If you are not Stage IV but have questions, you may post here
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Thank you...They are getting ready to move her our of ICU and into a private room...She's being slowly taken off of the morophine, so she is responsive now some, for short (very short) periods of time...All of your prayers are very appreciated.
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Hi all!
I had my first AC today and I have a wicked headache! Worse than the worst hangover I ever had (in my younger days). I've been on top of the meds since returning home (about 4pm, CST) and taken Ibuprofen, Zofran, Buspar (anti-anxiety), and LOTS of water as well as some Vitamin water. I can't seem to shake the headache & I can't necessarily switch to Tylenol until the Ibuprofen wears off.
Any suggestions for when I CAN switch to Tylenol or something else that might work better? I don't feel it's life-threatening so don't want to call the onc office at this hour (10:30pm). You ladies probably know better anyway!
Thanks!!
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mrsbmw81.... It will all be alright honey..... I went through this with my Mom.... watching over her in those final days. It is so heart-breaking. At one point, when she was "hollering" ....I was crying and went to find a nurse, and begged them to give her MORE morphine.
They explained it would slow her heart rate down even more.... I didn't care, I just couldn't hear her cry out anymore. They did increase it.... But she passed away during the night.
If only.... If only they didn't take her off all her meds, if only they would have started dialysis, if only she could have had water.... If only I could have helped more.
Just be with her....... She knows you love her.... I feel so bad for you... xoxoxoxo
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MRSBMW, She may be more comfortable then she was on the meds. With all the things she had, it is miserable side effects of treatment/disease. I will pray for both of you. For comfort for your mother and you. So sorry you both have to go through this.
I went off treatment in December and feel a lot better. It is really hard to explain how hard the treatment can be. I had 7 months of chemo last year.
Hearing is the last thing to go, so when she is in a comastate from meds, she can still hear you. Glad she is going to the ICU. Increase in heart rate indicates she has pain.
C-squared, Before your next treatment get a script for pain meds. Those headaches are horrible to the point of not being able to turn your head or get out of bed. Usually your first treatment is a loading dose and the headache is worse. Hopefully it won't be as bad next time.
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this really is a lovely thread. Blessings (or whatever) to those who freely offer info and to those who are seeking answers.
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Csquared: the issues for analgesics are really only for long term use and the more potent narcotics.
When women have c-sections they are rarely giving opiods for pain anymore (because of issues for the baby). What they do give is acetaminophen 500 mg X 2 every 4 hours (acetaminophen is the generic name for Tylenol which is a trade name. Pharmacies sell acetaminophen at a much cheaper rate than the brand name drugs and they work just as well-you are not paying for the advertising ) and ibuprophen 200 mg X 2 every six hours. There is obviously overlap. But more to the point, the analgesia is EFFECTIVE. Bottom line, I wouldn't worry about the overlap as long as you don't exceed 4000 mg acetaminophen in 24 hours, for a short period of time.
But don't just take my advice. Ask your physician.
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Ihave been having pain and stiffnes in my tailbone,back ,hips and legs. mostly back. Pretty similar to the side effects I had while taking Arimidex. I have had to stop taking all hormone therapy because of side effects. I thought maybenit was from exercise since I was back to my workouts again. It has not let up and gottwen worse. I get so stiff at times I feel like I'm 20 years older then i am.I was on vit D and since it was back to normal was told to stop it.I asked my doc if I could feel like this because of that and should I start taking it again. She decided to order blood work. 12 vials. She ordered tests for tick borne illnessess and rhematoid panels and a mono test and hepatitis tests and all that kindmof stuff. no cancer markers though at all. not even a word about bone mets. I am wondering if these are symptoms I should be worried about.she doesnt seemed concerned at all. anybody out there have any opinions on this. I would really like to be prepared. thanks.
Vickie
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Vickie, I'm not an expert but I think you would want to find out the cause of your pain, whatever it is.
Are you still seeing an oncologist? Did the doctor examine the painful areas?
Is the pain mainly when you move?
If the blood tests don't reveal a cause you might need to ask for further tests. The doctor should know what type of scan is likely to be appropriate.
