3 replies to this topic

[CallMeLucky]

So in the category of things I used to ignore but now wonder if they are related to CML treatment -

I have a pain in my right leg, specifically the shin area.  It does not ache like it is coming from in the bone and it is not muscular.  The pain seems to be coming from the outside of the bone.  Think running up the stairs and tripping and banging your leg real hard on the step.  That is what it feels like.  Every time I feel it I expect to see a big black and blue in the spot, but there is nothing there.  I assumed I just banged my leg and didn't remember but it has been lingering for about a month or so now and some days it is quite tender and painful.  I don't really feel it unless I touch it or bump it into something, but occasionally just the pressure of standing on it reminds me that it hurts.  If I run my finger from my knee to my ankle along the shin, when I get to the spot that hurts, I can almost feel a difference from the left leg, kind of a bump, but again not like a blood clot, almost like a protrusion from the bone.

I most likely hit it and it is just slow to heal, but I was wondering if anyone else has had this type of localized pain in the leg, which is different from the leg aches we usually hear about.

[valiantchong]

Have similar experience at initial 4 weeks of Glivec at 400mg, after about 1 month the pain went away...

[lala]

Hi.....i don't have that pain....just the aches you have mentioned in an earlier post.  I do remember you talking about shoveling.....we are in Chicago and could use your help today!!!!  OMGosh...it is crazy!  Thank God for a healthy husband and son-in-law!!!!!!  :-)  (remember, only one cancer patient allowed in each home!!!!!) I just want to tell you a couple of things:  I think everyone appreciates your honest posts---I know I was happy to hear from you in August after my onc. told me I should be able to work full time......you all that continue to work full time----yikes!  That is tough to do.  Also, when I read your age----38--so young-----with 2 little boys. No wonder this disease feels overwhelming for you at times.....you have a lot to live for and a lot of years ahead of you. Aren't most of us in our 50's or older?  I am sure with the CML advancements, you haven't hit that mid-life crisis point that you referred to in a different post!

My NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR DIED OF CML back in 1993 -- back in the days before Gleevec. Now, my oncologist tells me to plan on living into my 80's!!!!! I have to live a different normal, but I totally plan on being here for a long long time!!!  I have one grandson and plan on living to see many more! :-) 

I was impressed to hear of your shoveling and sledding moments!!!!  It is hard to do these things when the fatigue and aches of CML are with us......I also agree with your comment regarding cycles of side effects.  For me, it is important to remember that the cycle comes and goes.......and then I will feel better again, and I always do!  Thanks for all your posts! 

~Lala in Snowy Chicago

P.S.  watch that spot on your leg----it sounds sore!

[CallMeLucky]

Hi Lala,

Usually I miss living in Chicago (I lived there from 1997 - 2000) but hearing what you got out there, I'm not missing it now, not that where I am is any better.  The shoveling is tough.  I have this voice in my head that keeps telling me "you have cancer you can't keep doing all this work", then I take a quick inventory, for the most part I'm feeling ok, and I just tell the voice to keep quiet for now.  I'll stop when I fall over and can't get up.  Yesterday I was on the roof shoveling it off ahead of the ice storms headed my way.  That added some extra fun to the mundane regular driveway shoveling.  I have ice dams in my gutters that are going to flood my walls when the first thaw hits.  Kind of funny, with the stress of the winter and my house on my mind, I haven't had the "luxury" of feeling my CML.  I know what you mean about the aches, this just seems a bit different.  Probably hit it with a shovel or something and just don't remember.  As far as the sledding, I could have skipped it but at end of day I felt pretty good and I had fun doing it so it was worth it.  Mostly I just look at my kids and I want to be as active and have as much fun with them as I can.  CML has forced me to focus on things differently, I don't know if I have a few years or many years, but either way I don't want them to remember me sitting around not feeling well.  As long as I can drag myself out I'm going to give it 100% for them.

I'm glad to hear you have some people looking out for you, that is good.  It sounds like you are doing ok and that is also good.  Thanks for your very nice post, I appreciate it.