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Zack Grossi couldn’t sleep, and it was making him miserable.
“I couldn't go to sleep, I couldn't fall asleep, and then I couldn't stay asleep, no matter how tired I was,” says Grossi, a passing game specialist for the Denver Broncos.
Months later, Grossi was diagnosed with a yolk sac tumor — a rare cancer that forms in the cells that line the yolk sac of the embryo — and successfully treated at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. An MRI found the actual tumor, but Grossi was told that his sleeplessness was an early warning sign of his cancer.
Warning signs
Sleep problems are just one of the surprising ways your body tells you that you have cancer, says CU Cancer Center member Laura Graham, MD, assistant professor of medical oncology in the CU Anschutz School of Medicine.
“If you notice a lump or a bump anywhere that shouldn't be there, if you're losing weight and you don't know why, if you're waking up at night drenched in sweat — if you have anything that's persistent or progressive, that's usually a red flag,” she says.
Losing weight
Unexplained weight loss is a symptom of many cancers, in part because of the way in which cancer cells grow and multiply, Graham says.
“Cancer cells need energy to grow and divide, and they have to get that energy from somewhere,” she says. “They're basically stealing the calories that you ingest. Oftentimes when you have an undetected cancer, you also don't feel like you need to eat, or you're not as hungry.”
Bathroom changes
For colorectal and urinary cancers, the signs are often in our waste, Graham says.
“Blood in the urine is not normal,” she says. “If that sticks around or gets worse, you should go get that checked out. If you can't urinate, you should get that checked out. If you’ve got blood in your stool or are suddenly having diarrhea or constipation for no reason, and it doesn't go away, those are things to bring up to your doctor.”
Vital conversations
And while it can feel uncomfortable or awkward to talk your doctor about changes in bathroom habits or lumps on the breasts or testicles, it’s nothing your doctor hasn’t heard before, Graham says.
“If you find a lump in your testicle, maybe you don't want to go to the doctor, because then they're going to do an exam. Or if you have blood in your stool, you might have to get a colonoscopy, “she says. “Sometimes these things are really uncomfortable and hard to talk about, but it's important. It’s what we do every day, and the earlier you catch something, the better, in terms of how easy or difficult it will be to treat it.”
Other ways your body can warn you about cancer include:
- Lung cancer: persistent cough, shortness of breath, fingernails that appear spongelike or swollen.
- Ocular cancer: Blurry vision, loss of vision.
- Skin cancer: Irregular moles, growing or changing spots on the skin.
- Oral cancers: Sore throat, mouth sores, difficulty swallowing, voice changes.
- Brain cancer: Headaches, fatigue, balance and vision problems.
- Breast cancer: Swelling of all or part of a breast, breast or nipple pain, discharge from the nipple.
The bottom line, Graham says, is if you have new and troubling symptoms, bring them up to your primary care doctor.
“It's a much better scenario for us to look at something that turns out to be nothing than have it be a year later, and now something has developed or grown,” she says. “The best part of my job as a medical oncologist is when I get to tell someone they don't have cancer.”
