The Tell Tail Signs

Steve calls them phantom pains and I had them often over the last year or so. My most frequent pain was in my rib cage around the kidneys on the left side (which we now know is extensively involved in cancer). I would normally end up at Patient First complaining of kidney pain and diagnosing myself with a UTI. Inevitably, I would always have the beginnings of a UTI, but no explanation for the pain I was experiencing. Finally, after showing up at Patient Frist one too many times with the same symptoms, they recommended that I see an Urologist. On occasion, I would discuss my symptoms with my doctors, but the recommendation was always to try some ibuprofen and to reconnect if the pain didn’t subside. The pain ALWAYS went away within a few days. It was only in February of 2017 that I started to experience longer lasting pain. This pain started stopped me from doing normal tasks at work and at home. The pain was most prominent in my lower back, but I still had those “phantom pains” in my ribs. I had been working out and jogging regularly up until February when the pain became more intense. Despite my family doctor recommendation that I schedule an appointment with my Oncologist, I decided to look into chiropractic care for my pain. I had scheduled an appointment to see my Oncologist in April, so I figured I would give it a few months to see if chiropractic care helped.

The pain seemed to come and go despite the chiropractor adjustments and at times it was still quite intense pain. I started having issues sitting for long periods of time, standing, lying down, carrying groceries, and bending to pick things up. I was constantly icing my back, but nothing really seemed to help with the pain. I ended up in the ER one day during work because the rib pain was off the charts. I again was still thinking I had a kidney infection. The CT in the ER cleared me of any kidney stones, but guess what? I had the start of a UTI. I got an antibiotic and was sent on my way. I stayed in contact with my Urologist, keeping her updated as the pain was not getting better. She switched to a different antibiotic and scheduled a CT with contrast to get a better picture of what was going on. This ended up being the CT in April that showed the initial abnormalities that would lead to my new diagnosis.

My pain continues to be very intense at times and can quickly get to a level 10 in a short period of time. We are hopeful that treatments of chemo, radiation, and alternative therapies will help to elevate the pain soon.