tumour lodged in lower spine

On its metastatic return, the bowel cancer lodged itself near the lower
spine giving a hydronephrosis condition pain (the patient was still able to
go to the bathroom ok) giving lots of pain which had to be controlled by
pain killers and also loss of weight. The nephrosis was also affecting the
left leg impairing its movement with pain due to scaetic pain. When the pain
got unbearable and diffficult to control two options were suggested i.e. op
or radio. The oncologist reccommended radio. Two weeks of radio was given
in the abdominal area. The results have been less pain requiring much less
ms-contin pain killers now, but the bad news is that now both legs are now
virtually immovable, leaving the patient in bed or wheelchair. The patient
has feeling in the legs but no power to move them as they have been weakened
by the radio and the cancer. The legs are very weak looking like match
sticks. Is there any treatment that may help the patient get back some
muscle in her legs to facilitate movement as just before the radio
intervention? It would appear that sometimes intervention is more risky than
doing nothing? Apparently according to the Oncologist the damage is being
mostly done by the one tumour embedded near the spine which is robbing the
patient of resources and causing the pain.

Other Side of Story wrote:

> On its metastatic return, the bowel cancer lodged itself near the lower
> spine giving a hydronephrosis condition pain (the patient was still able to
> go to the bathroom ok) giving lots of pain which had to be controlled by
> pain killers and also loss of weight. The nephrosis was also affecting the
> left leg impairing its movement with pain due to scaetic pain. When the pain
> got unbearable and diffficult to control two options were suggested i.e. op
> or radio. The oncologist reccommended radio. Two weeks of radio was given
> in the abdominal area. The results have been less pain requiring much less
> ms-contin pain killers now, but the bad news is that now both legs are now
> virtually immovable, leaving the patient in bed or wheelchair. The patient
> has feeling in the legs but no power to move them as they have been weakened
> by the radio and the cancer. The legs are very weak looking like match
> sticks. Is there any treatment that may help the patient get back some
> muscle in her legs to facilitate movement as just before the radio
> intervention? It would appear that sometimes intervention is more risky than
> doing nothing? Apparently according to the Oncologist the damage is being
> mostly done by the one tumour embedded near the spine which is robbing the
> patient of resources and causing the pain.

Sounds like you keep wanting to blame the treatment rather than the cancer.
There's no way for us to know if the RT was done judiciously.
Or whether more can be done to improve the situation.

If you're unsure, take her to a major cancer centre and get a 2nd opinion.
Sounds like it's time for hospice.
Best wshes.

J

Well J I am trying to be impartial, but in any case when I see patients
coming out of treatment in somewhat worse condition that they went in, I
feel like crititisizing its just me no offence meant. Cancer is an awful
thing and if it happened to me, I dont think I would do half as much as what
'norm' treatment is. Considering the extra pain and suffering I would have
to endure, may not be worth the extra time given, if indeed there is proof
that intervention does really give any extra time at all, or who knows may
even reduce time in some or many cases.
"J" <nexsw@nvalid,anon> wrote in message
news:46358EC5.728DBD35@execulink.com...
> Other Side of Story wrote:
>
>> On its metastatic return, the bowel cancer lodged itself near the lower
>> spine giving a hydronephrosis condition pain (the patient was still able
>> to
>> go to the bathroom ok) giving lots of pain which had to be controlled by
>> pain killers and also loss of weight. The nephrosis was also affecting
>> the
>> left leg impairing its movement with pain due to scaetic pain. When the
>> pain
>> got unbearable and diffficult to control two options were suggested i.e.
>> op
>> or radio. The oncologist reccommended radio. Two weeks of radio was
>> given
>> in the abdominal area. The results have been less pain requiring much
>> less
>> ms-contin pain killers now, but the bad news is that now both legs are
>> now
>> virtually immovable, leaving the patient in bed or wheelchair. The
>> patient
>> has feeling in the legs but no power to move them as they have been
>> weakened
>> by the radio and the cancer. The legs are very weak looking like match
>> sticks. Is there any treatment that may help the patient get back some
>> muscle in her legs to facilitate movement as just before the radio
>> intervention? It would appear that sometimes intervention is more risky
>> than
>> doing nothing? Apparently according to the Oncologist the damage is being
>> mostly done by the one tumour embedded near the spine which is robbing
>> the
>> patient of resources and causing the pain.
>
> Sounds like you keep wanting to blame the treatment rather than the
> cancer.
> There's no way for us to know if the RT was done judiciously.
> Or whether more can be done to improve the situation.
>
> If you're unsure, take her to a major cancer centre and get a 2nd opinion.
> Sounds like it's time for hospice.
> Best wshes.
>
> J
>

This sounds a lot like the course my cancer may take. I certainly hope
not. Fortunately, my radiation treatment worked somewhat and the pain
killers I'm on seem to be working. But there can be no doubt that the
tumor(s) in my spine are growing (how can they not?) and the
inevitable result may be the impairment described in this thread.

Right now I feel quite well and this is remarkable news for a guy who
was diagnosed back in October of 2003 and had a tumor the size of an
orange removed from the lower colon. I've gone through all the
treatments available and there is now "nothing more they can do for
me." Many of us have heard that before, yes?

