Hello All,
I have just had a ct scan for stomach pain that l have been experiencing for a while. The results came back that l have some vertebrae fractures which are probably causing the pain, ie referred pain the gastroenterologist called it. Any one else experienced this and what treatment did you have for the fractures. Thank you for any comments
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Hi @petergreenfield. I hope somebody can answer your question. I’ve never heard of referred pain. What treatment have they offered you?
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Hi @petergreenfield it’s a bit different but I was diagnosed, out of the blue, with blood cancer in 2003 having been very fit, strong and healthy beforehand.
In 2011 I bent down to do some ankle boots up and there was a clonk and searing pain in my back.
Over the next 5 yrs I lost 5 in in height, developed a curvature of my upper spine and fractured and compressed approx 8 lower back vertebrae.
For the first year I was told by the GP and Osteopath that the pain was pulled muscles and I was given painkillers.
I was on crutches when the Olympic torch went by locally in 2012 and the Osteopath said I was likely to end up wheel chair bound…
At last the GP sent me for an x-ray and Dexa scan and realised I had not been making up the excruciating pain.
Over the years I have worked hard on managing my chronic pain, walking and Pilates, which I can really recommend. I take medication and Vit D to improve my bone density and also daily pain killers.
I can definitely empathise with the pain.
Please let us know how you get on and I have found my fractures have to heal on their own, depending on where they are located, and take up to 3 months
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Nobody made any connection with blood cancer @Nichola75 and @petergreenfield, but my experience has been that consultants and GP’s are only really interested and want to treat the condition the patient presents with.
There appears to be a predisposition for secondary cancers. I had a breast cancer scare and I have read about close links with skin cancer, which I have had twice on my head and shingles, that i have had for 9 years on and off.
I await the experiences of others
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Thank you for your reply Erica. The radiologist who reported on the scan feels it is the progressive nature of the myeloma. I am now due to have a pet scan and a mri. will keep you posted
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I got diagnosed with Blood Cancer Myeloma in July 2020. It was found after a lot of investigation.
I collapsed on my way out to work in June, excruciatingly pain in my back, lost all feeling and use of everything below my waste belt.
I got took to A&E they checked me over and said it was a back issue about and hour later the feeling started to come back. The A&E doctors told me to go home sit down and rest for 4ams and if any issues to come back.
I have had a lot of back issues through my career (used to work the land then into construction) so have seen a lot of chiropractors who say that you should do a mix of sitting, moving walking etc to help it recover, so being told this by the doctor it didn’t sit right.
I sought a second opinion, had lots of different scans, saw 3 different types of consultants and then the 4th diagnosed me.
The interesting thing the November before I broke 2 ribs when sitting in my chair and just sneezed. My consultant is certain then if blood tests had been done it would have been picked up before my back collapsed.
Now I have got the myeloma under control after stem cell transplan and in remission, I am having physiolo on my back. It’s getting alot better the simple movement cracking sounds have passed, leaning back and side to side is good, I just struggle leaning forward but the daily pain has gone.
I hope you scans help and they can understand what’s going on, but definitely worth asking you consultant if you can have physio as it’s really helped me and hope it can do the same for you.
Best wishes
Adam
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Thank you Adam,
I am also due for a stem cell transplant. I must say that l am quite nervous about it, how did you cope with it?
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Hello @petergreenfield,
I’m sorry to hear you are going through all this pain at the moment. I have never had referred pain but I had quite a few unexplained rib fractures before my diagnosis. Maybe a bit like @Cannon, who said he broke two ribs by sneezing, I broke one by driving over a speed-bump, two on a long journey that involved many roundabouts and one by trying to slide a toy-box with my foot while at work.
I went to an osteopath who said it felt as if I had the bones of an old lady (I was in my 40s then) but he never suggested seeing a GP. I didn’t go to the GP because I thought she would just prescribe pain killers. Eventually it was a bad case of pneumonia with pleurisy - that didn’t get better despite 3 courses of antibiotics - that eventually lead to a diagnosis of Myeloma. To give credit to the second GP who I saw for the pneumonia, she didn’t understand what was wrong with me but asked around at a medical conference and persisted in trying different avenues until the actual cause was discovered via a blood test (for Lupus) where the paraproteins showed up. (The first GP sent me away with nothing telling me not to make a fuss about a chesty cold!!!)
Because my fractures were all in my ribs they had to heal on their own, as @Erica said, they did take a long time to heal. I took painkillers and moved very carefully! The stem cell transplant was wonderful for reducing pain and in my first relapse, I found that the DVD treatment (Daratumumab, Velcade and Dex) also addressed the pain as early as the first cycle of treatment. I do hope that your scans will enable you soon be on the best treatment for your fractures. Pain is very exhausting, especially when working with children (I found) but the right treatment can help. I will look out for your next post.
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Thank you Coastgirl that is reassuring
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Hi @petergreenfield I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma back in 2018 after they discovered I had a vertebral fracture. They initially did a two week course of radiotherapy to help refuse the bones and luckily for me this did the job and I could then concentrate on my chemo. Had the radiotherapy not worked then I think the Plan B was an operational procedure which involved injecting a plastic substance into my backbone that would have stabilised it and helped me to remain mobile but the orthopaedic surgeon didn’t feel this was necessary in my case as I’d healed naturally well enough.
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I had 2 rib fractures and my back collapsed then they found myeloma.
I am now in remission after stem cell transplant in Jan 2021.
I now have Zometa bone density drip that seems to be helping, strange product the first 3 months I had it. It was like every bone in my body had been hit with the doctors knee reflex testing hammer (I’m sure you know what I mean) on the forth visit and now (some significant amount of treatments later) there is little effects, somethings make me ace or tired but general all good the next day after a good sleep
Hope it help
Adam
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