Would really appreciate some advice. My partner, Juliet, has had pain in her groin and top of leg for a couple of weeks now - although it comes and goes. Also feeling more tired than usual and a bit lacking in appetite. None of this looks good. She has 6 month check up in mid Jan (4 years since orginal diagnosis) and I don’t think we are likely to get the appointment moved much further forward because of Xmas. She has booked to see GP tomorrow in the hope of getting blood tests in case that can tell us anything earlier. Is this useful? Are blood tests likely to give any information in themselves? I was guessing that high calcium levels would be a very bad sign but that a clear blood test might not mean anything.
Hi Sharon
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Sharon you are right about blood tests, you could ask for CA15 3 levels if they will do them at a GP, but actually if it were me I would ring the hospital and explain I did not feel well and was in pain, I think they may well bring the appointment forward at least a bit as this is what they are there for . Hope that your partner gets answers asap and it turns out OK
So sorry to hear about Juliet. I agree with Cathy…try to get appointment brought forward…though blood test can be unreliable and it will probbaly be hard to get scans in before Xmas now…but who knows they might be less busy.
Thank you all! I shall try to get her to ring the hospital - but it is difficult without panicking her -she is more optimistic than me and I hate to puncture that too much! At least she decided to see the GP off her own bat. Perhaps I’ll tackle it once she has had the appointment tomorrow.
Hi, as the other have said, blood tests are not totally reliable, but can be an indicator if things are going ‘wrong’. Your GP should be able to sort out a bone profile b/t and CA15.3. I have them done once a year, and the values have not changed, and I also have 6 monthly check ups, so if anything is bothering me between b/t, I can discuss it with the oncologist. Good luck to your partner, and hope it is nothing more than a ‘strained’ muscle.
Just wanted to give you an update. Juliet decided to see GP first and get blood tests -and decide what to do after that. I tried my powers of persuasion but they failed! Anyway, got results yesterday and all look ok. Bilirubin high but that has happened before (had her first chemo postponed and dosage reduced but nothing found on scans). I think that the groin and leg pains are easing too -so we will probably stick with the scheduled onc visit in January and see how things are then.
Thank you for being so generous with your help and support.
Hi Sharon
I hope this means you can both relax over Christmas and deal with things in January when Juliet sees her onc. Thanks for keeping us updated and fingers crossed for January, at least nothing obvious showed up on the blood tests.
Have a good Christmas
Nicky x