Bone mets question

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wrsmith2x
wrsmith2x Member Posts: 410
Bone mets question

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  • wrsmith2x
    wrsmith2x Member Posts: 410
    edited May 2010

    The day I received my cancer diagnosis I KNEW when I went to see the doctor that he would give me good news.  I KNEW in my heart and mind and soul that I was OK.  And as you can see I was wrong.  Now I have a pain in my hip that continues and is getting worse and I KNOW in my heart and mind and soul that this is bone mets.  I haven't been to see my doctor yet......I have an appointment on June 1st....but I still feel it to be so.  Is it possible that I am wrong again?  Lord, I do hope so.

    I know since I have not been diagnosed that I should not feel this way.......I can't help it.  I have already started thinking about what I will do when he tells me that I am now Stage 4.  Am I absolutely nuts?

    I know that being an early Stage BC survivor that the odds are greatly in my favor to never have to deal with this again.  But I also know that with this pain something is not right in my body.

    My question is:  For those of you who have bone metastases........did it sneak up on you?  Did you feel it?  Did you have pain?  What type of pain did you have?  Did you have a bad feeling about the pain?

    Thanks for your help.

  • brena
    brena Member Posts: 458
    edited May 2010

    wrsmith2x,

    I do not have bone mets, but have read several active threads on the stage 4 thread. This is where you will find much information on the who, how, when and symptoms or there lack of.

    wishing you the best and I know it is very hard not to think about what it could be.

    hugs

  • Alpal
    Alpal Member Posts: 1,785
    edited May 2010

    I was having really bad pain in my left shoulder and was not surprised at all when the PET Scan showed bone mets there. But - I was shocked at all the other spots - spine, ribs, pelvis, both arms, both legs. No pain at all in those spots. You are so smart to get this checked out. There are a zillion reasons for hip pain and the odds are that your intuition is wrong this time too. Many Stage IV women report that they had no pain at all when their bone mets were diagnosed. Try to remain calm and do things to take your mind off the upcoming appointment. Good luck!

  • gemo
    gemo Member Posts: 612
    edited May 2010

    I had had hip and back pain r/t arthritis in my spine.  That is pretty much what I chalked the creakiness too.  I also developed a chronic cough but the original lung scans were negative.  I was tested and found to have a lot of allergies especially to molds.  So I don't know when it went from that to the mets.  On or about Labor Day of 2006, I had pain that felt like I had broken a rib.  Had a bone and a PET scan with mets from C3 to the end of my spine, multiple ribs, a small lung lesion, etc. etc.  It is never a bad idea to follow up re:  any symptoms you may have.  ALWAYS think positive thoughts and assume your alright.  Otherwise, the cancer will consume you and you will miss some of lifes best moments.

    Good luck!

  • tibet
    tibet Member Posts: 545
    edited May 2010

    wrsmith2x

    Have you checked out by your dr and made scans? Hope all is fine and pls let us know.

  • Titan
    Titan Member Posts: 2,956
    edited May 2010

    wrsmith..let us know how your appt. goes on the 1st...Where exactly is your pain in your hip?  Does it come and go...does it get worse with exercise?  I'm questioning you about it because back in January I was sweeping with a broom..I mean really sweeping hard...bent over...trying to sweep underneat this sink.anyway..a few days later I could hardly walk...I went to the dr..(didn't wait the 2 weeks) and he said it was muskoskelatal.   that this is this muscle that wraps around your pelvic bone...and he said not to over exert for a couple of weeks...so I rested it...now it is 5 months later..and while it hardly ever bothers me now..it is still there...I have upped my exercise..walking or running 3 miles per day (plus walking backward)..and now it kind of bothers me again...I keep thinking that it never really healed the first time..but then I don't want to rationalize it away because we just can't do it anymore...anyway..I think I'm going to wait one week..try to rest it..take it a little easy and see what happens..if it continues to hurt..I think I will call for a pelvic scan..but I'm freaking out about doing that too!  I know exactly how you are feeling...it may be nothing..or it could be something!  Dang, I hate this...

  • kickingitsass
    kickingitsass Member Posts: 25
    edited May 2010

    Titan (love the name!)

    I've been going through the same thought process. Hip pain that keeps me awake at night, worse when I'm driving, but strangely it's not noticeable when I'm exercising. I tell myself it's because I've been training for some 10K runs. I remind myself I had achy hips before the BC. But there's always that what-if.

    Today I saw my surgeon for the 1-year-post check and mentioned the hip pain, but he was more concerned about a hard little lump on the mastectomy side. An ultrasound and three needle cores later, we never got back to talking about the hip. Now a week of waiting and wondering if I would be willing to go through more treatment. Has anyone noticed if there's a board here for folks who decide not to do a repeat performance? Several women I know have said "Never again!" and that's been my immediate response as well. I'm all for quality of life, more than quantity. But I suppose that may change with whatever news I get next week. At any rate, glad to find I'm not alone in this limbo lifeboat.

    Salud, amigas!

  • vbabey
    vbabey Member Posts: 48
    edited June 2010

    so understand what everybody is going thru, I have only just finished radiation and don't even finish reconstruction until sept! I had a scan for tailbone pain which kept getting worse, but nothing showed, my husband said it was probably "skinny butt" syndrome from losing weight due to that awful cisplatin and sitting at work, now my arm aches at night, but it is ok when i get going, i am not going to stress about this, I think it is nothing and will wait until I am to go for my scheduled scan.  Wondering if this is what life will be, picking apart every little pain. Aren't the scans bad for us?  I do try to think positive thoughts every day and thank God I am comfortable and much loved...my friends will comment on my good attitude that they see, but they don't really feel the terror I sometimes feel...but, things could be worse, right?  

    wrsmithX2 what is going on with you? Are you OK?   

    Thinking of you all! Good nite! 

  • wrsmith2x
    wrsmith2x Member Posts: 410
    edited June 2010

    Had xray....it showed nothing.  Did a prednisone taper and other than make me put on weight it did nothing either.  Finally got an MRI scheduled for next Monday.  Will post results next week.  Have decided if they find nothing on MRI then I will head to chiropractor and see if he can help.  Pain is pretty bad though and is with me all the time.  Hurts when I sit, drive, walk, all the time.  Sometimes it aches so badly that I want to cry.  800mg Ibuprofens barely touch it sometimes and really help other times.  Weird.  I hope they find nothing but then I want to know what it is.  I pray that we will all be well.  Thanks for all positive thoughts.  Sending them back your way also.

  • tibet
    tibet Member Posts: 545
    edited June 2010

    Wrsmith2x

    Good luck with your scan. Finger crossed for you!! Prayer and love to you.

  • wrsmith2x
    wrsmith2x Member Posts: 410
    edited June 2010

    Good news!  No cancer!  It seems that I have a cartilage tear in my hip.  Not sure what that means but am glad its not cancer!  Thanks for the answers and well wishes.  I sure am glad I have this place to come to where folks understand what one is going through. 

    I pray for a day very soon when pain and suffering is no more.

  • Scooter-12
    Scooter-12 Member Posts: 33,398
    edited June 2010

    Great news.  This is probably the only place where people are happy about a cartilage tear.  lol!!   So happy for you.

  • Meggy
    Meggy Member Posts: 530
    edited October 2010

    Why didn't they do a bone scan?  But congratulatios on the cartilage tear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • ravdeb
    ravdeb Member Posts: 3,116
    edited August 2013

    I'm bumping this up. Here's my story:

    At my 6-month check up in July my onc felt something at my scar and sent me for an ultrasound.

    The radiologist didn't see anything on the US but took a biopsy of the area anyway and it came back negative.

    She sent me for breast MRI. The breast MRI lit up on the ribs under my affected side.

    She asked if I had ever had a fracture. Answers is no.

    I was sent for an x-ray. Then sent to an orthopedic onc to look at MRI and x-ray. This was last week. He said he couldn't tell what it was but the x-ray tech wrote that there was a thickening on the ribs.

    He is now sending me for a CT (on Sunday) and a bone scan (on Monday).

    Am scared but then I started thinking that with TNBC..it's not all that common to get bone mets. If it is going to spread, I think it spreads to soft organs.

    Does anyone know anything about that or know of somebody with TNBC with bone mets?

  • mitymuffin
    mitymuffin Member Posts: 337
    edited November 2010
    Ravdeb, look at this article from the New England Journal of Medicine. Only 10% of TNBC mets are to the bones:
    http://library.constantcontact.com/doc203/1102824137592/doc/ZIg66QljIBILLpA9.pdf
  • ravdeb
    ravdeb Member Posts: 3,116
    edited November 2010

    thanks. good article. and up to date, I think. and that's what I thought...I mean I thought that it went to soft tissues first...

    However...it is also more common for younger women to be diagnosed with TNBC and I was 50 when diagnosed!

  • mitymuffin
    mitymuffin Member Posts: 337
    edited November 2010

    Ravdeb, I understand your feeling about statistics. I was 59, normal weight, exercised hours every day and a was vegetarian  with no family history of BC, when diagnosed.

  • ravdeb
    ravdeb Member Posts: 3,116
    edited November 2010

    yep..me, too. I exercised and still do, have never been overweight in my life, I have been eating a low fat diet all my life as well and all those other things for TNBC! I'm a vegetarian now and have been for over 2 years now. However, I rarely ate meat anyway. I just added a little bit of fish now and then to my diet recently.

    So, I don't go with the stats. They are good when studying the disease but we are not really numbers and there are a lot of women on the boards here who don't fit into it, like us.

    ho hum... waiting for the scans and then will wait for the results....

  • tibet
    tibet Member Posts: 545
    edited November 2010

    Ravdeb

    Hope the result is good....pls let us know and prayers and good luck to you. Newalex

  • tibet
    tibet Member Posts: 545
    edited November 2010

    mitymuffin

    Thanks for the article. Do you know what stages of the triple negative patients they took for the study mentioned in the article?

    Ravedeb,

    Have you got bone scan results? Pls update and hope it was b 9. 

  • ravdeb
    ravdeb Member Posts: 3,116
    edited November 2010

    newalex.

    no bone scans results. no ct results.. they take forever! It's been less than a week. I will be back in the hospital for my routine mammo and ultrasound on Monday. Will check then. Thanks for asking.

  • tibet
    tibet Member Posts: 545
    edited November 2010

    Usually the bone scan results can be out within 15 minutes after the scan. I usually do PET/ CT scan. Insurance never gave a problem if prescribed by doctor and PET/ CT scan i read is more accurate than bone scan and PET/CT scan is also two tests at one piece and can very accurately detect the differences between b 9 changes and maligent changes. And results of PET is within 3 hours post scan.

    Good wishes and let us know.

  • ravdeb
    ravdeb Member Posts: 3,116
    edited November 2010

    newalex..

    not here where I live. It takes a long time to get results. I know that technically, results could be in earlier. They told me at least a week. i actually checked yesterday and the results were not in. If it were an emergency or if I were hospitalized, then yes.. But this is not considered an emergency. I need to waaaiiiiittttt......

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