PAIN-in lower right quad that radiates to the back and shoulders anyone?

[Debula]

Hi
I was wondering if anyone has experienced this
I have a pain in my "liver area" kind of a stabbing pain that changes to a sore, inflamed and swollen feeling.  The pain then radiates to my back around the rib area and as high as my shoulder.

This is a new one for me.  I have had liver pinches and pangs here and there throughout treatment but this is different and almost intolerable.  I can't sit back because everything feels swollen and when I lean forward I feel like my poor liver is being squished so that is uncomfortable too

Anybody out there experienced this?  If so did it go away?
I don't think it is Harvoni related but I do think it is liver related and it has me a bit freaked out.

Anyway.. Please post if you have had similar symptoms

Thanks
Deb

[Ledoc01]

Hi Deb;

Not sure of course if it's the same but I had (and still have tbh) pain in the liver area. Mine is mostly in the upper portion of the left lobe and yes...I had hella pain up into my right shoulder area. I can't say they are connected but I wasn't having the shoulder stuff (right up under the scapula) prior to the Harvoni Tx. Having said  that, I was and probably am all too willing to attribute weird pains to the Harvoni.
I've always had a hunch that areas that were already in a less than stellar state were fair game while on Tx. To me, if you are ingesting a chemical to attack something like this dog assed virus it's like a mild form of chemo. {No offense to those who've had to have chemo meant here. } Given the wide range of side effects we've all noted I say anythings' possible.

I'm just guessing here but I think (hope) that as time goes on things will settle back down.  I'm now at 12 weeks EOT and just got the news today I'm "cured".

Will see how things progress.

Best

-d

[Debula]

Wow congratulations!!! I am very happy to hear you are SVR 12 woo hoo!
Thanks for the feedback too

[Hoping]

Debula,

I am currently 6 weeks PT and 4 wks EOT is UNDETECTED - YEAH!

I also have had discomfort in the upper right quadrant of my abdomen, which feels like liver.   Prior to Harvoni, I had similar twinges, which disappeared during the first few weeks of TX.  Late in treatment they began again but post TX, have returned much more frequently.  My labs are normal and a recent CT is, as well, but am concerned about the abdominal discomfort along with some right shoulder area tightness. 

Additionally, I have had significant muscle and joint discomfort/pain TX.  Am hoping this will dissipate as my immune system becomes "normalized".


Hoping

Hoping for full return to   

[Debula]

Hoping
Congrats on 4 week EOT UND!  Great news!
My liver pain went away thank God but I just found out today that my last ultrasound shows that I have a tumor on my liver 5 cm
I have had pain in my left upper quad under my rib for the last 3-4 days
I'm guessing the pancreas since it is enlarged.
Trying to stay positive
I'm glad your labs are good, I hope it goes away soon and you get to see what your new normal will be
Keep fighting the fight
Deb

[mollythedog]

Hello Deb,
I'm sorry. I too had hcc and had emergency transplant almost 2 years ago. If you have hcc you go to the top of the list. I don't know what it's like in the U.S. Insurance wise but I doubt if you'll be left alone at this point. I have seen diabetics, people with hcv and hbv as well as hcv and hcc get transplants. Do everything in your power to get it. At least you'll already be free from hcv and you can live a normal life afterwards. It's not a piece of cake, it's traumatic, but you get BETTER. I have hcv recurrence and have already failed sovaldi olysio 12 weeks. I'm gt1a and 4 days ago started sovaldi, daklinza and ribs 6 months. You have fought so hard up to now, don't give in to this. You're being called upon to FIGHT for your life. Go for it. I had 5 carcinomas, have 6 monthly MRI so far so good, except the hcv which I'm fighting against. I will pray for you. Keep going, don't let this beat you. Warmest thoughts to you.
Molly

[Debula]

Thank you so much Mollythedog.  Your words mean a lot!
Good luck to you and be well

Deb

[mollythedog]

