Some Advice

Maree · 11-12-2007, 01:46 AM

Hi Everyone
I would just like some advice. I am nearly five years past daignosis i had a mastectomy. Had chemo but no herceptin (even though i am her2 positive). I have recently had pain over my liver area and my kidney. At the same time I was unwell with a kidney infection. The doctor thought that the discomfort in the liver area was coming from the kidney. I had antibiotics. Dr said if pain still in liver are that i should go back and get ultrasound of liver. I still have some discomfort two weks after the kidney infection. My blood tests showed that i had infection/inflammation and nothing was wrong with the liver function tests, my heamoglobin was also a bit low. Dr said that when a person has liver mets there blood tests can be normal. Has anybody with liver mets just simply presented with pain with nothing showing in their blood tests. Thanks Maree

madubois63 · 11-12-2007, 07:46 AM

I am sorry that I have to answer yes to your question. I was having tumor markers every 3 months that never showed any change, even though I had mets starting in the liver and lung. The pain was intermitten until I caught a "cold." By then I had a cough and experienced pain in the liver area. I was becoming extremely tired. The pain became so bad that I actually asked to go to the hospital. I then had a video assited biopsy of the liver and lung to verify what was already feared.

jml · 11-12-2007, 08:04 AM

Hi~
Sorry, but I have to agree w/MaryAnn. I had single liver met @primary dx. No pain & completely normal liver function.
Even after 8wks of Navelbine/herceptin didn't work & the disease progressed to "innumerable, immeasurable", still No Pain, still completely normal liver function & ca27.29 only ~70 when my onc said it should have been 100's+ or even 1000's!
It's strange -I've felt far worse w/a regular cold than I did w/liver mets!
Go get scanned & have it checked out. Get a definitive answer...not knowing can be torture!
I do hope that your discomfort is a result of the infection & it's just taking a little more time for your body to rebound.
But remember, the body is amazing & wise & has an incredible capacity for healing!
Keep us posted.
In the meantime, keep the faith!

AlaskaAngel · 11-12-2007, 01:12 PM

Marree, nice to talk to another 5-year-out survivor! Unfortunately the liver in particular is not as simple to examine as some other parts of us. Labs can give normal readings when there are problems, and they can give somewhat abnormal readings partly just due to fairly normal aging changes. There are a fair number of fairly ordinary chronic diseases of the liver that non-breast cancer patients get at middle age and hopefully if there is anything out of order, that may be what is happening for you. Sometimes something as common as a hemangioma or cyst can end up growing in a place where it isn't very helpful, like where it blocks a blood vessel, and that would likely show up on an ultrasound.

I've had ultrasounds that show I have hemangiomas. I have had slightly abnormal liver labs for a long time and they sometimes normalize for periods of time. My right side feels like something inside is pushing against my ribs, and after more CTs than I probably should have had, my docs and I decided that I probably just have fatty liver, which is quite common.

Please let us know how you do with this,

AlaskaAngel

chrisy · 11-12-2007, 03:28 PM

Marree, if you are having pain, you need to get it checked out. If you're not comfortable with the "diagnosis", push it.

I had extensive liver mets withOUT pain and withOUT abnormal liver function tests. So a normal test does not necessarily rule out problems, and pain does not necessarily mean "cancer". It seems that the lab work you did have showed that there was indeed infection, so maybe that's all it is! If your pain continues, I think you should push for the ultrasound or CT, just to rule out the scary stuff.

Diane H · 11-12-2007, 05:08 PM

Hi Maree, I agree with Alaska Angel (I have very similar symptoms Angel) and everyone else, just can't be sure from liver lab tests. I too have abnormal liver labs and have had two CT's which haven't shown anything. And I have pain on my right side too. So don't go thinking the worst, (I know it's hard not to) but do get a sonogram at least.