Hot Spot On Mri?

The good news is I'm finished with radiation and round one chemo.  The bad news is I had an MRI today for a pinched nerve or something in my neck and arm and they found a "hot spot" on my radius.  I'm really not worried, what would the chances be that it would be mets from rectal cancer on the bone.  It's probably from the radiation, arthritis, an old injury or something right?  I'm looking for some reassurance here I guess.  Has anyone here ever had rectal cancer mets to the bone?  Does anyone know alot about "hot spots" on a MRI?

Thanks,

Terry

It is not from the irradiation which only goes where it is pointed and would not involve or affect distal joints.  It would also be unusual as a met in the absence of spread elsewhere.

Hi witchdoctor,

I wondered why radiation would show up there and I guess you would know that it wouldn't because if I recall correctly you have something to do with radiation don't you?  As far as the docs know I didn't even have any lymph node involvement.  What else could it be?  Could it be arthritis or an old injury?

Thanks for any information.

Terry

Terry,

Firstly, don't panic. There will be many more "anomalies" in your journey and the fight against the mets has just begun.

I have squamous cell skincancer that went rogue. 4 operations, 2 bouts of radiation, and 3 cycles of chemo. Many MRIs and CT scans and X-rays. On one of the films a spot showed up on the bottom of both lungs. 6 months later they were still there. On one of the repeats a shadow showed up on the upper part of the lungs, that wasn't there before. Correction they missed it before. The docs all started to panic. It took some time but I remembered that i had a very bad dose of 'flu when I was seven. That was in 1945. Because they did not have antibiotics in those days, readily available, I had an old fashioned cure done to me. But it left a slight scar tissue on the top of the lung.

A lot of panic over something that was able to be explained. They are still there and haven't gotten any worse. So hang in there

Regards,

Pluv

Thanks for that story it makes me feel better.  I'm not really panicing, the rational part of me says it's probably nothing but then I think there is this slight chance it is and you know how the mind works.  I'm going to keep positive and tell myself everyday it's nothing and hopefully that's exactly what it will be.  I have had a lot of injuries in my younger days from skiing, snowmobiling, etc. so that's probably what it is.

Thanks again!

Terry