pelvic and Hip Pain

henhill

I saw an old thread and wasn't sure if I should make a new one or respond to the old one, so forgive me if I chose wrongly.  My cancer reccurrence was discovered in June, but the doc at Mass General in Boston told me that because I was feeling good and doing well, and my scan showed very small cells in 4 lymph nodes it would be best to remain off treatment  for as long as possible.  I have had nightmarish difficulty with my gut ever since radiation started, and have had several bouts of intense pain, and then periods of doing pretty good for a while.  But after a trip I took in September, I started to feel awful, and it feels like there is a stricture, with intense pain in the lower left of my abdomen.  This has also led to pain in my left hip and radiating down the leg at times.  Has anyone else had these problems?  Of course I am full of dread to go back on treatment and of developing tumors.  I have a CAT scan on Thursday, but was hoping  to go into the week with some ideas.  Thanks in advance for any advice.

Lou Ann M

Pain

i have been having pain of various intensities since Feb.  some times so severe that it brought tears to my eyes and sometimes just a nagging.  Mine is on my right side and pelvis.  My onc was  afraid that the cancer had metastasized into my bones so ordered an MRI after a CT scan didn't show anything.  The MRI didnt show any thing. After a time on rather strong pain med he sent me to an orthopedist, who diecided that it was an SI joint problem. I had one injection that lasted for about 2 months and a second injection that didn't help at all.  The orthopedist sent me to a physical therapist who took one look at me and said he could see that I had an SI JOINT out of alignment and that he could fix it.  Lots of exercises to strengthen my hip and abdominal muscles.  I was so scared that it was cancer related and it turned out to be something else all together.

Hugs and prayers, Lou Ann

Nellasing

Just do the next thing.....

you are doing what you can do- try not to look into the future and what may be there just keep following the path to the right answer... it is so hard not to think the worst ... prayers for you henhill and maybe it is something like Lou Ann or maybe it's scar tissue???  please let us know how you are doing and what you find out- thank you for sharing because it helps us all when these things come up  (((HUGS)))

Nellasing

WHEW! Lou Ann

Wow- you just keep going through it!  I am so glad your search lead you to someone who knew what it was and how to fix it!  I hope you will be out of pain very very soon and SO relieved that it wasn't related to cancer (((HUGS)))  

pinky104

henhill

Pain going down the leg is usually caused by sciatica.  It hurts in the left low back area too.  I've had it since I was in my mid 30's and I'm now 68.  It's been getting worse lately.  I've been seeing a chiropractor since my 30's, and after a visit or two, he's always been able to make it better, up until a few months ago.  I had an x-ray in August and my doctor found a lot of degenerative disease, nothing new.  When I go back to him for my physical in November, I'm going to remind him that he was going to order an MRI for me, and then possibly go for surgery of some kind.  The pain when I lay in bed at night is sometimes unbearable. 

I had worse pain in my hip after chemo (mine was finished in Sept, 2010).  I read a thread on here quite a while back that mentioned the hip pain can be caused by the fact that new blood cells are being produced in the bone marrow of the hip area.  When I was seeing an orthopedic physician, he told me uterine cancer only rarely metastasizes to the bone.  He checked me for that anyway and told me my tests were negative.

In spite of these things, I'd mention to your doctors that you're having this awful pain.  There are other things that might be going wrong in your abdomen.  Maybe they'll show up in your CT scan and maybe they won't.  There is a range of conditions that affect the abdomen from simple to life threatening.  And maybe it's just something caused by the radiation.  I didn't have that, so I wouldn't know.  The fact that it started at that time would seem to indicate it could be related.  It also could be coincidental.  Whatever it is, it's worth bringing up with the doctor.      

henhill

Thanks Lou Ann, Pinky and Nellasing

It is so reassuring to think it is just aging or one of those "things: associated with treatment,  The fact that it coincides with recurrence and now the CA 125 at 560 was gnawing at me.  My doc thinks it could be a stricture and inflammatiion.  I know that the incidence of intense pain seems to be from the lack of "transit" during digestion- the food jusst seems to be stuck in my gut.  Thank you, and I will report the test results when I get them.

cindy0519

Pain in my left hip also!

