What is abnormal bone pain?

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  • dsub
    dsub Member Posts: 37
    edited August 2009

    When reading these posts I re-question my aches and pains. On my recent Pet scan, due to hip bone pain, there was "Arthritis in my left knee, hands, ribs (several ribs broke when i fell during chemo aug "08) and neck. nothing showed up for my hips pain. My question is, On the PET scan, does arthritis show up differenty than mets? How do they know the difference. I had to tell the technician that i thought my knee was arthritis because it had been hurting a lot lately due to the rain.

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  • zap
    zap Member Posts: 2,017
    edited August 2009

    I have been reading all the posts here as I too have had so many aches and pains and I am too "paranoid" about each and everyone of them (especially the ones that don't go away!!!!).  I have had hip and knee pain and only had an x-ray (not even scans) and the report was it was arthritis and no cancer!  Do mets show on a simple x-ray? My doctor said based on my description and the point where it is tender when pressured that I have bursitis which does not show up on an x-ray!  I guess his educated medical guess.  But how do we know?  I am having physical therapy for  the bursitis.  I just pray that this is the case and that they are not planning therapy on what is actually something less benign!

    Regarding  the tests.  Most people with BC are on high alert when it comes to pain and many are just about at the age when arthritis, bursitis, etc, comes into play.  The tests are so expensive and doctors have to monitor how many they order or health care is off the charts.  I am watching this new health care reform o very closely as what we have now is quirky. I wonder if my doctor ordered an x-ray rather than bone scans because I have complained too much in the past with symptoms that ended up being not a problem! Sorta  like I am the one "crying wolf" even though I am reporting what would be unusual pains that have lasted more than a few weeks!

    I would like for someone to explain if x-rays show cancer.

    Thanks

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited August 2009

    I too would be very interested in how they tell what is what on x-ray versus other scans. I have been having multiple pains. I have an appt with primary care doc again next week as she is checking for signs of Reumatoid Arthritis because I have knots on joints in fingers/wrists, but I ache all over my body...some days its all I can do to get out of bed. sometimes when I sit for too long I hurt really badly when I get up and take those first steps.

    Hopefully someone will have an explanation to the xray vs scans before I see her as Im thinking she is going to order more testing for all this pain...

    Jule

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  • KCgiam
    KCgiam Member Posts: 4
    edited August 2009

    Hi Jen  My dx sounds similar to yours.  I'm so glad for your test results. Can i ask you why you were put on carboplatin and aredia?  I have been on herceptin since 03 and many other chemo drugs in combination with it.  Just finished taxotere with the herceptin and am now ixempra with herceptin as a result of increased liver met.  Carobplatin and ardedia have never been mentioned to me. Thanks for the info   KC

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  • slmdavidson
    slmdavidson Member Posts: 127
    edited August 2009

    Mary

    I had similar rib pain on my cancer side.  Felt like it was totally bruised up but you couldn't see anything abnormal.  My doctor said it was probably costochondritis.  It's a less common side effect from radiation.  The cartiladge between the ribs becomes inflamed.  Sometimes it takes weeks to go away, sometimes it never goes away.  It can start a few weeks to years after radiation.  Luckily, I had it for about a month and it's going away now. 

    Laura

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  • vhqh
    vhqh Member Posts: 535
    edited August 2009

    I have a femur met that the bone scan did not pick up on, a PET scan did pick it up and they used a plain old xray to verify the PET scan finding so yes, an xray can identify cancer.  I mowed my grass in early July and have had bad pain in my leg ever since, I thought I had pulled or strained something but no, bone scan picked up some spots on my upper tibia so now I am back on chemo.

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  • 2ndtimearound
    2ndtimearound Member Posts: 15
    edited August 2009

    This week after MRI and CT body Scan along with additional blood work and xrays, I was diagnosed with metatastic bone cancer in the spine (L4 biopsy positive for Estrogen and Progesterone), ribs, and pelvic area.  I have had lumbar problems for the past two years; last year's MRI showed no sign of recurrence of cancer when read locally by a radiologist.  After continued pain that now went to another area in the spine, I sent my films to another facility for a 2nd opinion.  It was there that a red flag was raised about a suspicious area in the films.  The 2nd MRI showed various spots in the lumbar area along with a possible fracture at L5 and the CT showed additional areas in the pelvic and rib and Thoracic area of the spine.  Fractures are a red flag as well as variations in color in the MRI.  A CA125 blood test which is a tumor count along with lower calcium levels, platlets, RBC, WBC are indicators that something is wrong.  Don't ignore bone pain.  I was not aware until last week that bone pain and fractures were red flags for metatatastic cancer.  I was clean for 13 years from lobular cell carcinoma, Stage 2B. 

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