Good luck in getting a benign answer. Your cancer was early stage so that is in your favour.0 -
Vickie, I'm not an expert but I think you would want to find out the cause of your pain, whatever it is.
Are you still seeing an oncologist? Did the doctor examine the painful areas?
Is the pain mainly when you move?
If the blood tests don't reveal a cause you might need to ask for further tests. The doctor should know what type of scan is likely to be appropriate.
Good luck in getting a benign answer. Your cancer was early stage so that is in your favour.0 -
Hi Vickie...
I sympathize with your pain and stiffness. I'm on Arimidex now, and I feel like I'm 90 some days! What you're describing could be arthritis or some sort of arthritic condition too. My bone mets (spine/sternum) were sharper pains, as opposed to aches/stiffness. How long have you been off Arimidex? Could it be a lingering side effect? Chances are very good that it's not cancer, but I would certainly push forward until you get an answer as to the cause.
Wishing you the best!
Rose.
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I have not been diagnosed with stage IV, but I am starting to get worred about it. I underwent chemo and herceptin last year for my second primary cancer 13 years after my first. I have had tram reconstruction (from the first) and a DIEP for the second. I have had a constant pain in my left back hip for a few weeks now. Can you feel bone mets? are there other symtoms that I could be watching for? It is really starting to preoccupy me, I have not mentioned it to my oncologist yet, I keep hoping it will go away. It does not seem to get worse and sometimes it goes away (or I get busy and don't notice it)
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Here's what my mass of doctors have told me, if you have pain in your joints, they will check for mets. If you have pain in your bones (I describe it as flu like achiness) it can be something else. If you have had bouts of low vitamin D, I hope your doctor is also checking calcium and PTH levels as well to rule out hyperparathyroid issues, these give you all over pain, fatigue and a bunch of other problems - generally feeling 90 years old and wanting to sleep a lot.
Vickie, if those tests come back with a low D count again, please ask the doctor to run PTH and calcium levels before taking any more D. Just taking the D without knowing why it is low has been known to cause other issues - it can make kidney stones long term and has been known in rare cases to trigger strokes. The thyroid should be checked too, this is a totally different test and one has nothing to do with the other, even though they both make you feel like crap.
djffro, yes, you can feel mets, but there are times when there are no symptoms at all. Any pain in a joint that lasts more than 2 weeks, does not get better with an anti-inflammatory (aleve, etc) or movement when you're up and around should be checked. To reassure you, many times it is an arthritic or degenerative change, and the fact that it goes away at times should be encouraging.
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Djffro,
If it is bone mets, usually your calcium levels go up. This is something that the oncologists usually check on a regular basis. We also forget that we have family doctors that can help with some things.
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djfrro - Yes, you can feel bone mets, but it can be tricky in the beginning to sort them out from pulled muscles and such. I thought I had just tweeked a muscle during pilates. It wasn't very painful at all at first. It was, however, fairly consistent. Eventually, the pain was hard to ignore and otc meds didn't touch it. Could your surgeries perhaps be causing you pain in your back?
My calcium levels did not go up due to my bone mets, just my tumor markers.
Good luck and I hope you don't join us.
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djfrro- My bone mets pain came on slowly and then became more noticable, although off and on at first. If you've had this pain for a few weeks, I'd certainly mention it to my oncologist, especially since you have had a recurrance. I had no blood changes with my mets--all within normal ranges even though I had mets all over my spine and ribs.
Get it checked out for peace of mind.
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How do I know what stage I am? Doctors have not said. In 2009 I had a lumpectomy no lymph node involement underwent readiation. Feb. of this year found a lump under my arm , right side same as lumpectomy. Decided to have double masectomy along with removal of nodes. Out of 15 nodes removed 12 were positive and two more cancers were found in breast. Pet scan showed a very small nodule on my lung and 2 in the chest wall cavity. Started chemo April 18th, I am so afraid of all of this. I am going to ask for all my pathology reports to get a better grip on whats going on. Too many unanswerd questions. Would love feedback from anyone. Thank you all for being here.
