Question about abdominal pain

[patrick09]

Hi everyone,

I finished my three rounds of chemo at the end of July and had a clean ct scan and bloodwork in August. For the last couple weeks I have been having some abdominal pain in my upper left side that I have never had before. Has anyone else had a similar feeling post chemo and if so what caused it? Has anyone else had these similar pains as a result of cancer spreding? I am scheduled for a followup in two weeks with my onc and I cant get it moved up. Any thoughts might help ease my mind, thanks

[buster]

Hey Patrik is the pain a dull ache or does it come and go. I also have had some abdominal pain for the last 6 months pre rad and post it seems to be gone now. For me it was kind of a come and go kind of pain, which would last a couple sec then gone for hrs, my doc said this was not symptomatic of cancer as a dull ache that increases in discomfort over time is more like it. I would assume because your scan is a coulple weeks away you are feeling something that might not be there. Good luck man.

[andy26]

I agree with Partick...it's probably one of those phantom pains that come. You then begin to freak out thinking "what if it's back..." I've been there and although I hate it it's part of dealing with having been diagnosed with cancer. We tend to worry about everything, and like my oncologist said, it's normal. We have been through a lot and we are more conscious about aches and pains. In any case, get it checked so you can ease your mind. I just had my 8 month follow up and about 2 weeks prior to it I began having all these pains, lower back and abdominal and I thought maybe the cancer had come back...as soon as I had my CT, blood work and x-ray and was told everything was normal, the aches and pains disappeared. But like I said, get it checked out just to be on the safe side.

Andy

[Itsadeepbluesea]

not to put a damper on it, but i would suggest bringing it up to your doctor soon, as I was getting pain on my right side and I ended up having a 4.5 cm tumor. It ended up only being teratoma but I would suggest having it checked out.

[Aegean]

PC (post-cancer), it's always better to get things checked out and squared away, as Matt said above. You can't run for every little ache and pain, but if it really bothers or worries you, definitely get it checked... the little aches and pains can be put n a list and you can drive your doc crazy at your regularly scheduled surveillance appointments

[kirkmanracing]

Right around the time I found out that my AFP was elevating after 2 years of surveillance I noticed a dull achy pain on the left side of my upper abdomen. It turned out to be a tumor on a RP lymph node. While I was going through chemo the pain subsided. Again, right around the time my AFP began to rise once again, I was feeling the same pain in the same place. While I was going through my secondary regimen of chemo, that pain never really went away. I told my oncologist about it and he said it was probably the tumor shrinking. You develop pain when something is growing and you develop pain when something is shrinking. Well he was right because everything worked out in the end.
After my RPLND I noticed the same dull achy pain on the left side, but more towards my back now. Well I still have this pain, but there is nothing there. It must have something to do with the doc's opening up my belly and moving everything around. GO FIGURE.
I do believe some of the pains we feel are psychological, especially people like us who have endured so much. I only say that because we know that something has already gone wrong for us, so now we have a greater understanding about that stupid, stupid, stupid thing called cancer and that things can go wrong.

[buster]

Originally Posted by kirkmanracing

You develop pain when something is growing and you develop pain when something is shrinking. .

I like this idea as my pain started befor I was diagnosed with a relapse, then continued for a bit after my radiation, and now seems to be gone . It was never a dull ache though, more like random shooting pains.

[Kat]

I'm a big fan of calling the doctor about anything and everything. That's what we're paying them for, right? Also, it could be something dumb, like indigestion, or gall bladder problems, or something completely and totally unrelated to cancer, but still definitely worth checking out.
I'll hope that it's just a gas bubble! ;-)
Best wishes!

[kirkmanracing]

I ABSOLUTELY agree with you kat. It is just funny that right around the time that I would have my 3-4 month PET/CT scan, I would develop this pain. I still to this day tell my oncologist about every pain that I feel. He probably is annoyed be me and my persistence, but I don't care. Hope everyone is healthy, James