[Dburns]

What do bone lesions feel like?

by Dburns on Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:07 pm

I am a 2 year smolderer and a first time poster with a quick question.

What exactly do bone lesions feel like or do you feel them at all?

[Joy]

Re: What do bone lesions feel like?

by Joy on Sat Feb 01, 2014 11:23 pm

I have many lesions. Scans say "innumerable". I wouldn't know they were there at all so it was surprising to hear that I have so many. I sometimes have bone aches and pains and I'm guessing that I might be noticing some weakened bones in this way. I had a lot of pain at diagnosis but it was mostly due to the fact that I had respiratory infections all through February of last year and coughed so much that I cracked all of my ribs. They have since healed and I have little to no pain. I have tons of lesions on my skull and only know that from x-rays and MRIs. I have had plasmacytomas (protruding bone bulges). They don't hurt but are freaky to see and touch. Right now they are flat again due to more RVD. So, for me anyway, I didn't notice my lesions until the bones were very weakened. I think that most of them I don't feel at all.

[Guitarnut]

Re: What do bone lesions feel like?

by Guitarnut on Sun Feb 02, 2014 1:51 am

I have one one my pelvis, one on my humerus and several on my skull. I guess mom was right about me having holes in my head! Wouldn't have a clue they were even there if not for the xray.

[coachhoke]

Re: What do bone lesions feel like?

by coachhoke on Sun Feb 02, 2014 9:23 am

Like Joy, I have multiple lytic lesions throughout my spine I wouldn't even know they where there if it weren't for the MRI and PT/CT scans . No pain or weakness and I am no tough guy.

Coach Hoke

[Multibilly]

Re: What do bone lesions feel like?

by Multibilly on Sun Feb 02, 2014 9:40 am

But for those that do feel them, especially in easy places to feel/probe like the skull, do they feel like holes, or shallow depressions or just a change in texture as you move your fingers over them (i.e. how do they feel "freaky", as Joy would say)? And are they "squishy" or is the bone and any tissue material just completely missing? Are they painful to the touch or do they just sit there and ache on their own?

Last edited by Multibilly on Sun Feb 02, 2014 10:40 am, edited 3 times in total.

[Nancy Shamanna]

Re: What do bone lesions feel like?

by Nancy Shamanna on Sun Feb 02, 2014 10:01 am

I also have a lot of lytic lesions, but since my myeloma was treated I no longer feel any discomfort from them. I don't think that they are actively being formed or getting any larger...X-ray surveys check on that. Some areas seem to have improved also , i.e. healed over.

Before my diagnosis, I had aches in my ribs, and shoulder blades. I had a low back pain that really puzzled me since it continuously got worse. If it had just been muscle sprains, I would have expected the pain to be lessening. My family doctor did not understand it either, and it wasn't until I got some fractures that the pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place. In retrospect, the fractures, which were caused by lifting really heavy items such as a large garden pot full of plants and also from strenuous activities such as playing my bagpipes in a parade, were the way I got diagnosed before the myeloma had progressed even further. (Not that I think that is a good thing to happen at all! It would have been much nicer just to know from a blood test!)

So if you have unusual aches and pains, it could be sign of the myeloma progressing, but it is all rather vague. It could be just muscle strain, or something different, such as rheumatism. You need to have the other methods of testing to check on your myeloma.

[InQ]

Re: What do bone lesions feel like?

by InQ on Sun Feb 02, 2014 5:53 pm

May I ask how long you were suffering from lower back pain before you got diagnosed? We were suffering similar symptoms of low back pain, but thought nothing of it.

[Nancy Shamanna]

Re: What do bone lesions feel like?

by Nancy Shamanna on Sun Feb 02, 2014 7:10 pm

hI INQ, As I recall it was for about 2 months. When my back got very painful, that segment only lasted for less than a month until the fractures. It was due to a number of factors, and inattentiveness I suppose on my part, that it got as bad as it did. I was busy gardening, walking, playing my pipes, usual stuff. My husband was out of town and I was by myself for awhile while this was happening. Over the period of a long weekend, I went from just having a really painful back to falling from a standing position and was really injured. I just could not stand up. This was a truly awful experience! Others on this site have recalled similar situations, so I know now that my experience was not all that unusual! Before that I just had quite a painful back, which I was treating inappropriately with OTC pain meds.

So, its best to be pro-active and get any unusual symptoms checked out, especially if you already know that you have SMM or myeloma. I didn't know that yet at the time! Hope that helps!

[Retired813]

Re: What do bone lesions feel like?

by Retired813 on Mon Feb 03, 2014 11:10 am

The ones on my skull ... feels like a bump on my noggin. I have about 5 of them and they are round and stick up like I bumped my head.

I dont know about lessions, but my low back is very painful and about a month ago I fractured my pelvis and don't know how. Xrays show that my bones are really soft in that area. Its been very painful trying to get around with this latest fracture. I also had a rib fracture. I worry about the pelvic area tho, if it fractures so easily you dont know how you did it, whose to say it won't do it again and again. Was told my spine is in bad shape to. Lots of bone pain.

[Nancy Shamanna]

Re: What do bone lesions feel like?

by Nancy Shamanna on Mon Feb 03, 2014 11:19 am

Joyce, I hope that you are taking bisphosphonsate treatments such as Zometa or Aredia. Those, along with the novel agents, dex and transplant, stopped the myeloma for me. I am much stronger now, and not fracturing bones now as before. Wishing you a recovery from these issues!