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Hi steelerose. i haven't been on arimidex in 6 months. My tailbone and back is terrible today, I have stiffness but a sore spot to touch on my lower back/hip. I felt different on the arimidex but its just as bad, i have been working hard at getting back inshape. i am hoping its nothing that big of a deal cause I have finally been able to get back into my life again.I have a feeling the bloodwork will come back fine and thats it. i don't want it to be bad news but something easy and curable would be nice. i was perfectly healthy and feeling great until my diagnosis. I think the chemo did all this and I'm still feeling it. Cancer the gift that keeps on giving.
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Patmor, there's a good section on the information part of this site talking about staging and dx. I can't post links from my nook but if you scroll to the top of the page and click on the symptoms and diagnosis tab (I think that's the right one).
However, if the lung nodule is breast cancer then it would be Stage IV (sorry to say). Have they talked about biopsing the lung or chest wall nodules)?0 -
Patmor, I would definitely get copies, and ask your onc. Do they know for certain what is in the lung is a cancerous nodule, or is it something else? As far as staging, there is a good resource here:
http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/staging.jsp
on this website that can explain it all very clearly. I think the two other cancers in the breast would be considered regional. But definitely get copies of everything and make yourself a nice binder, so it have it at your fingertips. I find this journey poses a lot more questions than answers sometimes.
((hugs))
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patmor,
Sorry your are going through this crap. This is however, a good place to come. The link 37 ant gave you will answer your questions.
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I have a question that maybe someone knows the answer to. I had a lot of positive nodes and the pet scan did not find any mets, but with my bc nothing showed up on any of the test either. My question is if there are some microscopic mets lurking elsewhere are they dependant on the estrogen as the bc is. My er and pr were 100% positive. I am not sure if when you do get mets that they still depend on this or if they change. I know how sneaky lobular is.
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Dianarose,
Most commonly, it is the same, but sadly, not all the time. That's why it's important to make sure they biopsy everytime they find something. Sneaky is right!
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What is puzzling to me is so many with stage IV did not have positive nodes. I am wondering if my nodes did their job and that's why they are positive. Also from what I have read ( and I could be wrong) is that even if I have microscopic mets chemo won't kill them. As you can see I am sitting on the chemo fence and trying to make an educated decision if that is even possible. I don't know if hormonals will be enough. My MO did do an oncotype dx even with all my positive nodes, but I won't know the results until next week.
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Thank you crissyb........this is a great place for the rest of us to send love and support. I pray for everyone on this board especially those dealing with so much. Just know you are loved.
michele
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Dianarose those that are stage IV but had no node involvement like me, usually have vascular involvement so the cells travelled through the blood.
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Diana, I am stage III like you and I never imagined that I would get to skip chemo with such an advanced cancer. Because I had some of my chemo before the surgery, I could feel the cancer shrinking, rapidly, which helped me get through the rest of the chemo. Chemo is not fool proof and it isn't a cure, but if it can hold the cancer at bay for longer, I will take it.
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Hi ladies, I'm so happy to know that those who are fearful of mets can come here to ask questions etc. Diana's post caught my attention tonight and wanted to chime in. Diana, its always up to you if you accept chemo or not but honeslty at stage 3 I wouldnt even consider not getting it. I agree with Momine..if may not cure it but it may very well hold it at bay. I've known many ladies who have watched and/or felt their tumors shrinking while on chemo. Its amazing how fast they shrink sometimes. I hope the very best for you. Hugs and luv, Mazy
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Dianiarose,
Sometimes the ER+ will turn to ER- when it travels. That's why the bx if you were er+ at first, however it doesn't go the other way. I agree with the others that your onc would recommend chemo. It can help kill micro mets. In stage IV some still get it because it buys time.
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I had Ct scan that showed many non calcified nodules in lungs i dont know yet if that lung mets or not
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Hi Sally, when do you see your doc? Hopefully for your peace of mind it is soon. I have had a non calcified nodule in my lung for a long time and it was being watched for BC but it is actually scar tissue from an infection that was had many years ago. Here's hoping yours turn out to be something similar.
Love n hugs. Chrissy
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