Henhill - I have been having pain in my left hip for a couple months now too.  It started in early Aug with an intense pain in my lower left abdomen.  This was aid to be an inflamation of my intenstine due to radiation and meds did help it to go away but as it went away the pain in my hip came and it progressively get worse.  I too have the shooting pain down the outside of my left thigh and into my left knee. 

I begged my breast onco to take me off Letrozole becasue I figured it was either weakening my bone or causing bone pain (it is know to do both).  She refused saying the Letrozole would create bilateral pain. She told me to see my gyn onco asap!  Scared the crap out of me!!! Went to see my primary care Doc as my gyno onco was on vacation, he chalked it up to sciatica and gave me a course of Predinzone - which did bring some reliefespecially with the shooting pain down my outer leg.  My gyno onco took mercy on me and sent me to have a CT scan (it was all clear!), an Xray of the hip (the bones look good - some age degeneration but that is expected...LOL), and sent me to a sports med doctor.  I have seen him twice.  He ordered an MRI of the hip to make sure nothing is going on - just had that done yesterday.  He suspects I may have micro tears in the tissues/tendons that connect to the hip.  He says 3 or 4 months of agressive PT should do the job and make me pain free! 

Can you get in to see a sport med doc? It might be worth a visit.

 

Nellasing

Cindy0519

Sounds like you have a plan and can move forward- that all sounded and looked encouraging- hope you get relief soon  (((HUGS)))

Nellasing

henhill said:

Thanks Lou Ann, Pinky and Nellasing

It is so reassuring to think it is just aging or one of those "things: associated with treatment,  The fact that it coincides with recurrence and now the CA 125 at 560 was gnawing at me.  My doc thinks it could be a stricture and inflammatiion.  I know that the incidence of intense pain seems to be from the lack of "transit" during digestion- the food jusst seems to be stuck in my gut.  Thank you, and I will report the test results when I get them.

Seems like you might be on the right track

Good to know they think possibly other things... can deal with almost anything else right?!  Look fwd to the results.   (((HUGS)))

henhill

cindy0519

Sounds pretty similar, but my stomach pain is intense.  I can feel it in the same spot that has hurt since radiation, but now is really painful.  It also starts after lunch (Idon't usually eat breakfast)  and then gets worse from there.  It keeps me awake when I go to bed unless I take NSAIDs and by morning, it is gone!  I have thought it could also possibly be diverticulitis, were you also tested for that?  I am glad you have some answers, 

Kvdyson

henhill said:

cindy0519

Sounds pretty similar, but my stomach pain is intense.  I can feel it in the same spot that has hurt since radiation, but now is really painful.  It also starts after lunch (Idon't usually eat breakfast)  and then gets worse from there.  It keeps me awake when I go to bed unless I take NSAIDs and by morning, it is gone!  I have thought it could also possibly be diverticulitis, were you also tested for that?  I am glad you have some answers, 

Gallbladder

Could it be your gallbladder? I understand that pain after eating is one sign of a gallbladder problem.

Lou Ann M

Gallbladder

I had my gall bladder removed years ago, so I kind of forgot the pain it can cause.  Usually after eating.  And,certain things,can make it even worse, gravy really did m in.  Certainly something to look into.  Sometimes pain is a puzzle that you have to figure out.  Don't give,up searching for an answe.

Hugs and prayers, Lou Ann

MAbound

Lou Ann M said:

Gallbladder

I had my gall bladder removed years ago, so I kind of forgot the pain it can cause.  Usually after eating.  And,certain things,can make it even worse, gravy really did m in.  Certainly something to look into.  Sometimes pain is a puzzle that you have to figure out.  Don't give,up searching for an answe.

