If you are not Stage IV but have questions, you may post here

Citrinetiff, if you haven't done anything strenuous that may have provoked the back pain -- gardening? rearranging furniture? -- AND if it's lasted a few weeks and you now have worsening pain at night, I would report it to your onc and see if he/she feels any followup is necessary. I wouldn't worry at this point, as it could be so many things. But with your history, I think checking in with your onc or PCP is entirely reasonable.

Good luck, and please let us know what you find out. Hopefully, it's not bc-related, but unexplained pain at night requiring codeine isn't normal and needs to be figured out.

Hi Citrineriff,

I agree, talk to your docs but in the meantime, don't stress. I have chronic issues with lower back pain that got much worse a few years ago after I tried to move a piece of furniture that was too heavy for me. In the last few months I have had to start taking extra strength Tylenol before going to bed as by about 2:00 AM the pain was keeping me awake. I'm doing much better with the pain meds but by morning I can hardly straighten up. I walk like an old man! Another dose of pain meds, sometimes with a muscle relaxer, and I'm okay for the day.

Back pain is a huge problem for most of the population and has nothing to do with cancer. It's really a function of living longer and our sedentary lifestyles. If we worked on core strength all the time we would be much better off!

I posted last week when my Ct showed enlarged nodes in my lungs and they scheduled me for the biopsy which happened this past Friday (I say all of this because I changed my username since then). Because of the holiday, they don't expect the results until tomorrow. My question is, having gone through this twice before, I know you forget to ask so many things, so I wanted to have a list of questions ready for my doc. I saw the orders my MO put forth am doing they asked for ER, PR and Her status. What else should I ask besides the obvious? Do I need PET? Bone Scan?

Thanks, Chrissy!

I do hate waiting and the out of control feeling it brings. Think that's why I am trying to make lists and plan. Feels like it takes forever but then it all moves so fast when the news does come.

Results are back and it is bc mets. Don't have ER/PR/Her status yet so in a bit of limbo but talking to onc tomorrow. And after all of that talk of making lists, what do I forget? To ask for pathology report and of course it's after close. I guess I should postwhere elsewhere but is it possible to just have mets in the hilar nodes only? My hope would be then I could do the ibrance which many have said shrinks the nodes. Guess i am just wishful planning now

I'm not an expert but I was told that swollen lymph nodes can be many things and that they can go up and down in the course of doing their jobs. So it could be infection or inflammation that they are fighting that is causing the swelling.

Thank you for asking!Unfortunately, the hilar nodes wrap around the bronchi in the lungs so it along with the other nodes there like mediastinal are considered distant mets so Stage 4. Still don't have markers or pathology back so still in the dark. They are getting me in for a PET scan early next week and I see my onco on wed. And away we go on the rollercoaster once again!

And when I say in the dark, I mean on the ER,PR and Her. It is definitely BC in the nodes

Hi. I am looking to find anyone who has had a bi-lateral mastectomy for Stage I cancer and then was diagnosed later to Stage 4. Is there anyone whose cancer went that route (from stage 1 to 4)?

Thanks-

can someone help me plz.

I am 43 diagnosed in 2010 stage 3 and had mastectomy of right breast. Had chemo and rad and tamoxifen.

Since may 2017 i developed a dry cough had chest x ray where plueral effussion showed in rt lung diagnosed as pnemonia had treatment

Was fine but now its is 3 wks cough is back and today i have hoarsness voice. And shortness of breath

The polmunary dr insists i have nothing and my lungs are clear and it is only psychological

Anyone had z experience

Today I am a mess. I decided to go to my internist yesterday because of stomach pain likely caused by taking too much Advil. While there I mentioned a dry cough which doc said is likely allergies and she listened to my lungs and ordered a chest X-ray. She called last evening to say I have pneumonia. WTF?? I have no cough, no sputum, my lungs are clear, I have no fever, chills or elevated WBC's. I'm tired but I've been tired since I started the chemo last August. Of course it's now Friday nobody is returning my calls and I'm a basket case. Does this sound like unfolding of lung involvement?

Dear Chrissy,

❤️❤️❤️ Just what I needed to read on this Friday eve. Thanks. Susan

Joycek - I'm in Hampton, so not too far from you. I'm hoping for a benign scenario as well but I'm not optimistic, especially since the BS looked at it on ultrasound and said he thought it was metastasized bc. I just finished chemo two weeks ago and I can't for the life of me figure out how it could have survived, or at the very least, didn't shrink. I start rads on August 14th and my RO said that area will be included so he doesn't foresee any reason to not move forward with it. I hope your MRI results confirm that it's benign!

Citrinetiff,

Are you on an antihormonal like anastrozole or letrozole ? They can cause really bad lower back and hip pain. I'm on anastrozole and the pain in my back is horrendous. It's so bad I may have to switch to another AI.

Hope that this turns out to be something minor, and easily fixed.

Trish

So sorry to hear that, Citrinetiff. Waiting for results is the hardest. Sending big hugs.

Trish

I have had 2 mammograms and ultrasound of enlarged lymph node under my arm since completing rads. In November, they said it looked normal. Now it is slightly bigger and have tiny hard module below my collarbone. Both RO and MO said they are movable so nothing to worry about. Can't a lymph node have cancer in it and it be movable? I thought they only became immovable when the cancer spreads outside the nodes to the surrounding tissues? We're any of your nodes positive but movable?? Prayers to all for good test results!!