Oh, man -
I needs my peeps right about now. Last time I visited, I had my second TURBT and myto, which went well, except for a longer recovery than I thought was reasonable. I had my third cystoscope in September and got an all clear (yay, silly dance).
This next stuff is sorta important, so keep up:
About two weeks ago, I thought I pulled a muscle in my left hip, that worsened until I thought I had a pinched something. At first it only hurt when I would bend over or twist at the waist, but then the pain would hit at more random times. Modafo pain would go from zero to Shriek in an instant. I finally went to the doc-in-a-box last Sunday night. The doc poked all round my hip joint (ow!), then rotated and flexed my legs, which surprisingly, didn't hurt at all. He took some lumbar and pelvic X-rays and sent me home with some ibuprofen.
Just yesterday morning, he called and told me the radiologist read the films and reported "questionable osteolytic lesion in L-1indicating possible metastatic disease", and recommended a full body bone scan ASAP. Then yet another doctor called and asked me to come in first thing this morning, no appt. necessary, oh, and could I also please hurry up.
So, being a wee bit, no wait, seriously freaked, I started noodling around on the web, and things don't look too good if the words "questionable" and "possible" don't pan out. I want to get these symptoms out there, in case anyone else has the same thing happening. I waited about 1-1/2 weeks before I went to check it out, but knowing what might be, I wish I had gone in sooner. In the best of situations, with no history of primary cancer, it is recommended to see a doc immediately if these kinds of pains last more than 3 days. So there.
That being said, does anyone here have any experience with bladder cancer mets to the spine? I know, I know, nothing is sure yet, but I would like to be able to plan ahead. The hub is being released from the hospital tomorrow (no worries there, angioplasty, all went well), so things will be tight, schedule-wise for the next week or so. I read that this type of cancer is curable, or that it isn't, that radiation, chemo and surgery are all used to treat it, or only some of them, or none of them (worst case). That there are bone scans, MRIs, Tomography, CT and PET scans. I haven't looked into the various voodoos yet.
Any advice at all would be so, so appreciated. As the saying goes, I must now go scream a little.
Love and schmoochies to you all, especially Sara.Anne and Sandie
Merc
