Worried about sister and bone mets

LizM

Hi all,

I haven't posted in a while but was a regular poster after my diagnosis with stage IIB bc in 2005 and posted regularly for several years.  Funny sometimes how we put the bc fear in a little box and it doesn't take much for it to come back out.  Anyway,  I am worried about my sister who was also diagnosed with stage IIb but in 2004.  She is undergoing an MRI on her back today but many symptoms brought her to this point.  She has had tons of back problems for many years which I think makes it harder sometimes to get tests done for bone pain but a couple of months ago she had a serious bout with loss of bowel control that landed her in the hospital.  The doctors couldn't find anything.  Then about a month ago she started having serious problems controling her urge to urinate (loss of bladder contorl) and her doctors didn't put two and two together.  Then a couple of weeks ago she found a lump on her back and went to her oncologist and her oncologist recommended an MRI of her back.  Since that time I have done research and realized that when a tumor or possibly a herniated disk compresses the spine it can cause loss of bowel and bladder control.  If I could figure that out in 5 minutes on the internet I am wondering why her regular doctors (internist and urologist) could not put two and two together.  I am hoping that my sister just has a herniated disk because she has a lot of troubles with her back and a herniated disk can also compress the spine causing loss of bladder and bowel control.  However, the lump has me quite worried that it may be bone mets.  Does any of this sound familiar to anyone.  My sister does not go online or do any research on bc.  I have been the one to do research for the both of us.   

SpunkyGirl

LIz,

It's so hard not to think of recurrence when something like this happens, but with your sister's history she could very well be dealing with a herniated disc or other back issue.  Try not to jump to conclusions too early, be there for her, and stay on the doctors until they figure it out.  I hope that the news is far better than you expect.

Hugs

Bobbie

LizM

Thanks Spunky - trying to stay positive.  Spoke to my sister this morning and she had the MRI yesterday.  The tech took views for about 30 minutes without contrast dye and then the tech asked the radiologist if he/she needed to do more views with the contrast dye and the radiologist said no more were necessary so she was sent home and is now waiting on results.  Don't know if that is a good or bad thing that did not need to do the test with contrast dye.  Now the waiting begins.