Worried for my wife/ weight loss/ fatigue/ back pain

jmute

April will mark 4 years cancer free but the last 12 months my wife has lost 30 lbs (160 to 130), had back/shoulder pain, and had some pretty bad bouts of fatigue. She's scheduled for a whol body bone scan next Friday. I feel so bad for her, she just took a promotion at work, bought a new car and here we are again 4 years later. Hoping for the best but I'm worried

JoE777

She's doing the right thing to get the scan. Hope all goes well. What type of cance did she have?

jmute

IDC stage 1b, grade 1, 0/12 node involvement, been on tamoxifen for 3 1/2 years. The dr wanted her to get the scan 3 months ago but my wife was focused on work and wasn’t too worried about the weight loss and the fatigue was better at that time. I think it’s mentally wore on her the last few months and she wants one done now. I keep telling myself it could be the tamoxifen as the reason for the symptoms but everything I read says weight loss is one of the telling signs of recurrence.

grainne

Of course you are worried and absolutely right to have the scan. I'm just wondering about the focussing on work you mentioned: is it possible the symptoms are related to stress or overwork?

wallycat

I'm so sorry you are dealing with this. Of course, there is no way to be certain what could be causing her symptoms but just as easily that we go to the ugly place of a recurrence, it could just as likely be something other than cancer. Lots of stomach bugs/loss of appetite going around. Stress from the new promotion. Eating less because of job preoccupation. Exercise. Thyroid (hyperthyroid).

I hope the answer is something simple.

jmute

I know she’s had her thyroid checked and everything cane back fine there. I’m thinking it maybe her getting back to her “normal” weight after 2 rounds of antibiotics and getting off the Effexor from a year and a half ago.

KBeee

Hoping her weight loss is just a result of being busy at work. Let us know how the scan goes. Glad she is being checked.

jmute

She has her bone scan Friday at 3:30 pm, our oldest daughter(18) is going with her thankfully. Hopefully we'll get the results Monday. The only thing that's keeping me sane is that they put her on Effexor (hot flashes) and she gained 30 lbs, she was tired of the way it made her feel so she weened herself off of it and has went back to her weight pre-Effexor.Hoping that and the fact she's been super busy at work (months of 45+ hr weeks) is the culprit. Thanks everyone!!

grainne

Thanks for keeping us in the loop. We are all thinking of you and hoping for great news on Monday.

jmute

Well she finished her scan, said they asked if she had any pain spots or broken bones and she said they seemed to scan her shoulder area extra (where she's having her pain). I'm not sure if that’s good

KBeee

Don’t read into things; arthritis can show up on scans... and also is painful. Praying for good news. Let us know

jmute

They gave my wife her test results today, everything came back good. They said it could be the Effexor, could be the work, but not to think anything suspicious at this point. Said they could run a bunch more tests but the bone scan showed nothing abnormal from her last CT 2 years ago. Thanks everyone for the good vibes

grainne

Wonderful news! Thank goodness. X

ElaineTherese

Awesome news! You both must be so relieved.

KBeee

Great news!