Cancer Diary: Missed and Misinterpreted Signs of Cancer
By the time, Carl was diagnosed, his cancer was metastized to his liver, lungs, bones, and upper stomach. After many biopsies and scans, the primary could not be found, and the cancer was officially labeled Cancer of Unknown Primary . Impaired Mobility: harder and harder to walk and climb stairs We associated this with worsening of gout, which had been present for more than a decade This could have been due as well to cancer-related hypercalcemia and bone cancer Frequent urination We associated this with normal aging This could have been related to prostate cancer (not the case with Carl but the case with many) Pain in the side We associated this with a gallbladder attack; it appeared similar to what our daughter, who had her gallbladder removed, had gone through. We did not know that this same kind of pain is diagnostic of liver cancer. Frequent dozing off while working on the com...