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Cancer in bladder, pelvis, lymph nodes and back of stomach

Moonlight121
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Hi, my brother found out he had stage 3 cancer in his bladder 5 weeks ago it has since spread to the lymph nodes peovis and back of his stomach. If this is in the back of his stomach could this go to his spine? And how would you know if it has travelled to his spine? He has started chemo, 3 times a month with a week off then another 3 times a month with a week off. Me and my family are just scared that the cancer is going to reject the chemo and wondered how we would know that without having a scan, is there any signs? He has blood clots at the moment, his leg is swelled his stomach is swelled as he is constipated, he sleeps about 2 hours a night and is constantly up for a wee through the night. He goes in the bath for about 4 hours twice daily to try and reduce pain, he can barely walk and just looks like hes getting worse. Is there anything we can do to help him? He doesn't like to tell us how hes really feeling as he doesnt want to worry us too much 

  • Hello Moonlight121 and thanks for posting, 

    I am very sorry to learn about your brother.

    It is important that your brother tells his doctors how he is feeling and in particular that he can barely walk but also that he is in so much pain.

    I don't want to worry you but there is a condition called spinal cord compression which can occur when cancer spreads to the backbone. You can read about it on our website at this link 

    www.cancerresearchuk.org/.../spinal-cord-compression

    Patients should let their hospital/doctors know right away if they have any of the symptoms explained at the link below

    www.cancerresearchuk.org/.../about

    This is in case there is cancer in the backbone that is causing pressure on the spinal cord. If there is, it is a medical emergency and urgent treatment might be needed. 

    When cancer spreads to the bones it can cause pain and it can also weaken the bone so that it can break without any injury,

    The doctors may have already done scans and know if there is any sign of cancer in the backbone, but I have no way of knowing this and I can't assess your brother.

    I do think his doctors need to know how poorly he is and assess him if they haven't recently and aren't already aware of his present condition. If they know already, he still needs to ask them to help control the symptoms and pain he is having. 

    Your brother should have a contact number for the hospital and he can also contact his GP or NHS 111.

    You are welcome to call us on 0808 800 4040 but we are only here Weekdays from 9-5. 

    Best wishes,

    Julia

  • Offline in reply to CRUK Nurse Julia

    Hi julia thanks so much for your response!

     

    my brother went to A&E today as advised by the hospital, they said no blockage but he is constipated from all the medication he is taking. Do you think he needs to push to see if this is spinal cord compression? All i know is that they took his bloods today and all came back fine and given stronger laxatives for his constepation. 
     

    thank you

  • in reply to Moonlight121

    Hello Moonlight21 and thank you for getting back to us, 

    I think it is important that your brother's hospital team know about the symptoms he is currently experiencing and I think it is reasonable to ask them if spinal cord compression could be a factor, but this may well be something that has already been considered and ruled out. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to know this.  They may know from previous scans if there is any sign of spread to the bones. I don't know if the A&E team will have specifically considered spinal cord compression, but they could have as it is thought of as a medical emergency.   

    Your brothers symptoms aren't well controlled and I think this needs to be a focus so he is more comfortable. As he doesn't like to tell you how is is feeling, he might not be telling the doctors either. Do encourage him to tell than exactly what is going on. I think he needs their input and I hope they can do something to improve things for him. 

    Without scans it isn't always clear that chemotherapy is working,  if the cancer shrinks enough then the symptoms it is causing can lessen, but they might not disappear completely.

    I hope your brother's medical team can help him to feel a bit better.

    Wishing you the best,

    Julia

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