Freaking out - Advice Needed

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heathermcd
heathermcd Member Posts: 142
edited June 2014 in Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned

My spine has been feeling "odd" lately. I'm not going to say that its painful perse, but my actual spine feels like it has added pressure on it in one area. It is sore with pressure in one spot if I run my finger down my back.I haven't done anything out of the ordinary to cause a muscle strain, etc....Does this sound like it might be mets? I'm scared out of my mind. Is there any way to determine this without doing more scans? I had a clean PET in July of 2010.

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  • lago
    lago Member Posts: 17,186
    edited May 2011

    Heather don't freak out. Good chance you are fine. In the past two months I have had to walk a few friends down for the cliff thinking they had mets because of persistant headaches, bone pain in arm etc. They were both fine. I even read one gal thought she had skin mets when it ended up being shingles. (Granted shingles hurts like hell but it really is a blistery rash).

    We all get scared. Here are a few links below that talk about symptoms. If your symptoms persist, don't get better or get worse for longer than 2 weeks I would report this to your onc.

    My feeling about mets is unless someone tells me I got it I don't think I do. If something isn't right in my body I get it checked out. We are going to get aches and pains as we age. Doesn't mean its mets.

    http://www.novartisoncology.com/patients-caregivers/what-is-cancer/bone-metastasis-symptoms.jsp  

    http://www.cancer.med.umich.edu/cancertreat/tissue_bone/bonesymptoms.shtml  

    But like I said be sure to check with your onc if the symptoms persists.

    BTW are you still doing Herceptin?

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  • heathermcd
    heathermcd Member Posts: 142
    edited May 2011

    Thanks Iago. Scares me to death! Everytime I move I feel that "pressure" and I think to myself that it must be a tumor pressing on my spine. I'm so paralyzed with fear from this whole cancer thing that i'm afraid to even mention it to my oncologist because I don't want to confirm my worst fears. I see him on Thursday for Herceptin so i'll talk to him then and just tell him that i'm about to go off the deep end.  I won't finish Herceptin until September, so i'm still doing that and i'm on Tamoxifen now. Hopefully those two are enough to keep the cancer at bay and hopefully this discomfort is just a result of sleeping funny or sitting on a plane for 7 hours. Undecided

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  • AmyIsStrong
    AmyIsStrong Member Posts: 1,755
    edited May 2011

    My husband and I went on a car trip last fall. Afterwards I started noticing persistent aching in one hip. I was convinced it was cancer that had returned in the bone. But I did make the connection with all that sitting in the car and decided to reevaluate after two weeks. And by then, it had totally disappeared and I forgot all about it. I am voting for residual pain from sitting on the plane and in all those airports waiting around.

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  • ICanDoThis
    ICanDoThis Member Posts: 1,473
    edited May 2011

    Believe me, I get it.

    But I really like the zebra theory of medicine - if you hear hoofbeats, the most likely answer is a horse. Not that it can't be a zebra, but most times ...

    If it still bothers you in a couple of weeks, call your onc, but consider going to your chiropractor (yep, backs are wonderful things) or primary care physician to see if it could be one of the dozens of other possibilities. I had horrible, persistent hip pain for several weeks, and went it to see my orthopedist -- she offered me a bone scan, based on my history, but said it sounded like it could be bursitis, and here was the course of treatment for that. Turned out that it was bursitis, and I saved this poor old body an additional dose of radioactive stuff.

    In the meantime, be gentle with yourself.

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  • Rachel1
    Rachel1 Member Posts: 363
    edited May 2011

    I just started getting a pain between my shoulder blades and have been freaking out all day about mets. It has helped reading these posts.

    Hope you are feeling better Heather (we have similar stats and were dx around the same time).

    Thanks, ladies for posting.

    Rachel

    _________________________

    DX 5/2010 IDC 4.5, grade 3, lymph node involvement, ER+, BRCA+ 

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  • heathermcd
    heathermcd Member Posts: 142
    edited June 2011

    So, its been a few weeks and I've gone to see a chiropractor. Honestly, my entire back hurts right now. It feels like all of the muscles on both sides are tightened and its causing my spine to feel sore....my concern is still mets. My chiropractor says my muscles are extremely tight and I'm out of alignment. My oncologist says he's confident it isn't mets because of my clean PET...but do I need to request a bone scan? I feel like at certain times of the day I can let go and tell myself that I'm just having pain - but I'm only 27 years old so its unlikely that this is just wear on my body. Can Tamoxifen cause back pain??

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  • yellowdoglady
    yellowdoglady Member Posts: 349
    edited June 2011

    Stress is not our friend.

    Still, if you continue to worry, bring it up and have it checked out.  A year or so ago, I swung around in my chair and felt a stabbing pain to my side.  Brought it up next visit to the oncologist.  Went for test after test and was ready to go into surgery to cut the thing out, but it was really clear in the CT that was intended to mark the spot that I had just cracked a rib and it was healing up just fine.

    Not everyone is as lucky, but not every ache and pain is cancer.  Mine was telling me the chemo had weakened my bones and I needed to strengthen them.  Be sure to ask if Zometa is right for you... 

      

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  • yellowdoglady
    yellowdoglady Member Posts: 349
    edited June 2011

    Heather,

    A bone scan is far less precise than a PET.  It's usually used as a screen to decide if you should have a PET.  Same with x-rays.

    If chiropractic adjustment doesn't work, go back and see what else could be amiss.  But if alignment and nice hot baths and stretching those tight muscles works, you could be just like most of us who worry too much.

    Good luck to you. 

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  • heathermcd
    heathermcd Member Posts: 142
    edited June 2011

    Thanks again ladies...I appreciate it. Every little pain makes me believe that this is the end of my Stage 2. Ug. I just need to relax and celebrate while I can and stop waiting with baited breath for the pain that doesn't go away. So glad I have this board- I'm not sure how women survive without this support!

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  • kitkat04
    kitkat04 Member Posts: 38
    edited June 2011

    heathermcd.  Question. what surgeries did you have and did you get radiated?

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  • lago
    lago Member Posts: 17,186
    edited June 2011

    I was in a car accident when I was 32 that messed my neck a bit. 4 years later my back started to bother me. It was because of my neck. It can happen at a young age too.

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  • RetrieverMomNancy
    RetrieverMomNancy Member Posts: 84
    edited June 2011

    Heather,

    Believe it or not, bone mets don't always hurt. I'm NED now, but have had "extensive" bone mets at times and never felt a thing. I asked my onc to NOT point out the problem areas, because I knew I'd start feeling something funny. Our minds are our own worst enemies at times. I was on Tamoxifen last summer while on a chemo break and I had dreadful bone pain in my hips and back. I felt like an old lady! My onc added Celebrex and it helped, but within a week or two after stopping, I felt like my own self again.

    How often do Stage II gals get PET scans? I get them every three months, so we know if the current meds are working, but I don't know how often is normal. Once a year doesn't seem out of line, especially if there is a concern.

    Just my two cents. Best of luck to you and really try not to let the stress get to you. None of us know when our lives will end and if I have a choice, I want to live until I die.

    Nancy

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