how to not over-react?

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guitarGrl
guitarGrl Member Posts: 697
edited June 2014 in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

The last week, I've been having hip pain. For the most part, I've been ignoring it - it's got to be arthritis given my age and (over) weight. But for one day I had this horrible it's mets to the bone panic.

How is a person to know the difference. When do you panic vs. just deal with the other stuff of growing old?

susan 

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  • FloridaLady
    FloridaLady Member Posts: 2,155
    edited May 2009

    As a cancer survivor we never know what is truly are every day issues aging and even like bronchitis scare that I had last week.  This really sucks doesn't it?  I would have it checked out...the one good things about TN is it rarely goes to bone as a first met. I also would have a bone density test done if you have not had one in two years.  Chemo/rads can hurt our bone density for years.

    One more note...not to get personal...but make sure you are not constipated.  Even if you are going you may not be going enough.  Many of use had this scare and this was our issue.

    Flalady

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  • guitarGrl
    guitarGrl Member Posts: 697
    edited May 2009

    we are all personal on these boards by definition. The one thing I am NOT is constipated. Flying home today and I had to trade my usual window seat for an aisle one ...

    For something like this, do you call the onc or just the PCP? 

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  • BMD
    BMD Member Posts: 1,492
    edited May 2009

    GuitarGrl-You pcp with probably want an x ray and onc would probably want a scan. Call them both just to be sure. Sorry you are in pain. It is probably just the age thing combined with having chemo and radiation. You are certainly not over weight girl.

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  • kgpfield
    kgpfield Member Posts: 11
    edited May 2009
    FlaLady-  I see that you have had quite a history with mets and I am so sorry about that...talk about getting knowledge the hard way!  Anyway, you said that tn mets do not usually go to the bone first....so where do they go??  I have had a pain under my rib for about a week now, gets worse at night.  Doesn't actually feel like a bone pain, more like a pulled muscle.  I have taken pain pills and tylenol and it doesn't help.  I am worried it might be lung mets??  I am one of those people tho that will probably worry about every pain now that I have been down this cancer road!
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  • FloridaLady
    FloridaLady Member Posts: 2,155
    edited May 2009

    Hi Kgpfield,

    Yes, my mets do seem to go on and on...but I still have no organ/bone mets and this is rare after four years.  TN does tend to want to go with liver or lung.  We also have a higher rate of brain mets after a few years of being Stage IV. 

    I see your dx date ....what kind of surgery did you have? rads?  Both of these treatments cause damage to the cartilage that are around the ribs and breast bone. (there is a name for this that I can never remember.) You may need to do some physical therapy or even get one of the lymphedema tapes that show great range of movement gentle exercise that help break up the damage tissue and I found this helped me a lot. I have problems in this area off and on since my surgery.

    Flalady

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  • kgpfield
    kgpfield Member Posts: 11
    edited May 2009
    I had a lumpectomy, tumor 1.7 cent. 7 lymph nodes.  I have my last chemo on Thurs and will start rads around the second week of June.  I have a spot on my liver that they don't think is anything but are doing a scan on to be sure next week.  I also have a couple of spots on my lung that they believe are granulomas but they are going to check them too.  So at least I won't have to wait too long to find out if it is anything.  I guess the thing that worries me about every little ache or pain is that I am grade three and tn.  Even though my tumor was small and I am only stage 1 my onc said that my tumor was very aggressive (kind of a big things come in small packages kind of thing!)  What stage were you at initial diagnosis or have you always had mets?
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  • guitarGrl
    guitarGrl Member Posts: 697
    edited May 2009

    Brenda - I'm going to do something tonight that I stupidly haven't done yet - take some tylenol & see if it helps. I just did some reading on bone mets on the internet & given that the pain is the worst when I lie on my side, it's probably bursitis. I'll give it a couple more days to see if it settles down.

    kgpfield - all TN tumors are aggressive - that's the problem with them. We are cursed in a way that non-TN people aren't. 

    susan 

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  • Shirlann
    Shirlann Member Posts: 3,302
    edited May 2009

    Hi sisters, I am almost 11 years out of treatment and have had horrible hip pain for months.  I had an x-ray, they said nothing, but am going to an ortho soon.  I will let you know what happens.

    Hugs, Shirlann

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  • guitarGrl
    guitarGrl Member Posts: 697
    edited May 2009

    yes definitely! 

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  • FloridaLady
    FloridaLady Member Posts: 2,155
    edited May 2009

    I was stage IIIb with a 10cm tumor.  My tumor grow even through ACT chemo and triple in size while on this dose dense chemo...so you can't always go by me. Because my disease continue to grow while on chemo it touch my skin and spread to IBC while I was in radiation.  I've never had a clear scan since. I've had months of just small chest wall tumors and than a year and half ago it returned in my skin very aggressively. I'm still just treated as most TN ladies.

    I also have a place in my liver that my first oncologist said was damage from a bacteria that formed some kind of a blood clot that stays the same.  I'm always quick to tell a new doctor what it is before they panic at my scan results.  As for lungs  there are all kinds of things that leave damages area's of the lungs. I also have a scar on my right lung for rads that got to close to it. It's very rare but I'm doing hyperthermia with radiation right now.  I've done nine different chemos and none worked so now I'm trying to manage my skin with this for the time being.  As you see there are many different ways that TN reacts to different people.  A lady in my support group was TN two years ago and just had a recurrence as her2+.  Who knows?? I hate to say it but my doctor hoped my recurrences what her2+....means more drug options.

    Flalady

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