Hip Pain not going away

[Jaydaan]

So here I was hoping the hip issue I have been fighting for the past year was simply arthritis, or slow healing connector tissues.

I told the dr about the pain throughout the hip, the pain walking and sitting, the bruise feeling when touched. The fact I have had the flu 62 days so far this year, and 9 days of fever over 102. The lack of sleeping and the random rashes added to the complete lack of energy and the loss of 20lbs without excersing or changing my diet much.

I was expecting to be brushed off again and told to rest more and keep doing my occupational therapy.

I was NOT expecting to have to go for an Xray, Ultra sound, complete blood work AND a bone scan within the next 3 days! The nasty C word was mentioned today, as the Dr wants to "rule this out first".

Is it normal to suggest ruling out cancer, before simply checking tendons, muscles etc. Or was it more the combined issues that have him fast tracking me? Ultrasounds usually take 3-8 weeks to get into, same with bone scans. He wants me at th hospital at 9 am tomorrow morning for the blood work, Sunday and Mother's day be damned.

I'm stressing... I had this weird sinking feeling when I went to the drs office today, and now its just sitting in the pit of my stomach.

[zippyt]

Good luck , i hope its just a stuck poop or a spicey burrito or sum such .

[monster]

Yes, it's pretty normal, I think. Cancer awareness campaigns have had an effect, i suspect doctors try to make life easier by telling patirnts that's what they are doing.... I also wonder (WARNING professional cynic at work) if putting a whole shitload of tests down as "cancer check" gets maximum info asap at minimal cost insurance-wise......

[Jaydaan]

hmmm.. maybe, Monster. But in BC our health care pays for all these tests, so they could do one, then another, then another... And none of these are done at my drs office either. Either way, I finally have a dr that is listening to me. Just scared I guess. Hubby is at work, and I have had hours to "what if"....

[sexobon]

You raised a red flag:

"Unexplained weight loss is cancer unless proven not," she says. It could, of course, turn out to be another condition, such as an overactive thyroid.

Expect your doctor to run tests to check the thyroid and perhaps order a CT scan of different organs. The doctor needs to "rule out the possibilities, one by one," Mishori says.

Search parameter "unexplained weight loss and cancer" for related info.

[Aliantha]

The first test they run to check for cancer is your blood count to make sure there's the right number of red and white cells. If that's out of whack then they'll do more tests.

[sexobon]

Let me see now, I've got a hemacytometer, pipet, and Marbel WBC differential counter around here somewhere ... though I might have run some monofilament through the pipet and tied a hook on the end to use it as a fishing lure.

[Griff]

Do you guys have lyme disease in BC? That often presents like the flu.

[orthodoc]

Stressful times; I'm sorry, Jaydaan. The red flags mean that cancer has to be ruled in or out first, but there are quite a few possibilities besides that. The tests will cover a lot of ground and hopefully give you an answer. Glad your doc is pushing the system for you.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Jaydaan

I told the dr about the pain throughout the hip, the pain walking and sitting, the bruise feeling when touched. The fact I have had the flu 62 days so far this year, and 9 days of fever over 102. The lack of sleeping and the random rashes added to the complete lack of energy and the loss of 20lbs without excersing or changing my diet much.

The others are right that dramatic weight loss with no explanation is a red flag. It could be a number of things, all of which should still be investigated.

But the other symptoms are important too: flu-like symptoms are common, but for you to have it for almost 50% of the year, and so much fever, and strange rashes... those three together indicate an immune system in overdrive. Maybe it's in overdrive because you're actually sick, or maybe it's the thing that's making you sick (something autoimmune,) but either way, that part means that whatever's going on is not just a physical injury. It may even turn out the hip pain is unrelated to these other things--I think you had some kind of near-miss with a car over the winter where you fell down a snow bank, right? Or was that someone else?--but weight loss plus overactive immune symptoms still need to be investigated, even if that's the case.

All that being said, there are a ton of other things it could be besides cancer. Good luck, and keep us posted.

[Jaydaan]

Yes, it could be a thousand things... just when the dr says the C word.. I panicked. My husband says to relax, that they are just covering all bases. The biggest issue I had, was bone cancer does not present itself in many cases, until there is another injury that aggrivates the tumour. IE: my slip at work last year, as thats when my hip started giving me issues. I put it down to arthritis at first.

Yes Clod, I was almost hit in Jan, and did the splits... didn't fall, but re-agrivated the ouchie in my hip from when I got hurt from work last march.

The weight loss I am not un-happy with, at this point.. lol. Just suprised, since I am even less active this time around than last. Last year when I was hurt I had gained 25 lbs in 4 months... so to lose 20 since Christmas.. I'm a happy girl. Lose another 10, hell yes... lose another 20 or more... we will have issues.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by Jaydaan

... just when the dr says the C word.. I panicked. ...

The Cellar: The other "C" word.

[orthodoc]

How are you doing, Jaydaan?

[Jaydaan]

Dr wants to see me this week, something is not right with my blood work. BUT he was not worried enough to have me in last week, said it could wait until the results of the ultrasound came in, so I did not have to go in twice in 8 days. So that means its not that bad. Still waiting for the bone scan.
I still hurt, but no worse, so thats a good thing. I am stressing financially mind you, I was the primary bread winner... and now nothing. In a month I might have a house, but no power or internet or groceries LOL I know something will work out, as it always does, and my little family will bounce back one way or another... but wow. Never expected to be sidelined by a slip and unending pain. I am insured for loss of limbs, and death.... not "little" things. I encourage everyone to re-examine thier insurance packages. If an extra $10 a month could save you from this, I would recommend it!

[Griff]

Let us know how it works out. Here's hoping its not too serious.