Nushka Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 It has been 3 months since my last check up (which was NED) and I am having pain. It is in the area of the kidneys on the left side but also feels as though it could be ribs. Of course, I am worried about mets. The pain is constant but once I can go to sleep it doesn't wake me up. After a few waking hours it is very wearing. I have some percocet that only dulls the pain. Please keep me in your prayers and any comment would be welcome. I am scheduled for a chest film only but feel I should ask for further tests. I assume a CT scan would identify it whether it is rib or adrenal but I may be wrong. Please, if you have mets in this area, can you tell me how you found out? How it felt? Gee, can you tell I am very nervous about this whole thing? This has been going on for a week now and I sure wish it would go away. Nina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don M Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Hi Nina: So far I am still staged IB and have never had any symptoms. But, I think you shoud ask for a chest/abdomen scan or maybe an ultrasound scan if you are worried about your kidneys. I have never had a bone scan, but I think that is someting entirely different from a chest ct scan. Others are more infrormed about this than me. I hope it turns out to be nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamasbabygirl Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 My mom describes the rib pain as a sharp, piercing pain. She takes a ton of meds (60mg morpheine and percocets every 3-4 hours), and she is still lying in bed most of the time bc of the pain. I so hope that pain goes away soon and that the right tests are ordered for you. We can only do what we can do....keep the faith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cindi o'h Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Hi Nina. Don't have any experience in that area yet, but I can tell that your concerns are valid. Would it be all right to ask for a chest ab pelvis CT based on your level of physical distress? I am hoping that you twisted yourself somehow when you weren't looking or caught yourself on the ice that y'all were supposed to get. I am asking please for no mets. Cindi o'h Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Nina, If this is a constant pain, call your PCP. You might have a kidney infection or other "normal" thing. Sure, keep the HYPERchondria where LC is concerned, but remember there are other things that can go wrong. Here's to an end to the pain! Becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadstimeon Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Hi Nina, I have mets to the (slight involvement/enlarged) adrenal gland but so far no pain or causing any problems. When I get my (was picked up on a CT Scan way back in the beginning) CT Scan they do it from my chest to the pelvic area. Having other health issue sometimes I think it might be my cancer and it is not. Was having a problem a while back and a friend of mine said I should call my (as Becky advised also) PCP, it's not always cancer related and go in, which I did, turns out had nothing to do with my cancer. Would not speculate on what it is, best left for the doctors. Hope this helps. Prayers for the best. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Wood Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Prayers comin'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaneC Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Sending prayers your way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharyn Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Nina, I agree that you need to contact your PCP as this could very well be a kidney problem... Don't put it off as you could be making things worse by waiting. I am praying it turns out to be a minor blip.... Sharon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloesmom Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Nina, I can relate to always thinking the worst....I have a three month appt with my surgeon coming up and I'm already thinking I'm going to tear somebody's head off if they keep acting up (of course, when I'm more level headed, I realize I'm the one acting up). But, I want to chime in for the very real possibility that it's some 'normal person' ailment. Could be strained muscle, anything. Depending on how soon my chest x-ray was scheduled for, I might run the complaint by my surgeon and see what he or she thinks. I know that my surgeon always asks about pain and I say sure, and he then says, "Anything you have to constantly take medication to relieve?" I guess if I were to say yes, we'd have to check further, but I always say no. If you think your next appt with doc is scheduled too far out, I'd say see your GP as soon as you can get in. Good luck, I'll be thinking of you. Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Lamb Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Nina,sending prayers that it is nothing serious.Probably a good idea to request a ct scan to make sure tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haylee_38 Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 Nina, Prayers coming your way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stand4hope Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 Hi Nina, I understand why you would be concerned. If they are going to rule out bone mets, I think a PET scan or a bone scan are probably the best. I know they can also see them in the CT/Lung-Abdomen-Pelvis scan because they always report the pelvis mets in my husband's CTs, but the report never says much about them except they are there. I don't know how much they can tell about them from the CT, but apparently they can show up. When my husband had the severe shoulder pain, the first thing the onc did was put him on Percocet/Ibuprofen combination, and at the same time, he ordered a PET scan for the next day. That area in his shoulder lit up like a Christmas tree. Then he ordered an x-ray to see if it had fractured. It hadn't, so he didn't have to have surgery - just radiation. You didn't say when you were getting your CT, but I would definitely call Monday and let your doc know about this new pain so he/she can get right on it! Lots of love and hugs, girl! Hang in there! When is your CT? Love, Peggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryanne Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 Thinking of you Nina, and sending prayers your way. But I have a question.... What or who is a PCP? Maryanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 I am dittoing what Snowflake said. As a doctor once said, once cancer hits, every ache and pain is assumed to be cancer, but you can get normal stuff to. Have you had a urinalysis? Pain in the kidney area could be a simple kidney infection. I had pain for over a week recently in the kidney area and it also hurt on the side and right under the breast bone where the bra is. Turned out to be an infection. Also, you could have pulled a muscle. Hopefully you can get peace of mind after scans. I would ask for an abdominal ct scan in aaddition to the chest b/c it shows the kidney area, maybe you have a stone in there too. Personally I LOVE my kidney stones, they are just painful, but rarely serious. Maryanne--PCP is primary care practioner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tnmynatt Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 Nina, Praying that it is just a kidney infection. Take care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ry Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 Hopefully it is just a urinary tract infection. We tend to go to our PCP when we aren't sure its something to do with the cancer. I think one of the main reasons we do this is that we can usually get in the same day and he is close. When our oncologist was out of town we even went to him to get the scan results rather than see another oncologist. Let us know what you find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 Hi Nina, I have a lot of pain from time to time in my rib area, shoulders,back and every other damn part. So far, none have been related to the lung cancer. It still scares me and probably always will. There are lots of things that can cause your symptoms other than lung cancer. For your own piece of mind, I would ask for a ct scan rather then an x-ray. The doc shouldn't care and it is a better way to go. Don't wait, do it now. Once it's in your head it isn't going to go away until you are confortable that it isn't the LC causing your problems. Don't worry about your doctor's feelings. You are what is important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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