At my recent bc check up (6 monthly) I was asked how I was getting on with Arimidex and said that I had hip and knee pain so then it was suggested I have a full body bone scan. I had this on 1st October and was told that hips and knees absolutely fine, but there was a small bright spot on my spine between my shoulder blades. To date I have not been sent the result BUT as I was seeing my GP I mentioned it and apparently the test was inconclusive (borderline?) so now need an MRI.She did say this was quite a common way forward but I’m still left not knowing what the problem is. Now waiting for MRI appt.
Have to say I am quite anxious about all this. I had a stage 2 mixed cancer with no lymph involvement WLE and rads diagnosed in Aug 09. Apparently x-rays taken at the same time as scan did show some wear and tear in the same area but didn’t correlate exactly. I am managing to keep quite positive but the"is this bone mets" hangs over me constantly. I had my first post dx mammogram in August and was called back after that for a u/s on the other breast. That turned out fine, but these anxities seem to carry on. I would really like to get on with life and I think once you know what the result is you can deal with things much better, whatever it is. Not knowing is the the worst bit!
Hi Chris
Just wanted to say hi and that Im thinking about you-hopefully you wont wait too long as I know the stress and anxiety caused by the mind imagining wht can go wrong.
At least your team are on the ball and getting tests organised quite quickly, so heres wishing you positive news and a peaceful mind.
I’m sending you big hugs because I know exactly what you are going through. I had a bone scan recently after mentioning shoulder pain to my onc at my end of chemo follow-up appointment.
The scan showed wear & tear to my shoulders and hips but there was an area on my spine that was difficult to diagnose so I too was sent for an MRI.
The waiting was dreadful - I was sure this was the start of bone mets. I was worried that it was obvious what was wrong with my hips & shoulders but not my spine. I was sure they’d seen something suspicious and I was having an MRI to assess how bad it was.
I got the results last week - I’ve got a prolapsed disc - apparently difficult to see on a bone scan - so delighted to hear that! As I sat there with tears of relief rolling down my cheeks he said,‘I told you not to worry.’ Obviously never had to wait for results then!
I will be thinking about you and hope you are not waiting too long for your appointmant and you get good news too.
Thank you so much ladies for your words of support it means a lot.
Lella it is reassuring to hear from someone who has gone through the same sort of thing. I’m delighted you had such a good outcome, although did you have to have treatment for the prolapse disc and did you have any pain in that area before the bone scan? I didn’t. Although now I do get aching in the area they have found the “spot” on. I’m still waiting for an MRI appt to come through, and still nothing at all, three weeks on, from the original referrer (ie the beast clinic) about the results from the bone scan. Good job I asked my GP! i try to be calm but it does overwhelm me every so often. Will keep you updated.
Hi Chris - so sorry to hear you are still waiting for an MRI appointment - hope it comes soon! The waiting is unbearable isn’t it? Have you rung the hospital to see if you can hurry things up? I was told I’d have to wait 2 weeks for results of MRI but rang after one week and was told the results were in, so I made an appointment with onc for results or goodness knows when I’d have heard.
I had no back pain at all - I was initially sent for a bone scan because I mentioned painful shoulders - this was just ‘wear & tear’. However like you, once I heard there was a suspicious spot on my spine I felt discomfort - probably my mind playing tricks on me!
Hi Chris - I am also playing the waiting game - for a PET scan. I phoned the scan department directly this morning and they can fit me in on Thursday. So I suggest youa ask the hospital main switchboard to put you through to the right department and talk to them directly - it does wonders!
Hi Sadie hope your PET scan went ok. I did ring the MRI dept at the hospital in the end and was told my appt is this thursday 4th November, so helps that I have a date. They seemed bemused by the fact I hadn’t received a letter stating this, of course when I got home there it was on the mat.
Anyway scan thursday then a few more weeks of waiting for the result I expect.
Hi ladies just an update after all your supportive comments. Had the MRI scan (one hour in the scanner!) on 4th November and got results yesterday. Apparently I have two haemengioma somethings one of which had shown up on the bone scan. Luckily they show no cancerous deposits. So that is such a relief as you can all imagine.
However I was so delighted when I spoke to the dr on the phone that I didn’t really hear anything beyond “no cancer deposits”, so think I now need to find out a bit more about the haemengioma thingys.
love and best wishes to all those ladies going through tests and waiting for the results, its such a stressful time. Not knowing is difinitely one of the worse things.