If you are not Stage IV but have questions, you may post here
Comments
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Hi Ruthie, cavernous hermangioma is a benign tumor and is caused by a tangle of small blood vessels. Liver mets are not usually picked in the early stages unless you are having a scan for something else. Usually you have no symptoms in the early stage but later things like drastic weight loss for no reason, swelling of the abdomen, pain in the right shoulder and great difficulty in swallowing are things that should be reported to your doc asap.
Sorry I can't help any more as I don't have liver mets but from what I have studied, they show up on the liver as small whitish dots.
Hope this helps.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
Can liver mets be mistaken for fatty liver on a CT, ultra sound shows neither fatty liver or mets.. see doc tomorrow not sure what he will do. enezymes are normal .. it could be sarcoidosis which flared up during chemo, we will see i guess. I hould add i am not really even close to be high risk for fatty liver, dont drink, not over weight, cholestrol normal etc0 -
Hi Rdrunner I'm so sorry that you have this worry but in all my reading and research, I have never heard of mets being mistaken for fatty liver or vice versa. If your doc suspects mets he will order a whole battery of blood tests which will help him make a correct dx.
I know it is very tempting to try to read our own CT's etc but really it should be left to those who have learned how. Sometimes the meds that we are on can cause all sorts of things that we would normally not be in line for but the best place to get the right answer to all of this is your doc. Deep breath and try to relax a little, tomorrow is not that far away.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
Thanks Chrissy, its more likely to be sarcoidosis. My enezymes went crazy when that flared up but came down with prednisone. They were scanning my chest/lungs over and over because of the sarcoid nad it catches the liver too and it showed changes within 6 weeks, which the radiologist felt was fatty liver... none of the docs think its that though. If its sarcoid and we dont treat it i could end up with a fibrotic liver which is still a better option than a met. Thanks for taking the time to reply i appreciate it.0 -
Rdrunner, no probs, I think I'm going to have to bone up on sarcoidosis and how it reacts. I do know it is usually in the lung but never thought about what the liver does..........mmm
Anyway, I sure hope the docs find out soon so you can get some treatment for it.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
Hello, I am Brazilian and I am looking for the best treatment available to my mother who has MBC. We are considering to look for treatments at USA, maybe at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
My question is, do you know how much approximately is a complete treatment for MBC there? Do you think that U$ 200,000.00 is enough for any treatment?
Thank you!!0 -
Hello Antonio I'm sorry but I can't answer that question as I don't live in the USA. I do know that MD Anderson has a very good reputation for the treatment of cancer but as to cost I have no idea at all. Maybe a phone call to the closest one to ask them what would be an approximate cost would be more in order.
I hope your Mom receives good treatment where ever she goes. You are a good son to be trying to get the best for her.
Love n hugs to you both. Chrissy0 -
Hello Antonio,
Chrissy makes a good suggestion. It may be worth a call to the Center. This is a very difficult question to answer, as it depends on many variables.
We are thinking of you and your mother!
Warmly,
The Mods0 -
Thanks Chrissy and Mods! It is true, there are so many variables, I will try to call them.
Hugs,
Antonio.0 -
Hi all. I haven't been on this discussion board for almost 15 months. And I had a question. One of the things Ishie wanted to know, was whether or not I would be okay. We talked about it on several occasions and I always found the question to be disconcerting. I mean, Ishie was facing the beast and I was going to survive. I guess I watched her "nest" in an effort to make sure I would be alright. She joined many "of the month" clubs to make my life easier. I got a Disney movie, a new fry pan, a couple of pounds of coffee, and a hunting knife in the first two weeks alone. I laugh about it now, but it was quite surreal when it happened. So here is the question.... Do you want to know how I am? I'd share but only if you want to know.... I'll check back in a week.
With fondness and respect,
Pat0 -
Pat, it is lovely to hear from you and yes, I would love to hear how you are doing! I do hope Ishie has slowed down a bit on the 'nesting' now that a little time has passed and she sees that you are still here and buy the sounds, doing reasonably well.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
I am here to ask the question everyone comes here to ask! Is my pain from cancer? I have always had a bad back, sciatic problems. I had a hysterectomy October 2012 and I have just really gone down hill since then. At first my back wasn't hurting, my left calf was terribly cramping up. I had an ultrasound to make sure it was not a clot, it wasn't. Still hurts, my pt said it was probably from my sciatica nerve. Well, now my lower back does hurt, I was working in the yard today and I over did it, but this really has been an ongoing problem. I can barely walk tonight. It doesn't hurt just laying with heat here but when I move, OUCH! I have had all the scans before, while I was having this pain before and there was nothing that could be seen. I am too scared to scan right now, as I don't know if I could handle treatment again. I have had too much ac and it has wrecked my body. All my blood looks good, tumor markers stable, which were up when I was first diagnosed. I can't afford pt, my husband is losing his job soon, so I can't pay for the copays, we need to pay off bills and save up in case he can't find a new job right away. He has been working there for 20 years, so this is a big scary change in itself. Tired of pain. Doctors don't like to give out pain medicine and I don't like to take them, but I need something for when it gets like this! Docs in the past have said I have arthritis, but I don't know how they knew, just from xrays? With all my scans now they never mentioned arthritis. I am just so confused and just want to be able to work and work outside and get things done, but I have too much pain.0 -
Hi Bak, so sorry that you are having such back pain. Always with this disease our mind seems to automatically go to asking the question of mets........I'm sure it is the greatest fear.
Back pain can be caused by many things the most common of which is arthritis, impinged nerves and disc problems. It is unfortunate that the only way to tell if what you are feeling is one of those or mets is to have the scans done.
