Bone Pain
I just posted in the wrong group by accident, now I have to explain this all over again, in this group, the right group.
My hip/thigh bone and down my leg to my knee is aching. The groin area gets painful and I cannot get up off a chair or go up stairs very well. This started about 2 weeks ago. I just had a Lattimus Dorsal reconstruction in February and I am getting my saline implant in, in a week. The expander which has been in since February is really heavy. It has put more weight for me to walk around with. I have tried heat on the areas of my leg etc and it does not work. I also have been walking more this summer and tried going to the gym. Couldn't do the gym but kept my walking up and really pushing myself on that.
I am afraid this could be metastatic breast cancer. Even telling others, we all thought the same thing. I had a phone conversation with my G.P., as I couldn't get in and he said it doesnt sound like it but is sending me for blood work for my muscles and cancer detection. I am also getting an ultrasound done on Tuesday to pinpoint the problem in order to get a cortisone shot. This feels more like bone pain, than muscle pain.
I am starting to worry about this. Naproxen does not help, which I have been taking off and on since 2016 and so the doctor prescribed tramadol and I have been taking tylenol extra strength before work, so I can get by and walk properly, like going up the stairs and getting up from chairs etc, without grimmacing in pain.
Your comments would be appreciated. TY.
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Hi drained
I am sorry to hear of your concern but glad you are aware and inquiring about your pain. I had no idea it could come back someplace else without being in the breast too. Let's hope the cancer hasn't metastasized.
You mentioned osteoporosis. Could it be a fracture. You don't need to have fallen. Maybe call that dr back and ask after reminding him of osteoporosis.
Good luck
Gailmary
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Has the pain gotten worse over time and/or has your leg strength weakened on that side? I have been dealing with a nasty bone met in my hip for the last 9 months and Ive had it all - groin pain, pain down the quad, pain into the knees, knee pain, pain into the side of my shin, pain in the butt (literally!). I cannot move the hip outwards (abduction) at all and have had to use a cane for well, since March. For months I thought it was a muscle pull/strain but it would get better with physical therapy and then I would push too far and I would be back to square one. A lot of my issues, though, have to do with my hip flexors (front of the hip) taking all the strain of moving the leg due to weakness in the gluteal area from the tumor. My pain isn't bone pain, its a muscle strain feeling, though it does often feel like a slab of concrete on the side of my hip and I have definite muscle wasting on one side of my body.
Pain in your case could be coming from a lumbar vertebrae - in the L4/L5 area. Try heat and ice in that vicinity and see what happens. Im pretty much surviving on tylenol/advil although someone finally relented and gave me some liquid morphine for overnight as needed (not that much except there are certainly days when its needed!)
Hopefully this will be something like a disc prolapse or weakened glute muscle/amnesia and you can get fixed up quick!
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I grew up with scoliosis and had my first back surgery at 16, second one at 26, and the third, fourth and fifth at 36, so bone pain is something I know. Between the cancer pain in my breast and throat and the bone pain radiating from my lower back all the way to my toes, I spend most of my time in tears, trying to find a pain doctor who will get that being worried about addiction shouldn't be something they are doing. I'm not going to survive this. Come on, stage 4, heading for my heart and they are pretty sure it's already in my ,ungs. And then add in the damage from the throat cancer. There are days I can't even swallow water, without choking. I keep getting pnemonia from the food particles getting into my lungs. Somethings going on with my bowels/rectum. I feel like everything up in there is going to fall out. The holes from the trach, in my throat, and the feeding tube in my stomach, never closed. Whatever it is these tumors are leaking, has leaked down into the feeding tube hole and got it infected. For some reason I have sores that have broken out all over me. From my head to my toes, but the started on my stomach , spread to my hands and arms and then to my back and legs. They became infected, so they had to give me anti-biotics. I had an allergic reaction to that and ended up swollen, couldn't walk, and with the additional swelling in my throat, it kept me from being able to get liquids down and then the dehydration just made everything worse. I was just wondering if anyone else was dealing with the combo of bone pain and cancer pain, and what, if anything, is your doctor giving you to help with the pain and sleeping?
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Thank you for your comments. Maybe I did fracture something slightly? I hope that is all it is. I read that metastisized breast cancer if it goes to the bone, the hip, leg and spine is usually where it would go? I hope it is not that. I am thinking maybe my body is not handling the silicone very well, and weight, as I mentioned. The expander is made of silicone.
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@msdebbielee I see this is your first time posting on the forum and I'm sorry you had to join us. I hope you will find some answers here but also support that you certainly need.
I'm not sure I will be able to answer some of your questions but wonder if your team of doctors is failing you with the pain you are in? Time for a second opinion as you shouldn't be suffering like this. Please add mental health care to your needs. I know I just started this journey and it is truly difficult. TO sleep I take Ativan and Gabapenten. It gives me 8 hrs. of sleep. I'll be thinking and praying you find some painfree days and nights.
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@msdebbielee - First, we want to welcome you to Breastcancer.org. We're sorry for the circumstances that have brought you here… can't imagine how difficult this must be for you, but we're glad that you found our community!
We hope some other members will be able to give you some advice and share their own pain experiences with you. For now, the main Breastcancer.org site has quite a number of articles and research news all about pain if you want to read some, here is an example:
Morphine, Bone Pain, and Bone Loss in Metastatic Breast Cancer
Talking to your doctor about pain
Also, you can learn more about Getting a Second Opinion as irishlove suggested, including why, where, and when to get them, and what to expect.
Besides this, we have a PAIN forum, where you can start your own new discussion and meet others experiencing breast cancer and treatment-related pain.
Hope this helps! We are keeping you in our thoughts and are here to support you through this.
The Mods
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