Do they find out about reccurence sooner than I have symptoms?
It's been 3 1/2 years since surgery, last C.T four months ago and clear results, all last years any little pain makes me worried, every pain reminds me of possible Cancer reccurence, well, after all clear C.T reports I'm much more confident now than ever, don't lose my mind over little pains and ashes. But it still comes to my mind and I think you are the ones who know how uncomfortable is to have such a possibility on our mind.
My surgeon says he definitely finds out any possible thing much sooner than I have related symptoms, but I'm not sure if that's always the case. My question is, could this happen? C.T scan reports are clear and few months later a patient has symptoms and then they find out the patient has already mets while it wasn't there few months back? my current protocol is to have yearly chest/abdomen and pelvis C.T scan and have chest x-ray and abdominal ultrasound in between two C.T scans.
Since yesterday morning I have constant pain somewhere in my abdomen, at left side. I can't exactly locate it because it seems that the pain is moving from up to down , front to back. My last C.T scan was four months ago and I keep assuring myself that nothing can happen in just four months with such symptom and it is something not related to cancer, I'm going to meet my surgeon the day after tomorrow if pain doesn't get better.
Comments
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It's possible
To answer your question, yes, it's possible to have a recurrance and not have any symptoms. My mets are in lungs, and other than the scans, I'd have never known they were there. I would imagine that you could experience symptoms that lead to Dx as well. It really can go either way.
Sorry you're having such pain. I hope you find relief soon and that it is NOT a recurrance.
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My wife still has aches and
My wife still has aches and pains and often says that her abdominal area has a slight discomfort. She brushes things off better than I do so she just keeps on without missing a beat and most times, never mentions it but I catch her sometimes wince when she gets a pain.
I believe that once they go inside your body and remove an organ or part of it that it will always be a bit sensitive. I liken it to an athlete that has a major knee or ankle surgery, sure they can make a comeback and perform at a high level. However they will always have that bit of pain here and there.
I am an advocate of "If it is of concern....have it checked" though so I believe a consult with the surgeon is a smart move.
Best wishes to you my friend.
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I think it is
highly unlikely that you would identify a new lesion before a CT scan would show one in a chest, abdomen, or pelvis. Nothing in soft tissue would be that innervated with free nerve endings, (pain receptors) to cause much damage. Maybe in the bone or nervous system you might feel a tumor first. I do that often.
If you have an unusual pain I think a minimum 3 month wait is reasonable before repeat scans.
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If it continues,
Go ahead and see him. If nothing else it'll give you peace of mind. And who knows maybe something else is going on, not cancer related but viral or something. And I agree, we're probably all hypersensitive to what otherwise might just be an ache or pain in passing.
Wishing you the best,
Donna~
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Follow Ups
It would seem something in that area would show up on CT before you feel it. I'm glad you're getting regular scans though. Stage 2 Grade 2 is something to keep a close eye on compared to Stage 1. You don't mention if you're getting contrast or not?
As Fox (maybe somebody else said), the places where symptoms show up before scans seem to be spine and brain (which is not scanned regularly anyways). I think that's part of the reason they don't scan the brain regularly. Partially it's radiation exposure to the brain, but I've been told that even small lesions give symptoms so those places get caught early anyways.
I did have what I felt like was a symptom that I was having pain and they gave me a scan and they found a tumor in my right adrenal gland. On the other hand, I don't get contrast and when they went back 6 months, it was even slightly visible then but they hadn't noticed it until I told them I was getting pain in that area. So it is possible, at least from my experience, that you might feel something then they find it especially if you aren't getting contrast CT scans. Mine was missed because the tumor hadn't grown large enough to change the size/shape of my adrenal gland enough to catch their attention until I complained. On the other hand, I think I wonder if my pain was me being a hypochondriac and it just happened to be in that same area.
I say have it checked out if you don't feel right. I've never regretted pushing my docs to look into something.
Todd
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The very last scan wastodd121 said:Follow Ups
It would seem something in that area would show up on CT before you feel it. I'm glad you're getting regular scans though. Stage 2 Grade 2 is something to keep a close eye on compared to Stage 1. You don't mention if you're getting contrast or not?
As Fox (maybe somebody else said), the places where symptoms show up before scans seem to be spine and brain (which is not scanned regularly anyways). I think that's part of the reason they don't scan the brain regularly. Partially it's radiation exposure to the brain, but I've been told that even small lesions give symptoms so those places get caught early anyways.
I did have what I felt like was a symptom that I was having pain and they gave me a scan and they found a tumor in my right adrenal gland. On the other hand, I don't get contrast and when they went back 6 months, it was even slightly visible then but they hadn't noticed it until I told them I was getting pain in that area. So it is possible, at least from my experience, that you might feel something then they find it especially if you aren't getting contrast CT scans. Mine was missed because the tumor hadn't grown large enough to change the size/shape of my adrenal gland enough to catch their attention until I complained. On the other hand, I think I wonder if my pain was me being a hypochondriac and it just happened to be in that same area.
I say have it checked out if you don't feel right. I've never regretted pushing my docs to look into something.
Todd
The very last scan was without contrast, although all others were with contrast. The last time my surgeon said he didn't want my remained kidney to be under more pressure.
Sure I'll have it checked within next few days if the pain resist.
Since last night it seems like pain comes from my ovary, and I'm in the middle of my cycle , maybe ovulating is the reason, I usually have pain on ovulation but now I'm on drugs and maybe it is why this month I have such wired pain, that's why I want to wait one more days to see if it gets better.
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What a lovely replyMax57 said:happy women's day
Just to get your attention don't ignore the power of mind it is overwhelming some time
What a lovely reply
Thanks, today I feel much better, but my primary suggested blood work and abdominal and pelvis ultrasound, I'm going to have it tomorrow
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Everything was fine,it turnsAPny said:You could have an ovarian
You could have an ovarian cyst. The US is a good idea. Also perhaps see your gyn doc. to rule any pelvic issues out. All the best!
Everything was fine,it turns out it was an ovarian cyst, nothing to worry about
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Wow! Great News!
Glad to know everything turnout good!
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That's excellent news, now
That's excellent news, now relax and have some fun!
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