Try to alleviate the pain with heat and anti inflamatories but if it does not get any better over the next couple of weeks then I would definitely get it checked out. In the mean time, take it easy with the gardening and such like as I'm sure that hasn't helped.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
Hi Bak - I too like to garden - it is great therapy. However, I too have back issues (no bone mets) and find that I can only spend short spurts in the garden without my back getting quite sore. Even simple household chores like sweeping, doing dishes etc bother me. I hope that your pain is non-cancer related but as chrissy mentioned, it is a good idea to get it checked out if it doesn't subside with rest and some tlc.0 -
I have a strange question. I have 2 lumps on my head. One is pretty big. Could this be brain mets, or scalp mets (is there such a thing). I am not really concerned, but that is when it usually becomes an issue. Any thoughts0 -
Sue
It could be cysts. I have two on my scalp that I have had for years and my mother has several. They can grow at any time.
I hope everything is ok for you.0 -
Sue they could also be seborrheic keratosis which is actually quite common and other than being a nuisance is not a problem. I have had this for quite sometime and like you my first thought was scalp mets (yes there is such a thing). If they are SB they can be easily burned off by your doc but as always if something is worrying you, get it checked out by the people who are best qualified.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
Hi Sue, I have had scalp mets, in fact, that was how I knew my cancer had returned after 9 1/2 years. I only had one small lump. It did not hurt but it did not go away either. So after about Six months I went to a surgeon who removed it and took a biopsy. Sure enough, it was metastatic. Breast cancer! I was amazed it could actually go to my scalp! Anyway, you said that both you and your mom have these Lumps and you have had them a long time. That makes me think it probably is NOT mets. I think you would have had other problems by now. However, the ONLY way to know for sure is to go to a dermatologists or a surgeon and ask them to remove them , and to biopsy them. It only makes sense to check out anything like this on your body that you did not have before. So please go get it checked out and then you will know for sure! Please keep us posted.0 -
Thank you all for your replies. I will give it some time to see if they go away, if not I will get them check out. I am due to have my blood work done, then I see my primary dr next Friday. He does tumor markers when he does my blood. I will be curious to see if they change. I am just one of those people who is waiting for the other shoe to drop. I hope you ladies know how much you are appreciated, just being here for people who need you. My friend was here for dinner last night. She felt the lumps, said "maybe we should google it". I told her "I do not google anything, I will just ask my bc friends, they will know lol. Thank you again.0 -
Hello ladies - Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. I have recently met a woman with mets to her bones (that I know of). She is unable to walk. I did not ask specifics about her status. She seems to have lost strength in her hands. She apparently loves to read and can hold a book. She is in a nursing home. I would love to be able to get her some type of computer/ipad/kindle so she can read and also so she can access the web and BCO. I get the feeling she has very little emotional support and could really use it. I think I can get a used laptop or similar and get her fixed up on that end, but I am not sure about her ability to type and such. Your thoughts? Thank you again and Happy Thanksgiving!0 -
farmerlucydaisy what a lovely thoughtful person you are. Most people can one finger type, it may be slow but they can get the job done. What I would be concerned about would be her ability to use this type of technology if she hasn't used it before. I realize that you would like to surprise her but if you could find out through some sort of conversation on the subject you will have more of an idea of what she is capable.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
Thanks Chrissy. I will find out.0 -
Thank you chrissy and barco! My back is a bit better today. I take ibuprofen on a regular bases, sometimes I feel like I need something stronger, but I understand why my docs won't go that route. I used some biofreeze today and it helped. I need to be brave to get a scan, as there could be something wrong, cancer or something else like you mentioned. It's just that there doesn't seem there is much they can do anyways, at least that is what I found in the past. Not bad enough for surgery and not enough money for massage or pt. I will just continue to stretch and do my best. HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!
Farmer-That is so sweet! If she is not tech savvy like chrissy mentioned, maybe you could give her lessons, what a great gift. I also think a laptop instead of a tablet, I always here people complain about typing on a tablet.
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Hi bak - glad to hear that you are feeling a bit better. Any pain of course causes plenty of anxiety as do scans/tests. Hoping that the pain eases more each day for you. Happy Thanksgiving!0 -
I got my Mom a Kindle tablet and she loves it. However, she doesn't want to go on the internet, she doesn't like it. She mainly uses it to play games that we've downloaded for her. She's actually quite addicted to it...lol. She has Parkinson's disease and was able to hold it. When her shaking is bad, she uses one of those pillow type things to set it on and can still use it. So I can't answer you about typing on it but she is able to use it in a limited way.0 -
Good point aaoaao. I didn't think about the games aspect. Thanks!
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i would add that full-size Ipads are heavy if you have poor hand strength. I love mine, but it does give you hand fatigue.0 -
mum is still anorexic, now gets out of breath walking to another room or up the stairs, at last scan her liver met had grown or a new one had grown (I hear different accounts), already has met in brain, bones, lung (all diagnosed in January) .. Suffers dizziness if stands up too fast...
It's not good is it? I feel time is running out and it's all just so so sad.
She has no pain so I will cling to that for hope. That's a positive sign right?
Xx0 -
Hi Paillon, if your mom is getting out of breath it sounds like her lung mets are starting to affect her more which is never a good sign. Although she has has wide spread mets not having pain is definitely a plus for her and is a very good thing........long may it last.
Honestly Papillon, it is important to note that no one can tell exactly how long your mom has all you can do is love every moment that you get to spend with her.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
Papillon - Chrissy is right on when she says that no one knows for sure how long we have. The time with your mom is so precious - concentrate on enjoying your moments that you have together every day. It is good that she doesn't seem to have any pain. Thinking of you and your mom - xo0
