need to be. On top of this, I started having low back pain about 5 yrs ago. I had several rounds of steroid injections which helped me for months at a time. However, the pain always came back so I went to a neuro surgeon who did extensive testing on my spine. I ended up having a disk fusion at the L3/4 level. I have been pain free in that area for almost three years! However, this last July I started having extreme pain in my left buttock and groin area. After a CT scan, I was diagnosed with sacral and pubic fractures. This was caused from osteoporosis. I had a steroid injection in the left sacarilyac joint and am happy to say that I'm again almost completely pain free. The injection was done two weeks ago. I have never had any major adverse reactions to the injections. I hope that if you decide to have the injections, that you get the same results as I did! Good luck on your journey to being as pain free as possible. My thoughts and prayers are with you.