cancer returning?

[trace123]

hi

My partner steve had TC 15 months ago, it really shook our family, from finding out to having his testicle removed was 2 weeks. Obviously we have come to term with it now but the past few months he has started to get back ache, it is so bad now we are up most nights with him in pain. The pain is around his waist at the back, we are all worried but he refuses to see a doctor, as he says it isnt anything to so with his cancer. He is So stubborn!
i am so worried, and need advice....


can anyone help me please?

many thanks tracey

[djmac]

hi

My partner steve had TC 15 months ago, it really shook our family, from finding out to having his testicle removed was 2 weeks. Obviously we have come to term with it now but the past few months he has started to get back ache, it is so bad now we are up most nights with him in pain. The pain is around his waist at the back, we are all worried but he refuses to see a doctor, as he says it isnt anything to so with his cancer. He is So stubborn!
i am so worried, and need advice....


can anyone help me please?

many thanks tracey

Hi Tracey,

This is the problem with TC, every symptom is suspicious, and gets you thinking. In my case I had back pain before the orchiectomy, then it resolved, then it came back to the point that I was convinced it was the cancer returning. I pushed my ortho for an MRI of the lumbar spine. Not only was no cancer detected, but no disc disease which was the original suspicion was observed. My recent (past monday) CT scan came up negative as well.

My brilliant GP suggested that my back pain is psychosomatic, stress-induced, due to anxiety, etc. This is fairly common in cancer patients. As a matter of fact, its fairly common in the entire population. My doc recommended exercise or anti-anxiety meds. I chose a return to my preTC exercise level, and it has helped dramatically (i.e. no back pain). If your partner is the anxious type, this MAY be a cause, however, in his case, metastatic cancer should be ruled out. And having said that, please provide us with more info... what type did he have, did he have any adjuvant treatment (chemo, radiation). What was the initial pathology, and the initial level of spread, etc. Is he on surveillance? If so, surveillance CTs should pick it up if it is cancer related...

I should add that it is worrying that the pain is keeping him up. If the pain is in the bone, and it is keeping him up, that is an ominous sign of metastatic spread to the bone. On the other hand, I stayed up my fair share of nights thinking and worrying about it, and feeling the back pain. He may be having some denial issues. Maybe the best way to approach it is just to say "look, it probably isn't cancer, but we should at least figure out what it is so that we can treat that too."

Best of Luck to you both!

djm

[Neals Sister]

Hello,

From my experience with my brother every time that his TC came back he would get the bad back pains in the lower back that would also keep him up at nights. The only relief he would have would be with oral moriphine. He found out everytime that it was in his abdomen lymph nodes.
Word of advice make sure that he sees a doctor, because that is a symptom of TC, as I experienced it 4 times already. I remember I would tell my brother that it was just oin his head and to stop thinking about the pain but when we found out each time it was really the cancer growing pushing up against the organs.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Kim

[dadmo]

tracey:
I certainly hope he isn't skipping his scheduled meeting. He should be going several time a year. He is doing that isn't he?

[djmac]

Hello,

From my experience with my brother every time that his TC came back he would get the bad back pains in the lower back that would also keep him up at nights. The only relief he would have would be with oral moriphine. He found out everytime that it was in his abdomen lymph nodes.
Word of advice make sure that he sees a doctor, because that is a symptom of TC, as I experienced it 4 times already. I remember I would tell my brother that it was just oin his head and to stop thinking about the pain but when we found out each time it was really the cancer growing pushing up against the organs.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Kim

Kim,

How is Neal doing? Is he still being treated in Mexico?

Regards,

djm

[Neals Sister]

Hello DJM,

Well Neal is doing very well thanks to the controversal B-17 Leatrile that has been proven not only to shrink tumors but also to eliminate them. He has great progress and the tumor markers have been decreasing. This is the first time tumors markers have been decreased except during chemo.
This is a place I would reccommend versus going through radiation or chemo, in which those 2 bad options either burn you're body or poison it.
It is really sad that the US and Canada only offer poison or burning you're body for treatment versus going through the natural healthy way.
But i guess it is all about the money in this world now.
Kim

[trace123]

thanks

hi again

many thanks for the replies.

steve has been for all his check ups, he is due one in two weeks but that is only a blood test. I have booked an appointment at the doctors tomorrow and i will drag him there if i have to. He knows deep down he has to go but I think he is just scared, everything happened so quick last time that i think he is thinking the worst.
He like many men think it wont happen to him and was so shocked when it did, even when he had the operation he never really talked about it or has let it change his life, its just as if it was a cold or something.
I have tried to talk about it and so has his family but he just changes the subject or walks away. I do understand that it is his life but as a family we have just had to get on with it. This is just the way he is about everything not just the TC.
To be honest i think he has just pushed it to the back of his mind, and now the backache is here it has brought all the memories back, and he is scared again.
anyway, hopefully i can get him to go tomorrow, thanks for the advice again.

tracey

[dadmo]

What treatment did your boyfriend have? Has he been getting scans or x-rays as part of his follow-ups?

[Sans rt1]

Tracey - -

Good job - you drag him in tomorrow to get this checked. Many of us here have dealt having a possible symptom, not knowing how long to wait before we should call the doctor, putting off calling the doctor - afraid of looking like a hypochrondriac, but also just afraid of maybe hearing the worst. But all that is stupid - it is a symptom of recurrence, you need to make sure.

I would also be interested in what kind of TC your boyfriend had and what treatment, if any, he had. Last fall, I started having lower backache and a feeling of pressure in my lower back - but thankfully, it checked out all clear. I'm still having the backache - the doctors still don't know for sure what is causing it - but the most likely scenario is that I have a very rare side effect from RT (mine was seminoma) - scar tissue formation in my lower back.

Good luck at the doctor and please keep us informed.