New Symptom and MRI (February 10, 2025)

 Hi, friends. First, please know that this post won’t be about anything sinister, at least I don’t anticipate this to be. But it is an update for those who have been asking how things have been going since our last report of my cancer’s excellent response to treatment. In summary, these are good days, but dang are there still hard days, too!

About 2 weeks ago, I experienced numbness and tingling in my fingers. Because I had recently started a new medication, I thought it could be a rare side effect from it and, after discussion with my oncologist, we elected to hold it to see if it would resolve. The numbness seemed to improve but didn’t completely resolve. It was quite minimal, and we just had good news from my scans, so I figured time would either resolve it or declare if we needed to do anything more. A week later, I experienced a shooting numbness and tingling sensation on my upper legs occurring whenever I flexed my neck (when you put your chin to your chest). Turns out, I do that a lot in any given day. That symptom concerned me much more, knowing that spinal cord compression could cause it. Might one of the damaged bones of my spine be collapsed and impinging on my spinal cord? Could I already have progression of my cancer through the “Super Cat Nip” treatment and have a new metastasis to my spinal cord? I didn’t think either of those scenarios was very likely but crazier things have happened (hello, cancer).

I reached out to my local oncologist’s office on Friday (thank you nursing and front desk staff!) who within that morning, had things reviewed by their radiation oncologist, and an MRI of the spine was ordered and scheduled to look for any causes that might be concerning. We agreed that I didn’t need to go to the ER. While this symptom changed the planned course of our family’s weekend, things worked out for the best. Lucia and I bonded at home with one-on-one time, our first girls’ weekend. And I had my MRI on Saturday morning as an outpatient. A weekend imaging study generally means results will take 2-3 days. Calm on the outside, I was mentally stirred up and anxious to know what was going on. Amid that catastrophizing, I was given the comforting company of a couple of dear friends and their daughters, who God placed in our family’s lives at just the right time, including on a weekend when I couldn’t seem to get out of my own head.

Anxiety is SO common. Most of us don’t talk about it very openly. I’m a first-born, planner, future-oriented, driven by achievement and recognition, looking to the next thing. I grew up biting my nails. I experienced a panic attack in my 20s and hope not to experience that ever again. While there are valid reasons to worry, particularly recently (hello, cancer), I am also aware that worry in of itself won’t make the situation any better.

This is an area in my life where knowing God’s Word and His promises has made a lasting impact. Our previous pastor in the Milwaukee area once challenged us to consider having a “life” verse (or verses). A “life” verse is a go-to verse of your choice that speaks to you and summarizes what you want to live out. Mine has been Philippians 4:6-7 for several years. I’ve prayed it for myself and for friends. I’ve prayed it over my patients if the topic of prayer is brought up or invited.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” 

There is an action: Prayer and petition. There is a stance: With thanksgiving. There is a promise: The peace of God will guard your hearts and minds. I can’t say this inexplicable peace always happens or right on the spot. But I can say that the more I take my concerns to God in prayer, remembering all His glorious attributes, that His ways are not my ways, and that He has already shown up in BIG ways for me - just the mere practice of laying my concerns with him in prayer – the more it changes the way my own heart and mind function. There is more quiet, confident stillness and rest.

I am grateful to the neuroradiologist who scrolled through the MRI with me this morning. Thankfully there is no mechanical impingement to or abnormal signal within my spinal cord. Though you can still see plenty of places where the cancer had metastasized to the bones of my spine, all bones are where they are supposed to be, without any fractures or concerning complications. Currently, the working diagnosis for this new symptom is Lhermitte’s syndrome, a complication from the spine radiation I received in November to treat the painful bone metastasis. This is generally a temporary injury to the sensory nerves that travel up the spinal cord. As symptoms can be improved with physical therapy, we’ll be discussing a referral to a local physical therapist with my oncologist on Thursday.  I don’t know if the symptoms will get worse before they get better nor how long they will last. But I will bring those concerns to God in prayer with thanksgiving this week and remember His promise.

Love,

Joyce