I heard from Dr. Flaig early this morning and he said that the back pain Marshall was experiencing was not what he would consider a normal side effect of the Casodex. He suggested that we see our primary care physician.
I called the clinic first this morning and they scheduled Marshall for 10:40. When we got there and they asked him to rate the pain he was feeling, he said, "Three times the highest number." The doctor talked to him for a while and then sent him back for x-rays of the spine.
Then he showed us the x-rays and pointed out some cancer-related issues in the spine, some black spots that showed where the cancer was, things we already knew. However, he didn't see anything that could cause pain. He said the spine was in perfect alignment and looked normal. So he guessed that there is a hairline fracture in the spine that isn't visible.
Marshall didn't want to take any more oxycodone, so Dr. Mohr ordered an injection of something that he said was "like aspirin." He said it wasn't a narcotic and therefore didn't have the side effects of a narcotic, but that it helped most people with pain. Marshall got one of those injections today and if he needs it he can go back every day (but Sunday) for another injection up until Thursday, the 25th, which is when we go back to the University Hospital for his next treatment of Lupron and Xgeva.
We will have questions for Dr. Flaig about how we treat a possible hairline fracture and whether or not the Xgeva (bone strengthener) will help in that regard.
As I am writing this, Marshall is still in pain but is feeling better. We're both tired. I predict it will be an early night.
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