HI all,
My husband is three years into this journey. He has always had bone pain in his sacral / lower back area. In December, he had a hip replacement, as his femoral head fractured (myeloma-related).
He now has a lot of thigh pain on both legs, beginning in the hip joint area. He has had both these areas (hip and femur, left and right) x-rayed following the hip replacement, and there is nothing showing on the x-ray to explain the pain (i.e., there are no serious lesions or imminent fractures).
Would the x-ray show myeloma activity in the area, or should we be requesting additional imagery, such as a PET scan?
Thank you all for the help and insights I always receive from this informed group!
Laurie
Forums
7 posts
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lwem - Name: Laurie
- Who do you know with myeloma?: husband
- When were you/they diagnosed?: April 2015
- Age at diagnosis: 68
Re: Thigh pain - how to tell if it is myeloma-related?
Based on my husband's experience, I'd ask for the PET scan. Not all bone pain is myeloma-related, but he could have avoided a fracture that has been really debilitating by being more proactive.
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vmeyer - Name: vmeyer
- Who do you know with myeloma?: my husband
- When were you/they diagnosed?: March 2016
- Age at diagnosis: 65
Re: Thigh pain - how to tell if it is myeloma-related?
vmeyer,
After your husband's fracture, has he continued to have pain? The pain continues in his thighs despite x-rays that show successful left hip replacement and nothing going on in the right side.
Do you think a PET would show something the X-rays don't?
After your husband's fracture, has he continued to have pain? The pain continues in his thighs despite x-rays that show successful left hip replacement and nothing going on in the right side.
Do you think a PET would show something the X-rays don't?
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lwem - Name: Laurie
- Who do you know with myeloma?: husband
- When were you/they diagnosed?: April 2015
- Age at diagnosis: 68
Re: Thigh pain - how to tell if it is myeloma-related?
In my mother's case, it happened twice that the x-ray did not show anything, and then when an MRI was performed due to persistent pain in the regions, it showed active lesions. Because the x-ray did not show anything, it wasn't treated, which led to fractures. So I think an MRI or PET scan would be better just to be sure that the pain isn't myeloma related.
Re: Thigh pain - how to tell if it is myeloma-related?
Ruchi wrote:
I second that. X-rays, unfortunately, don't always tell the whole story.
So I think an MRI or PET scan would be better just to be sure that the pain isn't myeloma related.
I second that. X-rays, unfortunately, don't always tell the whole story.
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vmeyer - Name: vmeyer
- Who do you know with myeloma?: my husband
- When were you/they diagnosed?: March 2016
- Age at diagnosis: 65
Re: Thigh pain - how to tell if it is myeloma-related?
Update:
My husband did have an MRI. We haven't met with our myeloma specialist yet regarding it's interpretation, but it did note that he has diffuse myeloma replacing the bone marrow throughout every bony structure that was examined (lumbar spine down to femurs), but no focal lesions. We met with palliative care regarding the pain, that doctor reviewed the MRI, and believes that the diffuse myeloma in the bones certainly could be the cause of his pain. So, not something that is easily fixed, and we need to look at different pain management options.
On a side note, his blood work (M-spike) shows that he has had a response to his Darzalex-Revlimid treatment, so we're not sure why his bone marrow on MRI appears to show myeloma that is out of control. At our next meeting with our myeloma specialist, hopefully he'll have some thoughts on the MRI.
Thanks for listening.
Laurie
My husband did have an MRI. We haven't met with our myeloma specialist yet regarding it's interpretation, but it did note that he has diffuse myeloma replacing the bone marrow throughout every bony structure that was examined (lumbar spine down to femurs), but no focal lesions. We met with palliative care regarding the pain, that doctor reviewed the MRI, and believes that the diffuse myeloma in the bones certainly could be the cause of his pain. So, not something that is easily fixed, and we need to look at different pain management options.
On a side note, his blood work (M-spike) shows that he has had a response to his Darzalex-Revlimid treatment, so we're not sure why his bone marrow on MRI appears to show myeloma that is out of control. At our next meeting with our myeloma specialist, hopefully he'll have some thoughts on the MRI.
Thanks for listening.
Laurie
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lwem - Name: Laurie
- Who do you know with myeloma?: husband
- When were you/they diagnosed?: April 2015
- Age at diagnosis: 68
Re: Thigh pain - how to tell if it is myeloma-related?
Hi,
My wife has pain in her legs and thighs. The doctors stopped the steroids the other week, but the pain is still there. She also had blood tests done which showed her numbers had decreased. She does not fit the norm, if there is such a thing, but before she had her stem cell transplant her lab numbers all went down but she still had pain. A PET scan was done and found the cancer had spread in spite of her lab numbers decreasing.
I was wondering if the doctors had found the cause of the pain in the thighs?
Thanks,
David
My wife has pain in her legs and thighs. The doctors stopped the steroids the other week, but the pain is still there. She also had blood tests done which showed her numbers had decreased. She does not fit the norm, if there is such a thing, but before she had her stem cell transplant her lab numbers all went down but she still had pain. A PET scan was done and found the cancer had spread in spite of her lab numbers decreasing.
I was wondering if the doctors had found the cause of the pain in the thighs?
Thanks,
David
7 posts
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