Rib Metastasis???

tmuckelr

Hello.  I am SO new to this kidney cancer journey. Hopefully I am just worried about nothing. I was diagnosed 1/2/21 with a radical nephrectomy performed on 1/20/21.  I have Stage 3 RCC with a "highly aggressive" type (the tumor was a 7 cm type IV) according to the surgeon and oncologist.  I am recovering well and have a scan already scheduled for the 3 month mark.  I was healing very well but now am feeling this very strange and very localized pain in an area of my ribs (very near the right side of the right breast). I can feel it even while walking if my arm rubs against the area. I am a VERY active person and have had many different muscle aches and pains. This is different. It is not an injury as I haven't done much other than light housework. I have not been exercising/lifting weights as I am still under restriction from the surgery. So, I am worried about metastasis.  Am I just being paranoid? How do you know WHEN to call your oncologist and have things checked out? I don't want to be the hyper-sensitive patient that calls about every little issue and have it be nothing, like the boy who cried wolf.  I also don't want things to get out of hand only to be told "If only you had called us sooner..."  Advice from those of you who have been on the journey longer than me very welcomed please...

Mmoses25

Good morning

Hi I'm also stage 3 scans have been clear for a year now. I had pain early on and i was worried called my doctor turn out to be nothing I think you need to call doctor always listen to your body I was a lot like you worry about everything but but Decided not to worry anymore it was doing me more harm call your doctor and just tell him about pain just to be on safe side you are in my thoughts let me know what doctor says

Bay Area Guy

When to call your doctor?

When to call your doctor?  When you have a concern.  In my recovery from a robotic partial, I had continuing numbness in my right hip (the surgery was on that side).  So I asked the surgeon and he said it was common.  That put my mind to rest.  Having had two other (unrelated) surgeries, I can attest that healing, while mostly physical, also has a big psychological component to it.  You seem to be pretty well in tune with your body.  If it's telling you something is off, listen to it.  If it's nothing, you get peace of mind and that goes a long way toward helping your physical healing.

Biner

Hello

Hello

im 3 stage grade 3 partial nephretomy,first months i felt some pain here or here,asked my oncourologist he said it totaly nornal after surgery.I 1 year after diagnosis and few days ago had ct scan,was NED

a_oaklee

Peace of mind.

The docs thought my husband was stage 1 preoperatively as his tumor was 4.5 cm..  While he waited for his surgery date he asked the doctor to check for other sites.  He had a PET scan.  It changed him to a stage 4 because he had bone mets..  The pain he had with the bone mets was chronic.  The one met he had to his rib was pain free.

I give people alot of credit for feeling like something isnt right, and wanting more definitive answers.   And I also understand being worried about every ache and pain.  Most likely you are feeling some sort of post op pain, but it could easily be checked out to relieve your mind.  Your surgery was quite recent.  

Id call the doc.  Thats what they are there for.

AliceB1950

How recent was your CT scan

How recent was your CT scan before surgery? If nothing showed on your rib then, it would be highly unlikely for there to be something this soon, at least anything large enough to give pain. At only a month out from surgery, you are still healing and subject to all the zaps and zings healing nerves can bring on, not necessarily right be the incision sites. I think the rule of thumb is if a new pain lasts persistently for two weeks, to check with your doctor. Do you have an oncologist who you're seeing?

a_oaklee

AliceB1950 said:

How recent was your CT scan

How recent was your CT scan before surgery? If nothing showed on your rib then, it would be highly unlikely for there to be something this soon, at least anything large enough to give pain. At only a month out from surgery, you are still healing and subject to all the zaps and zings healing nerves can bring on, not necessarily right be the incision sites. I think the rule of thumb is if a new pain lasts persistently for two weeks, to check with your doctor. Do you have an oncologist who you're seeing?

Just sayin

Alice.  None of my husbands bone mets showed up on his pre-op CTs.  They only showed on the PET scans.  Clearly Im not a doctor, but I did recheck the reports and nothing was mentioned.  He had mets to shoulder, hip, spine, rib, femur, sternum.   Hes doing great.  Radiation worked.  

 

AliceB1950

a_oaklee said:

Just sayin

Alice.  None of my husbands bone mets showed up on his pre-op CTs.  They only showed on the PET scans.  Clearly Im not a doctor, but I did recheck the reports and nothing was mentioned.  He had mets to shoulder, hip, spine, rib, femur, sternum.   Hes doing great.  Radiation worked.  

 

Sorry, I meant to reply to

Sorry, I meant to reply to tmucklr. But I had something that lit up on a PET scan that turned out to be nothing when biopsies, so it can go both ways. They're not infallible, which is probably why there are different kinds of scans - and even then, they're not always accurate.