Bone Met in spine

My wife has been diagnosed with spine mets, T11 is the worst of 9 vertebrae with cancer. We are trusting our neuro surgeon with the decisions of if and when to operate. He is working very closly with the oncologist. The T11 is down to 40-50% of original height and is fractured. The neurosurgeon said he is not going to operate yet, but to call him 24-7 if a loss of leg function or severe pain below T11, or no bowel function set in. There is some numbness around th right side that goes around from the back to below the navel. The T11 is impinging on the spinal cord. I am guessing it is good news that the neuro surgeon does not want to operate because that is how he gets paid. The neuro surgeon says to avoid anything that is jarring (jogging etc), but walking moderately is good for it. Swimming will come in after the breast surgery healed. She has been through the radiation, but we were recently told it was radiation resistant and grew 10%. She was on arImadex for 3 weeks and was on XGEVA (bone builder) for one week to help the bone loss. Side effects were minimal, but we are waiting for th blood count to see if we go chemo from here. Note: we have only known about this since March 2012, let me know if you want more updates. Praying for that miracle!

Just by the way you describe your pain, I think the neuro surgeon will find much less damage. By the time they took the MRI for my wife's spine, she was not able to lay in bed anymore. I have prayed for your condition as well!

Well, my wife is doing better with the XGEVA. The Brain scan came back clear, Thank God! She get's the third XGEVA treatment tomorrow and feels a little better with her spine each time. She is sleeping in bed again, Thank God! I hope that you can tell a similar story soon!

Godspeed, Im glad she is feeling better. Spine mets are so disabling sometimes. I only sleep in a bed when theres no choice ( like if we go out of town). When I've had to sleep in a bed, I use alot of pillows to help support.  I slept in a recliner for over 5 yrs and now am sleeping in a sturdy, lumbar spine friendly lawn chair. I know thats weird but sitting in the recliner caused my backside to kinda have a pull on it and was causing pain. Your wife is so blessed to have you. I have a great hubby as well and dont know what I'd do without him. Hugs, Mazy

Thx Heidi LOL

Thx ladies LOL

Well it has been a while. My bone bx came back pos for breast cancer but receptors had changed. It wa ER/PR+ Her2- last time. Now it is ER+ PR- Her2+. I had 17 Rad txs to my spine. Got better pain wise during tx but within 2 weeks pain began to return. Saw my onco at MD Anderson along with a neurosurgeon . He said it was too soon to tell if radiation was going to do its job scheduled for repeat MRI two or three weeks later. About a week and a half later L1 collapsed, I ended up in the ER and am flying to MD Anderson for sugery to remove L1 on Sept 14. In the meantime I also started a chemo regemin that was just FDA approved 6 weeks ago or so. It kicked my but for 2 solid weeks but then if my back was ok I would have been doing pretty well. Had to give up my zero gravity lawn chair. Became to hard to sleep on. Back in recliner but still in bed at night. Hang in there every one, it seems to be a bumpy ride but o have three kids 12, 11, 8 that I intend to stick around and see them grow up!

Fuji, I am glad that the good outweighs the bad.



May your faith in Jesus continue to lift you and light your path.