Mom NED but I have questions

Ocean1
Ocean1 Member Posts: 23
in Uterine/Endometrial Cancer #1
Well, it has been about two months since Mom's last chemo and she had her CT and it came back clear - we were all relieved. A few weeks back she developed pain behind her left knee and had an ultrasound to check for DVT and the ultrasound was clear. She was hitting a pain scale of 8/9 out of 10 a lot. She is still in pain there but not quite as severe. Today she told me her shoulder hurts. She began slowly working back into her workout routine after finishing chemo and with the return of some energy but has not done the weights in a couple weeks because it is painful on her shoulder. What she is describing sounds muscular to me but she is REALLY WORRIED that there may be an infection in her port. Is a port infection possible? Can chemo cause this kind of aches and pains post chemo? I must say she is doing great other than these painful symptoms. Her eyebrows are back and brown (instead of gray like they were before chemo) and she batted her newly grown back eyelashes at me today and is eating much better. I'm worried this could be recurrence but will not say that to her (although I know it is probably in the back of her mind as well and we just don't want to say it).

I guess I'm just looking to see if this can be a side effect post chemo and, if so, what can help with the pain.

Gonna go check all the posts and see how everyone is doing.

Comments

  • lindaprocopio
    lindaprocopio Member Posts: 1,980 Member
    #2
    It honestly doesn't sound chemo or cancer related, but .....
    I think your mom is at that stage of this journey where every ache and pain and twinge will cause the fear to rise, and an immediate association to cancer made. Eventually, after numerous similar scares for various small pains and discomforts, you can reassure yourself that the last 20 times you thought it was the cancer coming back or a delayed chemo reaction, it wasn't, and it probably won't be this time either. But in the beginning you don't have that 'past history' to comfort yourself with.

    A port infection can be a life-threatening event, and I believe would be associated with fever and a feeling of heat and discoloration at the port sight. A phone call to oncology and a trip to the ER are in order if she truly has the clasic symptoms of a port infection, doesn't sound like it from what you said.

    Still, any twinge or pain that stays in the same place and lasts more than a full week is worth calling in to your oncology nurse. And if I EVER had a pain at the 8/9-out-of-10 scale, I'd be phoning anyway, even if just for a referral to someone who COULD make the pain go away. There's no reason to suffer with intense pain in this day and age.
  • daisy366
    daisy366 Member Posts: 1,458 Member
    #3
    lindaprocopio said:

    It honestly doesn't sound chemo or cancer related, but .....
    I think your mom is at that stage of this journey where every ache and pain and twinge will cause the fear to rise, and an immediate association to cancer made. Eventually, after numerous similar scares for various small pains and discomforts, you can reassure yourself that the last 20 times you thought it was the cancer coming back or a delayed chemo reaction, it wasn't, and it probably won't be this time either. But in the beginning you don't have that 'past history' to comfort yourself with.

    A port infection can be a life-threatening event, and I believe would be associated with fever and a feeling of heat and discoloration at the port sight. A phone call to oncology and a trip to the ER are in order if she truly has the clasic symptoms of a port infection, doesn't sound like it from what you said.

    Still, any twinge or pain that stays in the same place and lasts more than a full week is worth calling in to your oncology nurse. And if I EVER had a pain at the 8/9-out-of-10 scale, I'd be phoning anyway, even if just for a referral to someone who COULD make the pain go away. There's no reason to suffer with intense pain in this day and age.

    ditto
    I agree 100% with points Linda made. Doc needs to know this.

    Best wishes. Mary Ann

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