Muscle Spasms

kbienapfl

Hello all. This is my first time posting, but have been using this great resource since I was diagnosed with rectal, stage IIB, July 2006. My treatment program was 5FU infusions and six weeks of radiation. My follow up sigmoid in October showed no signs of disease. Now I am showing signs that the beast may be returning, i.e., blood in stools. For the past month I have also had painful upper back pain, and now recently muscle spasms mid-back.

I will be contacting my doctor regarding the bowel change. The question I have for all of you is, should I be concerned about these continuous muscle spasms in my back? Could this be related to recurrence and movement of cancer to another area?

You are a great group of people. Although I have never posted before, you have been a wealth of information and inspiration.

FRANTIC

I myself have ongoing muscle spasms and severe back pain. I have been dx. with compression fractures of the spine due to osteoporosis. I would have your back x-rayed or an MRI or catscan at this time to ease your mind. I am currently out of work and am 51 yrs young. I am beside myself right now. My sympathy goes out to you as it is very painful. Your friend Fran

kbienapfl

FRANTIC said:

I myself have ongoing muscle spasms and severe back pain. I have been dx. with compression fractures of the spine due to osteoporosis. I would have your back x-rayed or an MRI or catscan at this time to ease your mind. I am currently out of work and am 51 yrs young. I am beside myself right now. My sympathy goes out to you as it is very painful. Your friend Fran

Thank you, Fran. The more I investigate, I am realizing there may be a compression. As I learned when I was initially diagnosed in July, I need to listen to my body. I now realize over the past few weeks I have been having a problem with growing incontinence as well. Add to that, heart palpitations, and one begins to think I need to see my doctor sooner or later.

I am sorry to hear of your status. What is your doctor doing to help you alleviate the pain? What is your prognosis?

I am 47 years young. I was 46 when diagnosed six short months ago. I really thought I had beat this beast without surgery. It appears I may be revisting my surgeon. I may opt for surgery for the affected area, just for peace of mind at this point. I live in Minneapolis. At this point I am considering a reference to Sloan-Kettering.

Thank you for your kind words and response.

Kindest regards, Kathy

vinny3

kbienapfl said:

Thank you, Fran. The more I investigate, I am realizing there may be a compression. As I learned when I was initially diagnosed in July, I need to listen to my body. I now realize over the past few weeks I have been having a problem with growing incontinence as well. Add to that, heart palpitations, and one begins to think I need to see my doctor sooner or later.

I am sorry to hear of your status. What is your doctor doing to help you alleviate the pain? What is your prognosis?

I am 47 years young. I was 46 when diagnosed six short months ago. I really thought I had beat this beast without surgery. It appears I may be revisting my surgeon. I may opt for surgery for the affected area, just for peace of mind at this point. I live in Minneapolis. At this point I am considering a reference to Sloan-Kettering.

Thank you for your kind words and response.

Kindest regards, Kathy

Hi Kathy,

You had the same initial treatment I had but then I had a local excision 2 months later. There was no cancer found in that specimen but the cancer did recur 8 months later and I had an AP resection last April. Did they do any biopsy after you completed treatments? You do need to go back in to check out the bleeding but also see someone to get further tests regarding the back pain. I live in the Minneapolis area too. Who is your surgeon? If you wish to talk please feel free to email me on this site.

****

kbienapfl

vinny3 said:

Hi Kathy,

You had the same initial treatment I had but then I had a local excision 2 months later. There was no cancer found in that specimen but the cancer did recur 8 months later and I had an AP resection last April. Did they do any biopsy after you completed treatments? You do need to go back in to check out the bleeding but also see someone to get further tests regarding the back pain. I live in the Minneapolis area too. Who is your surgeon? If you wish to talk please feel free to email me on this site.

****

Hi ****, thanks for your response. I am sorry to hear that you have had to travel this journey. It is nice to meet a person in similar situation in my local community. I live in Bloomington.

