Scared!!! It may be bone mets!

paulachiz

Hi Sisters,

I have been searching the boards and really haven't found what I am looking for. I have just finished my last rads, but right after chemo i began getting hip pain, at first it was on and off and now it is there all the time. Sometimes radiates down my right leg. I am unable to sleep because no matter what side I lie on it hurts. This also happens when sitting. My Onc sent me for xrays, didn't give me any results then a bone scan still haven't got hose results and now I am scheduled for a ct scan,, I am unable to get a n MRI because I have tissue expanders in. My question for you ladies is,

1) The on going tests are just to rule it out?

2) Or did they see something and that is why I have the continues tests.

Please share any thing similar with me so I do not go out of my mind with all this waiting. I figured that the xray pobably would have should nothing, but just concerned with the on going tests.

By the way I am on Tamoxifen and did have AC/T 35 rads completed yesterday and tylenol, motrin advil nothing relieves the pain, I am 45 yrs old and active as I have a 12 year old daughter

Thanks in advance for your replies and hugs to all my sisters.

ziggypop

Hi Paula, I'm sorry that you're going through this - it has to be incredibly scary. I don't think that anybody could for sure give you the answer to your questions - the only thing that seems a 'for sure' is that right now they have NOT found anything that conclusively tells them that you have bone mets. So hopefully your doc is being very cautious & making sure that there is noting there.

One thing that your pain does sound like is:

Sciatica, a painful inflammation of the sciatic nerve, is typically experienced on one side of the body, and can travel from your lower back down your leg to your feet or even toes. Sciatica is difficult to diagnose and sometimes goes away on its own.

I had this for awhile and it started in my hip - felt very deep & was extremely painful. It lasted for months & then someone suggested to me that it might be sciatica and I found some exercises online and it completely went away in a few days. You might want to try them - it couldn't hurt. ((((hugs)))

paulachiz

Thanks Ziggypop,

I had thought of this and was going for pjysio but after a while I was feeling no relieve and the more work we did a physio the worst the pain got, I am unable to walk without a limp and going to the mall i can't even walk the whole mall. I think I forgot to mention that it is both hips and pelvis area. The physio therapist suggested I wait for all the results and WHEN it is not mets he will work on other things with me.

Your reply made me feel a lot better and I appreciate that it could be something else and that is the mindset I will be until I hear different. The pain is so bad, but I refused the pain meds because i here so much about addiction.

Thanks again Paula

ziggypop

No problem Paula, I really hope that it turns out to not be mets. I have a diagnosis similar to yours so even without having tests done I worry about 'things' & the fact that I could be stage IV and just not know it. It's got to be really hard when you're having test done. Maybe you should go ahead and accept the pain meds, if nothing else so that you can get some sleep. They are good about only giving you a script for so many at a time so that you don't overdo & I've found that I can often break them in half & get a little relief. The other thing is to ask your doc for some anti-anxiety meds - just to get you through the tests. I think that we have to give ourselves permission to use meds to treat pain, anxiety, or to get sleep, because it is in a way part of taking care of ourselves. If nothing else, please be gentle with yourself - warm baths and watching movies (happy ones) or treating yourself to a shopping trip - things that are for you.

Lauriesh

I did have hip pain ( before I had mets) and had x- rays. From the x- ray they could tell it was arthritis and not bone mets. Maybe they didn't see anything, so are doing other scans to be sure.

I don't understand why you didn't get any results. I would be insisting to know what they found/ didn't find before having more scans.

Laurie

paulachiz

Thanks Ziggy & Laurie,

I will accept the offer of meds for pain and anxiety. Laurie when I speak with the nurse she stated that the dr wanted all the results before we have an appt.

This is an excellent ONC I think I am just becoming a worry wart.

The advice from the both of you have eased my mind somewhat and the CT scan is on the 11th so I am pretty sure I will have the results by the end of next week.

I just find it odd that I was treated with Chemo April 2013 - Aug 2013, rads just finished thursday and have been on tamoxifen since August how could mets grow if I have just completed all my treatment? Because of this, a part of me just feels it is OA but I feel too young to have that......this BC is driving me crazy I just want to go back to being well.

Thinking of you all in my prayers Paula

NancyHB

Paula - I've been experiencing similar pain and have been ordered a bunch of tests so I typed them in to the search engine, and your message popped up! So I thought I'd respond. I'm sorry you're going through all of this - wouldn't it be nice to just go back to "being normal" again?

I had my x-ray on Tuesday morning, and my onc NP called yesterday morning with the results - all clear - but she still said I needed the bone scan on Friday "just to be safe". Not sure why you haven't gotten the results of your x-rays yet; have you considered contacting the radiation department and asking for a copy of the results? In the rest of the world, "no news is good news" but for those of us worried about recurrence, no news often makes us think, "oh crap..."

I'm curious - what is the difference between the bone scan and x-ray? What does one show that the other doesn't? Or does the scan merely confirm the x-ray? I haven't gotten that answer yet...

On a side note - I finished chemo 18 months ago and started Tamoxifen right away. I had lots of body and bone pain for several months following the end of chemo - part of it was the chemo, and part of it was the Tamoxifen. I've learned from others here that mets can grow even in the face of treatment - in other words, nothing's a guarantee. So while it's not likely, it is possible.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for good results from all of your scans.