Hugs and prayers, Lou Ann

?

Was your pain after eating more in your back or lower abdomen like Henhill described?

Lou Ann M

Gosh!  I had my gall bladder

Gosh!  I had my gall bladder removed about 30 years ago. I remember the pain well, but not real sure of the exact location.  Seems to have been more in the front and not the back.  I did have sciatic pain in my left hip and leg about a year before cancer.  That has gone away.  I have also had pain in my abdomen that I think was chemo inflaming and irritating my digestive system.  It always came at the same time after chemo.  Had several gastritis attacks near were my esophagus hit my stomach that took me to the ER.  And two bouts with bowel blockage.  Those are really painful.  None of those were as painful as this stupid SI joint pain, though. I thought at first it was coming from my lower abdoman and that in had something to do with cancer and my intestines, but it turned out to be just that Joint. 

Lou Ann

MAbound

Just Wondering

I was just wondering because my husband's pain was sort of beneath his shoulder blade, usually at night, when he had gall stones. We had a hard time realizing it was his gallbladder because it wasn't closely associated with eating like you'd expect. I'm thinking lower abdominal pain would be less likely to be gallbladder because it's not the usual place it occurs, but the association with eating is what you usually hear about.  It's a tricky one to recognize, so it's a good thing for Kim to have brought it up for consideration as well as looking into the intestinal issues. The hysterectomy and resulting adhesions, chemo, and radiation all do a real number on our digestive system. So sorry that you are having all of this difficulty now, Henhill, I hope you get this figured out and get some relief soon.

cindy0519

henhill said:

cindy0519

Sounds pretty similar, but my stomach pain is intense.  I can feel it in the same spot that has hurt since radiation, but now is really painful.  It also starts after lunch (Idon't usually eat breakfast)  and then gets worse from there.  It keeps me awake when I go to bed unless I take NSAIDs and by morning, it is gone!  I have thought it could also possibly be diverticulitis, were you also tested for that?  I am glad you have some answers, 

When I had pain in my lower

When I had pain in my lower abdominal area in early August I had a CT in the ER and they said it was inflamation (like diverticulitius but they called it some other name) cause by radiation.  It was incredibly sharp and painful!  It did seem to increase througout the day and for me eating made it better for a short while. OTC NAIDS didn't touch it - thats why I decided to go the ER in another state (we were in MS but live in OH).   They gave me what felt like a huge shot of Morphine in the ER and sent me home with 800mg Anaprox (Naproxin) and Termadol for pain.  The ER doc said it would probably take a week to 10 days for it to calm down and that is about how long it took.

Not sure how they'd look for diverticulitis other than an CT but maybe there is something else they can do.  I'd ask my doc about this and the gallbladder as others have mentioned.  Keep pushing for answers!  There is no reason why we should accept being in pain as a norm!!

henhill

Well the doc's nurse called

Well the doc's nurse called me today and said my scan didn't show as anything, and lo and behold, yesterday it virtually disappeared, anyway!  I think that the issue is inflammation.  Like Cindy said, I also had scar tissue after radiation, and the pain was right in the area where it has hurt since the radiation began. Whenever  I get a virus or experience normal stomach upset, this thing starts up.  Has anyone out there who has had pelvic radiation  seen articles stating that people who have had this treatment often "cannot enjoy the victory of NED" due to the damage casued by the treatment?  It seems to me that there is a permanent feature that bedevils many of us who got more than we thought we were getting.  Also showed slight increase in size of lymph node, but nothing alarming she said.

Soup52

I am one who had external

I am one who had external radiation after I had healed from surgery and after that 3brachy all before chemo. I am enjoying NED despite the chemo. Yes, I do have some lasting effects from radiation, but it seems to be a bit better as time goes by. I know many of the others don't agree with having radiation, but for me with my high grade cancer I felt it was worth it. Everyone is different and must choose wnether to have certain treatments.