After my chemo/radiation treatment, I did have a follow-up biopsy, which showed NED. My surgeon, Dr. Nemer and Oncologist, Dr. Rousey, were both in agreement that we could continue follow up testing at that point. I was given an opportunity to go to Sloan-Kettering, which Dr. Nemer was very supportive of. With the holidays approaching and the weary state of mind at that time, I chose to continue with the "wait and see" mode.

Currently, my symptoms are: some bleeding, bladder incontinence, heart palpitations and these terrible back spasms. I have noticed that my energy level has decreased, but that could be me trying to live too much life.

As much support my friends and family have for me (which I am very grateful) they do not understand the choices and decisions that need to be made. I appreciate the fact that this message board provides a plethora of information.

I don't want to over react to my symptoms. I guess it's pretty easy to be on edge when you see the symptoms that brought you in initially reappearing. I will keep you updated when I learn more.

Thank you again for your response. You bring comfort.

vinny3

kbienapfl said:

Hi ****, thanks for your response. I am sorry to hear that you have had to travel this journey. It is nice to meet a person in similar situation in my local community. I live in Bloomington.

After my chemo/radiation treatment, I did have a follow-up biopsy, which showed NED. My surgeon, Dr. Nemer and Oncologist, Dr. Rousey, were both in agreement that we could continue follow up testing at that point. I was given an opportunity to go to Sloan-Kettering, which Dr. Nemer was very supportive of. With the holidays approaching and the weary state of mind at that time, I chose to continue with the "wait and see" mode.

Currently, my symptoms are: some bleeding, bladder incontinence, heart palpitations and these terrible back spasms. I have noticed that my energy level has decreased, but that could be me trying to live too much life.

As much support my friends and family have for me (which I am very grateful) they do not understand the choices and decisions that need to be made. I appreciate the fact that this message board provides a plethora of information.

I don't want to over react to my symptoms. I guess it's pretty easy to be on edge when you see the symptoms that brought you in initially reappearing. I will keep you updated when I learn more.

Thank you again for your response. You bring comfort.

I have sent you an email on this site. We both have the same surgeon. You do also have a good oncologist.
The back pain and bladder incontinence may be due to a urinary infection. Recommend seeing your primary care doctor to check that out.

****

taraHK

kbienapfl said:

Hi ****, thanks for your response. I am sorry to hear that you have had to travel this journey. It is nice to meet a person in similar situation in my local community. I live in Bloomington.

After my chemo/radiation treatment, I did have a follow-up biopsy, which showed NED. My surgeon, Dr. Nemer and Oncologist, Dr. Rousey, were both in agreement that we could continue follow up testing at that point. I was given an opportunity to go to Sloan-Kettering, which Dr. Nemer was very supportive of. With the holidays approaching and the weary state of mind at that time, I chose to continue with the "wait and see" mode.

Currently, my symptoms are: some bleeding, bladder incontinence, heart palpitations and these terrible back spasms. I have noticed that my energy level has decreased, but that could be me trying to live too much life.

As much support my friends and family have for me (which I am very grateful) they do not understand the choices and decisions that need to be made. I appreciate the fact that this message board provides a plethora of information.

I don't want to over react to my symptoms. I guess it's pretty easy to be on edge when you see the symptoms that brought you in initially reappearing. I will keep you updated when I learn more.

Thank you again for your response. You bring comfort.

Hi. You mention "I don't want to overreact to my symptoms". I know what you mean. However, I truly believe, as you say, that we need to listen to our bodies and to react. Yes, I may be on the paranoid side. And not every symptom is going to be a recurrence (hopefully none are!). But, we are in a different category now. And it's my body, and ultimately I am the only one responsible. So, I'd certainly encourage you to contact your doctor(s). I hope that the result is 'peace of mind', in terms of possible recurrence (blood in stool can be due to many things) and pain relief in terms of the back spasms. Wishing you all the best.