As a follow up to Lisa's increasing leg and hip pain and swelling, yesterday we went for separate consult appointments with the radiation oncologist and the orthopedic specialist. Lisa had been in a lot more pain on Sunday, but it was less yesterday, and is also a bit better today, though it's still very difficult and painful for Lisa to walk, and even to raise herself up out of a sitting position.
The radiation oncologist (our favorite member of Lisa's cancer team) said it could be one of three things: (1) reaction by the cancer in the bones to the chemo as they're dying off, causing irritation in the soft tissue in the surrounding area; (2) minor irritation from the chemo "cycle" or day-to-day activities that will come and go and we should look for a pattern; or (3) some "unknown" new issue in that area that just doesn't show up via imaging. We vote for #1! His suggestion was to just wait and see if it continues to get better, since it was already better than it had been over the weekend.
The orthopedic doctor took new regular x-rays, and they show the same as the MRI... that the area looks basically the same as it did when he last saw her in December. However, he said that he goes not just by what images show, but also patient symptoms. There could be micro-fractures in the bone area causing the irritation to the surrounding tissue and also causing the pain. His recommendation, though, was also to "wait and see". Otherwise, his only approach would be to go in and put a rod into the femur to strengthen and stabilize it.
Meanwhile, Lisa is continuing to stay on anti-inflammatories, and a slight increase in her pain med dose (which is still really really low).
Today's blood workup showed improvement in just about everything that matters, especially white cell count (immune system) and red blood level (hemoglobin), which lessens the likelihood of a the need for a blood transfusion anytime soon. Lisa is also gaining some weight back, and that's considered a good sign -- "Patients don't gain weight when cancer is growing".
