Lurker w/question about bone mets

[jener8er]

Hello everyone, I lurk here reading all your great stories every day, but don't get to post much. Anyway, my question is concerning Bone Mets. I have had pain in my tailbone for several months now, gradually getting worse. Used to be just when I sat at the wrong angle for too long, now it's pretty much constant. My onc said it is unusual for mets to show up there, but ordered an x-ray (normal) and last week I had a bone scan, also normal. I'm now getting an MRI on Monday. Anyone else here have bone mets that didn't show up on x-ray or bone scan? I know x-ray is not the greatest, but I thought anything would have shown on the bone scan. Any thoughts?

BTW I was diagnosed Oct 04, Stage 3, Her2+++, ER-/PR-, 4/20 positive nodes. 4xA/C 4xT/Herceptin, continuing Herceptin for 1 year.

Thank you all and I love the new board layout!
Jen

[mamacze]

Dear Jen,
Welcome to the boards; don't lurk! Be a regular chatter like the rest of us! I am sorry, my mets are to the lungs; so I don't have much to add on that front, except to say welcome and don't be a stranger. Let us know how your MRI turns out!
Love Kim from CT

[michele u]

a bone scan is pretty good at catching bone mets. Why are they doing a mri? I think if your bone scan was normal there is no cancer there

[jener8er]

Thank you so much for replying, you did help put my mond at ease a little. My onc says she is watching me like a hawk as i am "very" high risk - she's doing the MRI because the pain persists. She said she hopes it's just some arthritis in my bones just acting up - just what I need! But she did warn me that sometimes small lesions don't show on bone scans, and that she is not a great believer in scans anyway. My original tumor didn't show up on Mammo until it was pretty far advanced - I found my cancer myself when my lymph nodes swelled up first, to 4cm. My tumor was only 1cm so she says this was something that REALLY wanted to spread, hence the high risk.

I guess I'll wait and see. I'll let you all know how the scan turns out next week. Thank you again for responding to my question, and I'll try to post more often!
Jen

I am glad you have such a good doctor. My bone mets were not detected on a bone scan but they showed up on a PET scan. I had two mets near the spine and I am undergoing chemo currently to shrink the tumors. Good luck to you. I will say a prayer.