@tyralynn, I can imagine that every and any pain causes a fright response. That's only natural. Did your oncologist tell you what type of pain to report to your team? Do you have any persistent pain anywhere? Are you on treatment like chemo or immunotherapy?

@tyralynn I’m in a similar position. I too have a very high pain threshold yet suffer sporadic sharp pains in my abdomen region after treatment ended.

I was diagnosed with stage 4 appendix cancer in 2021 and had a year of major surgeries (including a radical hysterectomy, HIPEC, cytoreductive surgery, a peritonectomy, chemo and immunotherapy).

I’ve been NED (no evidence of disease) for over 2 years. I panicked when I got pans and was hyper vigilant about any pain.

I’m now PET-CT scanned every 4 months plus blood tests, have a colonoscopy and a mammogram yearly - and those help me relax between scans and enjoy life until the next tests. It’s taken a while to get into that cycle. Stress is so very bad for our health.

In my case my oncologist believes my pains are caused by occasional digestive motility issues plus adhesions from surgeries ( in particular a colon resection). I monitor my diet very carefully (especially fibre - not too much, not too little - and water intake).

I do tell him each 4 monthly meeting what’s happening so he can recheck my test report.

I hope you can find a way to ease your mind too.

It may be worth discussing with your oncologist the scar tissue from your surgeries. Mine is manageable but I honestly didn’t know about scar tissue as a side effect of treatment.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15254-abdominal-adhesions