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Question about pelvic pain
Hi everyone,
I’m a 33 year old male who is new to this forum. I have been experiencing some strange symptoms for the past 10-12 days that sound somewhat in keeping with bladder cancer, although I can’t seem to find any detailed information online regarding the nature or character of pain associated with bladder cancer. I have an appointment with a urological nurse practitioner (can’t get in to see my urologist for more than a month) next week, and in the meantime I just wanted to see how much my symptoms align with those experienced by folks who have been diagnosed with bladder cancer:
1) My primary symptom is a dull, aching pain in primarily the right side of my pelvis, running from approximately the base of my penis and radiating outward and upward, as well as into the fold where my pelvis and leg attach. Occasionally some ache may be noticed on the left side as well, but the right side is clearly more affected. I don’t precisely have any burning upon urination, BUT the ache sometimes seems to worsen slightly as I am flexing the pelvic muscles to initiate urination. The ache is also very noticeable when my bladder is full and I really need to pee. While the ache isn’t very noticeable during sex, it seems to ramp up and make its presence known at the moment of ejaculation.
2) I also intermittently have some very minor low back pain on the right side, although this comes and goes and frankly I wouldn’t have even reported it as a symptom if it weren’t for the fact that I read it was a symptom of bladder cancer. So it may be a bit of power of suggestion for this symptom.
3) While I’ve definitely never had any obvious, overt blood in my urine there may have been a few instances in which my urine was a bit darker than normal over the past few months. Not like cola or anything, but just a shade or so darker than is typical. This was before any of my physical symptoms began and the color of my urine has been normal ever since my symptoms began.
I suppose the last bit of relevant info is that I had my annual physical just 2 weeks ago, complete with a CBC, and everything was within range.
Do the symptoms I reported here sound in keeping with those experienced by forum members who were ultimately diagnosed as having bladder cancer? Thanks for reading!
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5 Replies
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Thank you very much Sara Anne and Alan! I’ll report back after my appointment with urology.
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Sorry to hear about your problems. You are going to have to wait until your urology visit to get any answers, I am afraid.
No, a routine urinalysis can’t tell you a thing about bladder cancer. As you know, they were checking primarily for infection. But your symptoms are not typical for bladder cancer. The more common situation is either no symptoms and it is picked up during an exam for other things, or the appearance of urinary blood, or perhaps symptoms that may seem like a urinary tract infection with no bacteria present. Pain is not a typical presentation.
Hope they get this figured out for you soon.
Sara Anne
Diagnosis 2-08 Small papillary TCC; CIS
BCG; BCG maintenance
Vice-President, American Bladder Cancer Society
Forum Moderator
Just a guess. It almost sounds like a twisted testicle which does happen.
DX 5/6/2008 TAG3 papillary tumor .5 CM in size. 2 TURBS followed by 6 instillations of BCG weekly with a second round of 6 after a 6 week wait.
Thanks very much for your response! I actually went to a local urgent care facility today because last night I woke up with a full bladder in the middle of the night and the ache in my pelvis was so deep that it actually made me feel like I was going to vomit (that’s a first for me, for sure). The only test that was done was a routine urinalysis that didn’t turn up anything unusual. It was negative for blood and also didn’t turn up any other abnormalities like WBCs that might point to a cause. I realize that getting a clean urinalysis doesn’t rule out cancer, and the lack of any abnormalities suggestive of infection seemingly rules out the more common benign conditions (uti, bladder infection, etc.), but is there any information available regarding the sensitivity of a routine urinalysis for detection of cancer? In other words, if you have a clean dipstick test are the odds on your side? Thanks!!
We certainly sympathize with your symptoms and problems. While what you describe could be bladder cancer, the probability is it is something else. Infection, muscle tear, nerve problem, etc etc. Basically, whatever I might say it is pure conjecture and I don’t mean to minimize your issues. I have learned from not only this forum and bladder cancer to simply wait and get a complete report of whatever ails one. Your symptoms certainly deserve an answer. Feel free to continue posting as you go as we all learn from each other.
DX 5/6/2008 TAG3 papillary tumor .5 CM in size. 2 TURBS followed by 6 instillations of BCG weekly with a second round of 6 after a 6 week wait.Sign In to reply.