Meanwhile, I continue to live as joyfully as possible and trust that
the good Lord will take me home in a painless way. This spinal thing
does however bother me. I had hoped that it would be the liver that
went out first.

Today I did something really foolish. I'm selling car junk on ebay and
I needed to move something - the rear end of my car. It weighs 85
pounds. I picked it straight up to put it on a scale and now here I am
sitting at this keyboard feeling things in my lower back that I should
not be feeling. Somebody told me that tumors replace good bone.

Okay, I'm an idiot. Hope my wife doesn't read this post! I may be
pressing the "more juice" button on my pump later tonight.

--Joe


On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 22:49:37 +1000, "Other Side of Story"
<replytogrouponly@notthis.com> wrote:

>Well J I am trying to be impartial, but in any case when I see patients
>coming out of treatment in somewhat worse condition that they went in, I
>feel like crititisizing its just me no offence meant. Cancer is an awful
>thing and if it happened to me, I dont think I would do half as much as what
>'norm' treatment is. Considering the extra pain and suffering I would have
>to endure, may not be worth the extra time given, if indeed there is proof
>that intervention does really give any extra time at all, or who knows may
>even reduce time in some or many cases.
>"J" <nexsw@nvalid,anon> wrote in message
>news:46358EC5.728DBD35@execulink.com...
>> Other Side of Story wrote:
>>
>>> On its metastatic return, the bowel cancer lodged itself near the lower
>>> spine giving a hydronephrosis condition pain (the patient was still able
>>> to
>>> go to the bathroom ok) giving lots of pain which had to be controlled by
>>> pain killers and also loss of weight. The nephrosis was also affecting
>>> the
>>> left leg impairing its movement with pain due to scaetic pain. When the
>>> pain
>>> got unbearable and diffficult to control two options were suggested i.e.
>>> op
>>> or radio. The oncologist reccommended radio. Two weeks of radio was
>>> given
>>> in the abdominal area. The results have been less pain requiring much
>>> less
>>> ms-contin pain killers now, but the bad news is that now both legs are
>>> now
>>> virtually immovable, leaving the patient in bed or wheelchair. The
>>> patient
>>> has feeling in the legs but no power to move them as they have been
>>> weakened
>>> by the radio and the cancer. The legs are very weak looking like match
>>> sticks. Is there any treatment that may help the patient get back some
>>> muscle in her legs to facilitate movement as just before the radio
>>> intervention? It would appear that sometimes intervention is more risky
>>> than
>>> doing nothing? Apparently according to the Oncologist the damage is being
>>> mostly done by the one tumour embedded near the spine which is robbing
>>> the
>>> patient of resources and causing the pain.
>>
>> Sounds like you keep wanting to blame the treatment rather than the
>> cancer.
>> There's no way for us to know if the RT was done judiciously.
>> Or whether more can be done to improve the situation.
>>
>> If you're unsure, take her to a major cancer centre and get a 2nd opinion.
>> Sounds like it's time for hospice.
>> Best wshes.
>>
>> J
>>

46erjoe wrote:

> This sounds a lot like the course my cancer may take. I certainly hope
> not. Fortunately, my radiation treatment worked somewhat and the pain
> killers I'm on seem to be working. But there can be no doubt that the
> tumor(s) in my spine are growing (how can they not?) and the
> inevitable result may be the impairment described in this thread.
>
> Right now I feel quite well and this is remarkable news for a guy who
> was diagnosed back in October of 2003 and had a tumor the size of an
> orange removed from the lower colon. I've gone through all the
> treatments available and there is now "nothing more they can do for
> me." Many of us have heard that before, yes?
>
> Meanwhile, I continue to live as joyfully as possible and trust that
> the good Lord will take me home in a painless way. This spinal thing
> does however bother me. I had hoped that it would be the liver that
> went out first.
>
> Today I did something really foolish. I'm selling car junk on ebay and
> I needed to move something - the rear end of my car. It weighs 85
> pounds. I picked it straight up to put it on a scale and now here I am
> sitting at this keyboard feeling things in my lower back that I should
> not be feeling. Somebody told me that tumors replace good bone.
>
> Okay, I'm an idiot. Hope my wife doesn't read this post! I may be
> pressing the "more juice" button on my pump later tonight.

Men ! hrumph ! I would never try to pick up 85 pounds.
And not straight up. Bend knees..but 85 pounds is way too much for you, Joe.
Is it tinglees and muscle spasms? I get those as well and usually resolves.
If you get numbness down the butt or into the leg or lower leg, could be pressure
on a nerve?
Or herniated disk.

I certainly thought of you when I saw his latest message, Joe.
<
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract
> (J W and Joe or other colorectal, read the whole message there, please.
These results indicated that bone metastasis from colorectal cancer is not as
infrequent as previously described."

Are you not allowed a CT scan and another consult with a radiation oncologist
(for judicious RT)?
If cancer was eroding part of your spine there's orthopedic surgeries, but I
don't know if you're fit enough and there's risks (anesthetics, clots etc).
As we saw with Don, small tumors can be killers as well, so it's hard to know
whether the liver (mets) will prevail or whether you could end up flat on your
back (spine fracture), and dying of pneumonia.
My goal is almost always to keep people moving, as long as possible and as
painfree as possible.
Hence the question about CT.
J