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I've had a bit of a rough week. It's about time for my annual relapse scare. I'm coming up on my 4 year anniversary of begining treatment and the chances of relapse are now much slimmer - studies suggest that if you make it 3 years past treatment, your chance of relapsing is only 10%. But still, someone has to be in that 10%.
My shoulder, breast, underarm, and neck are all achey - and that is where my bulkiest tumors were. I don't *think* I feel any lymph nodes, but I am overweight so I would not necessarily be able to do so. That side has always been more swollen than the other thanks to scar tissue from treatment. I have been poking around so much that I have a little bruise, which probably doesn't help matters either. Even worse, my lower back has begun feeling uncomfortable though I think it is probably due to a change of diet (until I started tracking my diet, I had no idea how little fiber I was getting - I thought I was all set with so much brussels sprouts and cabbage!). Still, backpain was my first symptom so it has me on edge.
On the plus side, nothing hurts upon alcohol consumption which was my first symptom. The back discomfort seems to be tied to constipation or sluggishness rather than the sharp, wake-me-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night crying that I had for years before my diagnosis. No itchiness. The two places I had palpable nodes aren't swollen. I've had a lot of stress at work over the past few weeks having to read thousands of racist, misogynist, and often threatening emails, Tweets, and comments looking for credible threats to the community. My onc and PCP aren't that concerned - or at least, aren't concerned enough to push up my physical or scan coming in the next 2 months.
Trying not to let myself get panicked. People get aches and pains and it's not always related to cancer, but it's so hard to see that in the moment. Also, I'm only 27, so in general any ache or pain has cause that I can identify and it's scary when I can't.
It wasn't quite the good news that I thought it was. But more on that another time - another post.
Quote:
Originally Posted by charolastra00
...I've had a bit of a rough week. It's about time for my annual relapse scare. I'm coming up on my 4 year anniversary of begining treatment and the chances of relapse are now much slimmer - studies suggest that if you make it 3 years past treatment, your chance of relapsing is only 10%. But still, someone has to be in that 10%.
My shoulder, breast, underarm, and neck are all achey - and that is where my bulkiest tumors were. I don't *think* I feel any lymph nodes, but I am overweight so I would not necessarily be able to do so. That side has always been more swollen than the other thanks to scar tissue from treatment. I have been poking around so much that I have a little bruise, which probably doesn't help matters either. Even worse, my lower back has begun feeling uncomfortable though I think it is probably due to a change of diet (until I started tracking my diet, I had no idea how little fiber I was getting - I thought I was all set with so much brussels sprouts and cabbage!). Still, backpain was my first symptom so it has me on edge.
On the plus side, nothing hurts upon alcohol consumption which was my first symptom. The back discomfort seems to be tied to constipation or sluggishness rather than the sharp, wake-me-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night crying that I had for years before my diagnosis. No itchiness. The two places I had palpable nodes aren't swollen. I've had a lot of stress at work over the past few weeks having to read thousands of racist, misogynist, and often threatening emails, Tweets, and comments looking for credible threats to the community. My onc and PCP aren't that concerned - or at least, aren't concerned enough to push up my physical or scan coming in the next 2 months.
Trying not to let myself get panicked. People get aches and pains and it's not always related to cancer, but it's so hard to see that in the moment. Also, I'm only 27, so in general any ache or pain has cause that I can identify and it's scary when I can't.
Ugh.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CA4Now
I hope that it's just stress, Charo. It's a good sign that your oncologist isn't concerned. Thinking of you!
Char, I wish I was smart enough to offer some knowledgeable advice. I think CA4Now said it well. I'll be thinking of you too and wishing you luck with all that I have.
I finished another cycle of chemo this week. At the same time, they gave me a heavy-duty antibiotic by IV to deal with an infection of my left foot that keeps coming back. The oncologist took a wound culture at the start of the week. Yesterday it came back positive for a staph infection. So they finished IV fusion and today I started my first dose of an oral antibiotic. There's no podiatrist on staff at the cancer center so my oncologist wants me to contact my podiatrist about the infection.. even though it seems to be improving on its own. I feel sort of stuck in the middle because I don't know what to say to my podiatrist. I haven't had to see him since the end of 2012. This is the first bit of doubt or uncertainty I'm feeling over what I'm being told by the center. Confusing.
I start the next cycle of chemo on Feb 10. After that, they want to do another CT scan of my chest/lungs to evaluate the size of the cancer. When the scan is done the radiology oncologist said that it might be time to start radiation treatments. She wants to do six weeks of treatments. That caught me by surprise. I didn't anticipate that many treatments. My last experience with radiation to my head and neck resulted in burns to the soft tissue in my neck, scarred vocal cords, scar tissue on the laryngeal surface of my epiglottis and lots of pain. I don't think I'm brave enough to do it again.
Last edited by LilyLady; 01-24-2015 at 11:41 AM..
Reason: Corrected spacing.
I wish I was as positive as you. It doesn't help to know that this cancer is so agressive and recurring. The radiation oncologist told me that remission probably isn't in my future. I'd been told that after the lung biopsy but it's still kind of hard to hear again.
Okay, I'll enjoy this break from treatments and the cancer center. Then I'll deal with the next cycle of treatments. Like you said - one treatment at a time.
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