92>My sister is undergoing a biposy tomorrow to see if she has cancer.
She's had bone pain in her arm for over one year now. One doctor diagnosed it as an arthritic joint in late 2005. Another put her on anti-inflammatories and physical therapy for bursitis/frozen shoulder in October of 2006. The drugs alleviated the bone pain a little bit but the shoulder joint and back and spine remained very achey. She looked uncomfortable and pale all of the time and I kept telling her that maybe she should see another doctor.
She finally went to a different doctor last week when she noticed some swollen lymph nodes in her neck. Her blood tests revealed that she's very anemic.
Do anti-inflammatories delay a correct diagnisis of cancer by masking/reducing bone pain? She's been looking unwell for a long time and unfortunately, her doctors only viewed her as a body part (in this case a shoulder) instead of a whole person who looked quite obviously, unwell. I'm just terribly worried about her
Reply:Lots of things can delay a correct diagnosis of cancer. Anti-inflammatory drugs or pain pills can mask pain but you would still have fever, weight loss or fatigue that would not be easily masked by anti-inflammatory medication.
Yes, the Dr should have looked at her as a whole person. Does she have an internist she sees at least once or twice a year that would have done blood work and noticed her declining health? If she is over thirty or so then she needs to see a Dr yearly at a minimum even if she isn't ill. When someone who doesn't see a Dr regularly comes in with a complaint about shoulder pain then the Dr treats the shoulder pain and cancer would not be their first thought.
From the symptoms you mentioned cancer is still just one possibility of a number of possible health problems so don't start assuming that this means she has cancer. There are a number of non cancer possibilities that need to be eliminated from consideration before she will have a diagnosis.
If your sister does turn out to have cancer my suggestion is to help your sister deal with her illness, be there for her, and help her remain positive each and every day. Don't waste time with the "what ifs" because it doesn't help you or her. good luck
Reply:Hey,
What were the rest of her blood test results?
If she is anemic - something is wrong; rest of test should show bigger picture.
She has 2 of the "base symptoms" for a could of different deseases and cancers (such as Myeloma) but it could also be nothing - the pain killers (with long term use) could surpress the HGB and RBC.
Just like looking at one part of the body, the blood test is made up of many sections.
Good luck
Jewells
35 months and still here
Reply:Unfortunately the answer is yes...It took 9 months for the docs to diagnose my bone cancer and just told me to take Advil. Not until my blood work went to terrible did they decide something was wrong. I was fortunate I lived to tell the tale. I wish you and your family well.
flower
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment