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Shoulder Pain

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2018 4:10 am
by StDrogo
So my wife has been complaining about moderate shoulder (scapular) pain on the left side for the past four days. (She also complained about it a month ago, but it only lasted for a day.) Granted, she hasn't been activ for the last week (Easter interrupted her intense yoga schedule) and has always been prone to pinched nerves (likewise her father and brother). Since the pain doesn't radiate down her arm, I'm not fearful of a Pancoast tumor, but perhaps there is something in her lung? Or abdomen? Or perhaps it's just adhesions against her diaphragm irritating the phrenic nerve? Otherwise, she is fitter than ever; I don't know. I suppose we will have a better idea when she has a scan in a few weeks.

Re: Shoulder Pain

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2018 8:01 am
by Robino1
It sucks when we have pains. I know I'm constantly thinking "is this from a spread of the disease?" Until I get my next scan (this Wednesday) I'm not really going to know for sure.

For myself I'm going with these are my normal aging aches and pains until I hear otherwise. ;)

I don't think we can answer your question, only a scan can do that for you. I know it sucks. :(. Please keep us updated and I wish your wife all the best in the fight!!

Re: Shoulder Pain

Posted: Tue May 08, 2018 3:47 am
by StDrogo
The very mild pain completely abated a week after I posted, consistent with a rhomboid strain. My wife had a CT scan and blood work on Friday. I left a message yesterday and the colorectal nurse texted me this morning (Tuesday) informing me that the referring surgeon (our oncologist dropped us a few months ago) or her team would review the scan before the end of this week. Not being satisfied with that response, I called back and was guaranteed a response by tomorrow. I would like to think that no news is good news—the bad results last year from CT scans all came the same day. Next time I will certainly insist that CT results get forwarded to my wife's GP, a family friend who would relay them to us immediately.

Re: Shoulder Pain

Posted: Mon May 14, 2018 3:45 am
by StDrogo
Results are confusing . . . First, CEA remains less than 1 (Dx was 10), CA 19-9 is 8 (Dx 36) and CA 125 is 10 (Dx was 99, then elevated to 180). Lungs, liver, spine/pelvic bones, spleen, right ovary all clear. No suspicious nodes. However, there's allegedly a 9 cm (!) complex mass in the upper right pelvis adjacent to the ureter. The radiologist has recorded it as nonspecific. There are no other suspect lesions, and her right kidney is not hydronephrotic. The location described to me is immediately behind the former stomal incision site. Primary was in the splenic flexure, so this can't be a locoregional recurrence. Tumor markers should be especially reliable for a retroperitoneal met, particularly one of this size. I haven't managed to speak to any consultants, and we haven't received any referral to medical oncology (the information was relayed to me on Friday evening after I said enough is enough with the lack of communication and insisted that someone relay information to us). Something is clearly amiss . . . A 9 cm mass should be palpable in that location (since my wife doesn't have a cecum/ileum anymore), and should be symptomatic. This is the first scan my wife has had since HIPEC in December, so maybe this is a radiologist's random incidentaloma. I have a pretty extensive dataset (every month) of LDH and CRP, so I'm ordering those now. This doesn't sound like a recurrence of colon cancer to me—I can't find a single comparable case (I have university access to a vast number of medical databases). Without having visualized the scans, I suspect (in order of likelihood) a retroperitoneal hematoma (quite likely because of her persistent thrombocytopenia at the time of her CRS/HIPEC and then over a month of prophylactic heparin and enoxaparin; she also had 2 units of blood and 1 litre of albumin transfused in theatre and then the same a few days later in ICU), retroperitoneal fibrosis (also entirely conceivable), or some other primary cancer (some kind of sarcoma?). I exclude both ureteral involvement (since her kidney isn't hydronephrotic) and right ovary involvement (since it was clearly visualized and her menstrual cycle has been occurring like clockwork every 27 days). Obviously, this revelation (from some random intern) has caused my wife unimaginable pain and anguish in the last several days, but I cannot for the life of me justify how this could possibly be metastatic colon cancer.

I dropped by medical oncology today, and they have received no referral (so the colorectal team lied to us) and no information. Fortunately, they were incensed at how we've been treated and have promised that my wife's former oncologist will call us tomorrow.

Re: Shoulder Pain

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 4:13 pm
by kandj
DH had referred right shoulder pain for about a week before he spiked a temp. It was about 3 weeks after his liver resection. Turned out to be a 7-8cm pyogenic liver abscess. Not great news for him, but we got him in quick enough that they got antibiotics on board and drained it. He had no issues from it after that. Hopefully it is something benign for your wife, like a cyst.