pinched nerve?

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concernedhusband
concernedhusband Member Posts: 5
edited June 2014 in Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned

Hello,

I am writing for my wife, who was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer with considerable lymph node involvement a couple of years ago.  She is post-menopausal (hysterectomy) and on tamoxifen.  All has been going well until two weeks ago today, when she decided to rearrange our closet.  She reported of some soreness then but ignored it but then started to feel more pain this week.  We went to her general doctor who felt that it is a pinched nerve in the back but did call in a X-ray - no results yet.  

Her pain has gotten worse to painful but stable, although we are doing the cold and hot compresses.  She is also taking some pills that were prescribed by the general doctor.  She has trouble staying in any one position, and the pain is constant and in the small of her back.  It does radiate a bit to the right and towards her hip.  She is unable to crouch and has trouble bending over as well.  

Being the worrier I am, I decided to check out the posts and am now mortified. Of course, she saw it on my face and I ended up telling her some of what I had read - very silly, I know.  

If there is any help you can provide to walk me down from this state, I would be grateful.  Having little ones with us makes it harder for me to bear of any negative diagnosis.

thanks,

Very concerned husband 

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  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited March 2011

    It sounds very much like a herniated disk to me, but of course, I'm not a doctor. The x-ray results will help define what is going on, but further testing would probably be needed. I had 3 disks rupture while doing yard work and grabbed on to the fence to hold my position. The ambulance guys had to pry me off the fence and get me on the stretcher. It was agony going over the bumpy ground. The hospital said they would give me morphine every HOUR until I could sit up. When I finally could, I expected them to do a test. They said you can go home now! There is nothing they could do.....

    Pain meds, rest, physio, etc were all that would ease the pain. It's a long road if it's a disk as the fluid that leaks out is what irritates your spinal canal and causes the spasms of pain.

    So, hoping for a disk issue rather than where our minds go when we're already in the cancer world.

    Big hugs and keep us posted here so we know how she's doing.

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  • nancyh
    nancyh Member Posts: 2,644
    edited March 2011

    You are such a sweet husband.  

    I am not a medical expert (other than being a graduate with honors from the School of Hard Knocks, haha), but your wife's symptoms do not sound like a recurrence of cancer to me.  When my cancer came back I had pain in my back, but it was completely unexplained (no reorganizing of the closets, etc.).  It was very odd pain, in the middle/upper part of my back, persisted for months, and was often worse in the middle of the night, waking me up from sleep at 2am.

    Obviously you'll want to have her follow up with her doctor since she had stage 3 cancer and you need to take aches and pains seriously.  Hoping it will be nothing sinister and will get better with rest.  Take care,

    NancyH 

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  • Mazy1959
    Mazy1959 Member Posts: 1,431
    edited March 2011

    Concerned, I hope its nothing major but you are wise to be concerned. Even if nothing shows on the xray, please call your oncologist and they most likely will do more scans etc. Where I live if you present with such pain and have had breast cancer, they start scanning. I have bone mets in my 5th lumbar vertebrae. I had been having severe foot pain for a couple weeks but blamed it on my new position at work. I worked on friday and was off till tuesday. Monday evening, I started having a very bad back ache in the small of my back. I took OTC drugs,blamed it on housework and used ice etc. It got worse as it got later. I woke up at 2 am to go to the bathroom and my legs gave out. Hubby took me to ER and they automatically did xray and scheduled CT and MRI. My tumor was large and it showed on the regular xray but they said usually they do not. So please...since you are already worried like crazy...call her oncologist. Dont get mad at me if it turns out to be nothing. Mine came on fast and sudden and my onc says that is normal. She said most times, it just kinda pops up with super pain even tho its been there awhile. I pray its nothing and hope to hear back soon. God bless, Mazy

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  • concernedhusband
    concernedhusband Member Posts: 5
    edited March 2011

    As always, I am humbled and honored with the care that you all take in replying to posts such as mine and which range such a variety of topics. Of course, breast cancer introduces so many new dimensions to our lives. Before my wife was diagnosed, we were only vaguely aware of the disease and its implications (falsely assuming that it was fully curable and only an inconvenience), that the surgery was simple, that reconstruction always worked, that there was no such thing as lymphedema, and - most importantly - niggles and aches and flashes were for those in their 90s.  As my wife nears her third anniversary from diagnosis and moves further away from chemotherapy and radiation, every discomfort is recorded by both of us with extra care and with extended caution.  

    That being stated, thank you barbe1958, nancy, and mazy for your generous answers.  I wanted to make sure to write back with my wife's exam results.  The primary care physician wrote back to state that there was likely a herniated disk, as per the X-ray, and that nothing else was encountered.  The report stated something about "wear and tear" as well.  Also, the oncologist's nurse called, agreeing that there is nothing unusual in the X-ray, and that it is likely a disk problem.  My wife's oncologist and primary care doctor are in the same network and have access to the tests and scans via the network.  I specifically asked the nurse if we needed to do any other tests, such as a bone scan or MRI, but she disagreed completely, stating that nothing warranted the tests (normally, they are very quick to order such tests, so that allayed a lot of my concerns).

    We are not taking this lightly, especially as per Mazy's post, and will continue to monitor my wife's progress.  But, we feel largely relieved and are hoping that we can be of help with others worried about their condition as you were with ours.  Thank you again! 

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  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited March 2011
    Thanks for letting us know what you heard. Doesn't make it any less painful for your wife though. Make sure she gets a lot of feet rubs to get the ciruclation back up through her spine so that when you rub her neck it can meet coming back down! Laughing
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  • Mazy1959
    Mazy1959 Member Posts: 1,431
    edited March 2011

    Concerned, Thank you so much for getting back to us. Each doctor has his/her own protocol. I hope they are right and its just a herniated disk (not trying to diminish the seriousness of that). I do get worried easily over such things. Thx, Mazy

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  • apple
    apple Member Posts: 7,799
    edited March 2011

    another hallmark of this disease is that every ache and every pain is first a sign of cancer and then what it is, in our minds.

    my best to you, your wife... and the little ones.

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