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Internal Scar Tissue Discomfort

Hello Teal Sisters! Curious if anyone has discomfort from internal scar tissue? My debulking surgery was July 2021, finished frontline chemo December 2021. Scans declared me NED. I started having some mild discomfort in July 2022. Ct didn’t show anything but an MRI showed an early recurrence. I just finished chemo for first recurrence. PET & CT show no evidence of disease and my CA125 is within normal range. I’m still feeling these mild tingles in my lower left abdomen as well as some slight pressure in my lower abdomen when I use my “peeing” muscles. My cancer team is chalking it up as internal scar tissue & inflammation where cancer once was. Obviously I have a hard time believing it’s not cancer so was curious if anyone else has any similar experiences. Thanks for reading! :)

Comments

  • @MamaLlama
      Sorry to hear that you recurred and had to go through treatment again.  In answer to your question internal scar tissue is most commonly referred to as adhesions.  They do occur naturally with any healing of tissue that has to come together again.  Sometimes it becomes so adhered that it is attached to something that will cause discomfort on movement of some kind.  Movement does help (like yoga, gentle stretching etc) and if you can massage in that area yourself it may help some.  As far as adhesions becoming cancerous tissue, I don't believe it can change like that but it would be a question for your team.  Inflammation and/or adhesions can cause surrounding tissue to become irritated and thus cause pain.  Smooth muscle tissue (organs) is a different type of tissue than muscle (skeletal) and have different nerve receptors that cause the body to perceive pain in different ways.  I am not sure if this little explanation helps you or not but hope it might.  In the meantime, all you can do is chart your symptoms, talk with your team and go from there.  My sincere hope is that you may obtain a longer NED status this time around.