What on Earth could this BE?!?

[kcherub]

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[kcherub]

Hi, everyone! I hope you are all well, and enjoying the holidays!

As always, when I have a pressing concern that I can't find an answer for elsewhere, I turn to you for suggestions or just ruminations!!! For quite a while, I have been having a throbbing pain on my left side (BC was on the right). It moves from the bottom of my rib, down to my hip, to the inside portion of the ribs, behind the ribs, and to my back. I have mentioned to my ONC for months, but he did not seem too concerned about it.

On Tuesday night, I began having severe pains that shot down into my pelvis. It got so bad (and I got so scared), that my husband took me to the ER. They did bloodwork, especially looking at the liver and the pancreas (as my MGM had both breast and pancreatic cancer), and did a CT (chest, abdomen, pelvis).

I had an ovarian cyst, which I believe was a follicle trying to burst out, as that pain seems to be gone for the most part. However, the original "moving" pain seems to be getting worse with each day. It could be that I finished radiation on Wednesday (YEAH! I told the ER doc. that no matter what I was going to radiation that afternoon), and I am very tired. I have been doing almost nothing but lying around and sleeping, because I am SOOO tired. It is possible that my inactivity is irritating whatever is going on.

Does this sound like anything you have heard of?!? Wouldn't a CT show anything BC related that was large enough to actually cause pain or symptoms?

Thank you so much!

[kcherub]

Okay, duh! I did another search, and found a lot of you have had rib pain/issues while on Herceptin...should I go with that thinking? Better than going crazy?

[Bev]

Hi Krista,

You are so young. Maybe ask your onc about doing lupron with Arimidex right away. I did Tamoxifen first but new info out confirms AI superiority. AI's shut down estrogen even more so it's a trade off of sorts. I did have definite abdominal pain with ovulation, so that would be a plus for Lupron. The AIs age you more, but it seems the side effects are reversible. Try looking at articles at cancerpage.com for more insight. Best wishes, Bev

[sassy]

Krista,

The roving rib pain was something that I went thru and I think many others have also.

Don't fail to mention any concern to your onc, but your symptoms sound like what many have gone thru.

I hope you find some relief. You may wish to discuss the possibility of some type of medication to help with your onc.

Happy Holidays!

[kcherub]

Sassy...thank you for replying! I do feel a little better after reading other posts from previous threads where this was described. I try not to be too paranoid, but it is hard when you suddenly have a new symptom that lasts for a long period of time!

Bev...thanks to you, too! I am supposed to start Tamoxifen after the first of the year. I was waiting until I was finished with rads, and over most of the immediate side effects. I like to know what might be causing a problem, so that there is no wild goose chase to figure it out! I took Lupron while undergoing IVF in 1999, and had horrible side effects from it--debilitating headaches, back pain, HORRIBLE mood swings, etc. I will look more into the AIs. I do plan on trying to have another child at some point, so I am trying to keep that in mind when choosing therapies. I look at it this way--I am not going to let BC keep me from living the life I had hoped for!

Thanks you SOOO much!

[sassy]

Krista,

I have listed a link to another thread on rib pain.

In order to take an AI, you must be in menopause. I have been taking Lupron shots to keep me in menopause since November of '05 so that I can take Arimidex. However, I was in a much different situation than you. DX at age 45, no more children planned. Be sure to discuss your desire to have more children with your onc and take this into consideration in your treatment plan.

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=31453

[kcherub]

Sassy,

Thanks again! I have been telling my ONC since Day 1 that I have a desire to have another child. He told me that I would probably change my mind after chemo. He wasn't being "mean" or "flippant", or at least I didn't get that feeling. If we didn't have three embryos frozen, I might feel differently, but that isn't the case, so I don't know for sure!

I forgot to mention that I have had a pretty severe cold (with sinus and chest issues) for about a week or so. That might be increasing my funny pain issues. We will see when all the gunk is gone!

Take care,

[Becky]

I had rib pain severe enough that I had CT scans of the chest, abdomen and pelvis (and all was clear - not even a cracked rib like some women on the board). I was sure I had liver mets. The mind goes crazy in the first 18 months or so. My hip hurt then too. I think between chemo, herceptin, rads and the White blood cell boosting drugs (neulasta, neupogen, leukine) it wrecks some havoc in the bones, joints and muscles. Not to even mention taxane therapy too!!

Always mention new pain or symptoms to your doctor if they last more than 2-3 weeks but noncancer pains do occur and the stress of having a pain that you think could be to cancer (even though its probably not) makes it hurt 1000 times more.

So, you are not crazy, you had cancer and cancer is a life threatening disease and staying aware, of even the littlest thing is self preservation. And that is a very good thing.

[kcherub]

Becky,

I appreciate you replying. It just isn't fair that on top of all of this, the therapies we need are in cohoots to play mind tricks on us! Since I have been mentioning this at my follow-ups, and my ONC hasn't seemed to worry, I am going to try to put it out of my mind for a while!

Wouldn't something that was "big enough" to cause a pain be visible on CT? I asked this before, but I am guessing you will have an answer (as always)!!!

Thank you!