Hi Deb,
How are you getting on? Anything moving for you? Just wanted to tell you that 2 years ago I was given just a couple of months to live and I'm still here, just got back from Rome, 3 and half hours by train, set off this morning, walked everywhere with my 30 year old student and coming back she said she had to admit that she really couldn't keep up with me walking. She knows nothing about my transplant or anything. So there you have it. Sometimes we're faced with unbearable reality, but one way or another we can get through, nobody has a warranty on tomorrow. Don't entertain thoughts about how you can control your future, send them away and do what you can to fight the illness. I too don't know how this will work out for me, but I stopped following the thought train regarding the future, it took a lot of effort but after many tears, desperate nights and prayer, I intend this as speaking with the innermost part of yourself, it worked. Now I just let that train go by and I don't get on it. You are in my thoughts, maybe because you're facing what I did in 2013 and I know just where you are, I've been there. You may be strangely calm, that too happened to me, as if the doc was talking about someone else. There are so many walking miracles around that prove there is really is something greater than science. God bless you Deb. A warm embrace, Molly.

[KimInTheForest]

Hi Deb,
How are you getting on? Anything moving for you? Just wanted to tell you that 2 years ago I was given just a couple of months to live and I'm still here, just got back from Rome, 3 and half hours by train, set off this morning, walked everywhere with my 30 year old student and coming back she said she had to admit that she really couldn't keep up with me walking. She knows nothing about my transplant or anything. So there you have it. Sometimes we're faced with unbearable reality, but one way or another we can get through, nobody has a warranty on tomorrow. Don't entertain thoughts about how you can control your future, send them away and do what you can to fight the illness. I too don't know how this will work out for me, but I stopped following the thought train regarding the future, it took a lot of effort but after many tears, desperate nights and prayer, I intend this as speaking with the innermost part of yourself, it worked. Now I just let that train go by and I don't get on it. You are in my thoughts, maybe because you're facing what I did in 2013 and I know just where you are, I've been there. You may be strangely calm, that too happened to me, as if the doc was talking about someone else. There are so many walking miracles around that prove there is really is something greater than science. God bless you Deb. A warm embrace, Molly.

Very inspirational words and testimony, Mollythedog. Worthy of printing out and framing. Thanks for sharing. I thinks it helps many of us

kim

[Debula]

Thank you so much Molly.
I have not been here for a while so it was nice to come back and see your inspirational post.  So much has happened but at the same time nothing at all
First I was told that I would have TACE treatment.  Then I went to another doctor who is in the same hospital and the transplant center and he told me the location of the tumor was operable so we were going to just go in and take it out.  (I was overjoyed!!)
In the meantime I have to have a bunch of tests first.  Full body bone scan, colonoscopy, chest pet scan,  blood work etc.. I have done all of it except 2 of them which I am STILL waiting for my very expensive insurance to authorize.  So I sit and wait....
The doctor called me 2 days ago and said that he talked to the board and they agreed that I should have a biopsy first to be 100% certain that it was cancer.  (even though he believes it is) So one more test to wait for authorization for.
 I was strangely calm like you said,  it was like it was happening to someone else but today I just broke down crying (probably because I don't feel good after the colonoscopy and starving for 2 days)  (My right lower quad is hurting again and of course my mind goes to the worst thoughts.  The doctor also told me he is referring me to the transplant center so we can get started on that and hopefully not need it. 
The waiting is starting to get to me because this thing is growing fast

Molly do you have to take anti rejection medication for the rest of your life?
You are in my thoughts and my prayers also.  So ironic that you beat the HCC but are still fighting the HCV.  May I ask why you were not put on Harvoni?  I am GT 1a as well.
I would love to hear more about your transplant experience and I am so happy to hear that you are doing well.  You will beat the HCV too.  Sending lots of Prayers!
Kim is right, thank you so much for taking the time to share with us.  I look foreyard to hearing from you again
Blessings
Deb

[mollythedog]

Hello Nebula, oh I'm so happy that the doctors are taking care of you and yes, I too had those days when I cried, I'm not ready to die yet and I have so much to do first,and let's be honest, I love life. I certainly hope it's not malignant, a friend of mine had the same problem as you and they cut off the sick part. Now he's on harvoni. My specialist put me on daklinza because ledispavir interferes with the immune suppressants and it's indicated for those who fail with ns3 inhibitors and transplanted patients. Yes, I have to take them for life but they are reduced as time passes. In fact they were the cause of my hcv relapse after the op. The op. Yes, it's a life changed, but the pros outweigh the cons if you work on yourself, life becomes even more appreciable, your heart just opens up. It's like being given a second chance. The problem with transplant for hcv is that it returns if you haven't been cured before the transplant. There was no new therapy in Italy in 2013 and no time left. I had 5 carcinomas. Well I'll write later as I have to take my daughter to the office where she's doing training for her degree. LOVELY to hear from you, Let's pray it's benign. A warm embrace.

