Compression fracture in spine, is it from chemo?

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SAR843
SAR843 Member Posts: 65
edited June 2014 in Bone Health and Bone Loss

Hi everyone - I was diagnosed with IBC on 2/28/12. I've had 8 rounds of chemo, with two more ahead of me. I had a bone scan recently that showed a spot on my spine. The mri showed it to be a compression fracture of one of the vertebrae. I herniated 3 discs about 4 years and found out then that I have spinal stenosis. My dr said I need to have a bone scan to see if I have osteoporosis. I just don't know if it's the chemo that led to bone loss that led to the fracture, or the chemo just made my already crappy back worse. Has anyone else had this type of injury while receiving chemo? I'm so freaked out and afraid to move for fear of making things worse. I'm 30 years old and was very, very active before treatment. I was hoping to get back to my pre-chemo activity level after treatment, but am now afraid I'll never be able to anything except light walking.

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  • peggy_j
    peggy_j Member Posts: 1,700
    edited July 2012

    Sorry to hear you're going through this. I know several people with severe chronic back pain and I know it's not fun. Was the recent MRI the first one for your back or perhaps you had one when you had back problems four years ago? Believe it or not, I know people whose first MRIs showed problem areas from years past which never translated into pain. Sometimes the doctors are able to tell if a problem area is new or if it's something that's been there awhile. This knowledge won't make the symptoms go away, unfortunately, but might answer your question if it's something related to BC tx. FWIW, the test for osteoporosis is usually called a bone density scan (or DEXA scan) which is a different (and uses less radiation) than the bone scan done for cancer patients. Just an FYI because it can be confusing keeping track of all these tests.

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  • SAR843
    SAR843 Member Posts: 65
    edited July 2012

    Hi Peggy - Thanks for responding. I've had other MRIs when I first hurt my back. I was thinking of asking my onc to get a hold of those films to compare. Thanks for the clarification. It definitely gets hard keeping track of all these tests, especially with chemo brain, haha. 

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