i scared myself

[v-ness]

i have had bad lower back pain and a randomly collapsing right hip for many months now. i just took Motrin and worked out and hoped i built muscles to compensate. finally i went to the doc yesterday because i had a new problem, tingling in my left hand that started going up my arm. she sent me for x-rays today for my spine and hip. as i was laying on the table the tech put a lead shield over my breasts to protect them and i joked, hell those things have seen 7 weeks straight of radiation, i doubt this will hurt them. and as they were "taking pictures" my mind began to wander. no doubt influenced by the fact that my 38 yr old niece has spinal mets. but as i sat up, i stupidly asked the tech "would cancer show up on an x-ray?" well, DUH. but now i have made myself anxious as the evening's progressed. yesterday when my hip gave out yet again i fell down on the pavement and skinned my knee so bad (and big) it's still bleeding today under the bandage. so now i've managed to worry myself. i got my breast MRI last month and got an all-clear. and never once did i think about my bones.

IT IS PROBABLY NOTHING.

but this is the only place i can vent without scaring anyone else. i hope it is only the damage AI's and Tamoxifen have wreaked on my bones. and a strain (?!)
ugh.

fingers crossed that my hip and lower back are just me being a klutz and hurting myself. :( i just don't remember ever doing so.

valerie

[NEDenise]

Valerie,
I just had a similar experience in January. Lower back pain...leg collapsing. It required surgery in the end, but was completely unrelated to all my cancer woes. And since the surgery...everything is GREAT!

So...I hope yours is like mine. Good to get checked out. And make sure that 'boo boo' doesn't get infected. Let us know how things go.
Denise

[v-ness]

thank you, denise! what was yours caused by? what did the surgery do? it's very disconcerting. and i have been rowing 3-5K a day to be easy on my joints. my hip and knee felt pretty OK until i began going out on the track again with the nice weather. but all i do is walk fast or jog slowly. and god knows, you ought to be able to walk a couple miles and not suffer for it. shit, i walked 13.1 miles for cancer research in september and no problems at all! i was going to do another for mother's day, but now no way. at first all i could think was rheumatoid arthritis because my mom had it so severely she had her hip, wrist and knee replaced and her ankle fused. cancer never occurred to me until my joke in the x-ray. just a couple weeks ago a friend recently done with breast cancer treatment had hip pain from running races and was afraid of mets. i told her when you hear galloping hooves, think horses instead of zebras. i need to take my own advice. and an ativan. :)

i'm sure a lot of my anxiety has stemmed from the fact that my niece is being radiated for 2 wks at dana farber for her spine mets. they had a hard time finding them for months because of metal rods in her back from an accident. turns out the mets were why she was having such a hard time with balance and walking, couldn't feel the bottoms of her feet. and god knows, once you know one person with cancer it seems like they come out of the friggin woodwork. yet another woman at the college i work at has been diagnosed with HER2+ BC. 4 of us in 3 yrs now. pretty damn weird.

oh, now reading your sig file i see you had a blown out disc. i hope you're doing great now.

my boyfriend is taking me on a romantic trip to italy for my birthday in 2 weeks and these symptoms are annoying enough, nevermind cancer!

thank you for replying. i could use reassurances even though i have the help of ativan in my system now. :) valerie

[tricia keegan]

I had a similar experience a couple of years ago, faced a barage of scans and two month wait to see if a spot seen on the bone scan changed in any way. I was very relieved when it disappeared along with my pain which was nothing more than sciatica but can relate to the worry. Good luck and hope its nothing sinister!

[v-ness]

turns out the back pain was caused by spinal stenosis and arthritis. :( i saw a spine doc and that was the verdict, and i have been in physical therapy. it went entirely away during a 10 day trip to rome during which i slept on hard beds and walked 6+ hours a day. so when i got home, i got a new chair at work. what a difference! my onco was a bit concerned when i told her about it during my routine checkup, but she reviewed my x-rays and said let's wait on a bone scan. she said arthritis would light up just like cancer. ugh. so i am just convinced it has zero to do with cancer. the exercises are great, developing more muscles in the abs to counter the back weakness. now, if i hadn't wiped out on a cat toy and sprained my foot, i'd be feeling pretty good!

[NEDenise]

Hey!
Good news all around!

Denise

[JennyB]

I reckon most of us scare ourselves with bad back ache vs cancer I know I do!

Glad it isn't the Big C and that exercise helps your pain.

Jen

[Rolepaul]

Nina kicked a foot stool in the Kitchen and fell down. That was Thursday. MRI of the brain on the Saturday showed no issues. Do not feel alone. Also, getting older and staying in shape is important. Lots of more stupid things for Nina and myself to do. Nina has spine and brain involvement and has turned the corner. Just so you know, it is not the death sentence it was three years ago.

[BonnieR]

As I always remind myself, just because I've had cancer I am not immune to the more mundane woes of life! I also had the sort of symptoms you are describing. Scan showed arthritis, stenosis, etc. Went to PT and was amazed at the good result after the first treatmet! He "stretched" my spine manually. Big guy! I stopped limping in pain right away. Such a relief
Keep the faith