[mollythedog]

Hi again Deb, I'll finish off what I wanted to say to you. Ok, if the worse comes to the worst, then got in there in time for a transplant, the limit is one carcinoma max. 5 CMS or max 3 multifocal carcinomas 1.8 cmq each max. By the time I was transplanted my 3 had become 5 and that took just 2 months. First they tried what I think is TACE (localized chemotherapy) which only partially solved the problem, meanwhile they had me do all those tests you had, lungs, kidneys, tumour markers too. Once I got through all of that, which took about 2 months, I was put on the waiting list and just 4 days later they called me in. I actually thought the problem would be solved with a second blast of chemotherapy but it all happened so fast my brain just couldn't assimilate so many rapid changes. It seemed to me that I woke up one day and had someone else's liver!!!! I was so under shock I just obeyed everything they told me to do. My body reacted so well that in a few days my blood work was perfect. It was like a dream. I still don't know how I got through it all. But I did thank God. Recovery is subjective, after 2 months I was almost back to normal. Having had hcc I was put on an immune suppressant named Certican which is also anti cancerous. But potent. This lowered my defenses and the virus had an orgy, replicated without hindrance. This summer I spent at the seaside, I live by the sea, wearing a bikini as the scar is almost invisible. Today I'm working, being mum and I'm quite an Italian mum who does everything, take part in projects for students, travel when I can, yet I'm currently taking 13 pills a day!! So for as long as it lasts, I want to make the most of it. God is my sustainment, my relationship with him, my daughter, my friends, strange, I have lost some but gained many many more, real friends. So I'm with you all the way Deb.

[Debula]

Molly thank you for taking the time to respond.  Your posts are very inspirational and I thank you for that.  Unfortunately I just received more potentially bad news.  My chest ct scan showed some lesions in my lungs.  Everything is back on hold now as they want to biopsy the lung lesions. . So once again I have to wait for insurance pre authorization then an appointment for the biopsy.  I'm worried that my liver tumor is twice the size by now.
Stay well and keep in touch
Deb

[mollythedog]

Hello Deb,
Well you could have done without that eh? So first biopsy then I suppose they'll operate, maybe they can do both at the same time? Keep strong, God will help you along the way, it's a difficult path to walk alone, I have a scan on 5th December too, to see if there any lesions hanging around. Everything is so uncertain for everyone today. I hear of so many things happening and I know now that nobody is immune to this. But we can choose how to live through these nasty times. I got so at one point that I just knew I had no choice but to trust in God, who or whatever that might be to you. It's hard to imagine insurance companies and depending on them, but I suppose you know only that system. So it's not like Dr. House in USA? Deb, is that why you had pain in the shoulder do you think? Are they small? I know they can remove them, many people have this complication and all of them survive it, you will too. And the liver carcinoma. You haven't come all this way for nothing. I am praying for you Deb. I started second round of therapy 6 weeks ago and just getting over a gastro intestinal virus, have a cough and cold now. I'm on sofosbuvir daklinza and ribavirin. Have to drink water constantly and constantly pee. It's harder, got anaemia and feel good 3 days, bad for two. Keep in touch Deb, lots of warm hugs to you, Emily

[Debula]

Hi Emily
Wow you are on the "hard stuff" for your HepC
How long do you have to take that combo?  My husband has to be put on Daklinza because he is genotype3  But so far he is F2 so the insurance will probably deny it. (not medically necessary)  He doesn't want to do the Riba combo because of the anemia.  I hope you feel better soon. 
Tomorrow is the needle biopsy in my lungs and I am praying that they won't find cancer.  ( the lesions are very small) If they do then they probably will not operate on the liver.  The doc said they will treat it like a "whole body" cancer ...sigh..    I am loosing my patience because it is all taking so long. Who knows in what state my liver is in after all of this time.   
God bless you, keep well
Deb