Intermittent pain in lower leg (tibia) area and I'm worried!

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Mellie289
Mellie289 Member Posts: 156
edited July 2020 in Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned

Hi Everyone - I messaged my MO yesterday that I've had a pain in my leg come and go for several weeks now. The good news is that she has referred me for a bone scan and x-ray, so she didn't blow me off, but now that this niggling pain has been taken seriously by my MO, I'm just freaking out. Her office got back to me same day, but now I'm trying to book the bone scan and they are backed up and will call me back maybe within the next 72 hours. I can go for the x-ray any time now. I have my usual follow-up appointment scheduled for August 5 with my MO, and she ordered the tumor marker blood work for this time, which I haven't had done in a while.

My history - I was diagnosed in 2013, had surgery, chemo, radiation therapy, then I did two years of Tamoxifen before doing something extremely risky - IVF (with lots of hormones ingested and injected for months!) to finally become a mother. I went back on Tamoxifen after being off for a little over 2 years, and I have done another year and a bit. My original tumor was felt, but invisible on the mammo - a follow-up ultrasound showed it very clearly though, but I never had the tumor marker test before my lumpectomy.

My big question is can I expect to see something on an X-ray if there is mets there? This is not in a joint (upper shin area) and I haven't injured it anytime recently - possibly been kicked there in soccer years ago or hit it on a coffee table at some point in my life.

When I got my original diagnosis and went through all the treatment, my brain was broken. I was broken. I feel like I've just landed back in that head space, and I guess I'm just looking for some shared experiences, if not reassurances from people who really can understand where my head is right now, and who have gone for these tests. Thanks for any responses!

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  • wallycat
    wallycat Member Posts: 3,227
    edited June 2019

    We just saw DH's oncologist (a ride that has turned out to be scary and unplanned). I'll spare you the minutia unless you care but my DH has metastatic prostate cancer to his bones. Yesterday after looking at all his plethora of scans and xrays, the radiation oncologist did not feel he needed rads to any area..in passing (since the reason DH went in was for shin pain) he said he has (20 year career I think) not seen bone mets show up below the knee or below the elbow. I'd never heard that and just because he hasn't seen it doesn't mean it cannot happen, still....thought I'd share what we heard yesterday.
    So now we are puzzled with his pain (doing a vascular scan tomorrow) but unwittingly discovered his cancer.

    Best to you.

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  • Mellie289
    Mellie289 Member Posts: 156
    edited June 2019

    Thank you, wallycat! That is a little reassuring. What I read online said the metastasis can show up in the long bones of the leg, which I think includes the tibia.I'm sorry your husband is going through an ordeal. I hope the radiation oncologist is saying no rads because things are looking good and that he will get an answer so maybe his pain can be treat.

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  • vlnrph
    vlnrph Member Posts: 1,632
    edited June 2019

    First of all, congratulations on becoming a mom! It may have been risky but hopefully worth it...

    Second, the general concensus on metastasis seems to be the presence of constant, increasing pain. It's good to report and investigate new symptoms so I hope you can get scheduled soon.

    Unless the bone has undergone a certain amount of destruction, I don't think a plain x-ray would tell you much. When I had a collapsed vertebrae last summer and couldn’t walk, it was pretty obvious. Later, for my PET scans, the order specified base of skull to mid thigh which means, as wallycat learned, they're not even looking at the shin area. Also, tumor markers can be unreliable and fluctuate due to inflammation, infection, etc.

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  • ramona131313
    ramona131313 Member Posts: 14
    edited July 2020

    Hi Mellie289,

    I was wondering how your scans went? I've been dealing with ever more consistent pain in my lower leg and was curious to find out what happened with your tests (if you don't mind sharing). I hope everything went well!

    Thank you,

    Ramona




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  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited July 2020

    Ramona - Melle hasn't posted again since her last post on this thread - June 2019, so more than a year. When people disappear, it's likely that the problem resolved and it wasn't cancer, or she probably would have kept posting. Hope you find answers.

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