Bone Pain

shelloz1

Recently I started feeling some pain in 3 spots, 2 are off to the side of the breast where I had my lumpectomy and 1 on the opposite side.  The pain is not in the underarm and not in the breast but on the bone.  Yesterday I saw my surgeon, he told me to wait another week or two and see if it goes away, if not, I should come back to him.  I asked him if he felt anything, he said he felt something small and cyst like, but told me that since I'm already in menopause, it couldn't be a cyst.  He told me that if it continued, he would order a bone scan.  I have a couple of questions:  1) If it were God forbid bone cancer, isn't this an unusual place for it?  2) I just had a CAT scan done, wouldn't it have shown up on that.

I don't believe it's anything, but I am a little worried.

Shelley

Anonymous

shelloz1...Did you have radiation to the area? If so, it could be a condition that results from rads...I can't remember what it's called, but Shirlann has mentioned it in her posts (maybe you can PM her?). As for other possibilities, there are probably many. It's good to have it checked though. As you know, bone mets (if, God forbid, that's what it is) can be zapped and controlled for many, many years, but the earlier they're caught, the better. Chances are excellent that that's NOT what it is, but you definitely want to know. My understanding is that a bone scan is the best way to see what it could be.

Hang in there and let us know, okay?

~Marin

Liz08

Shelly-

Please follow up with your doctors if the pain persists but to make you feel better I have pain in the whole upper right quandrant of the area that was radiated ( areas of pain include: radiated breast, rib area below the breast, back shoulder and rib area in the back behind radiated breast etc). The pain is not excruciating but is uncomfortable.  One of my doctors thinks that it's radiation related and from what I've read, it's very possible.  Radiation is very powerfull, which is  good for cancer but as a result it can cause other damage such as to the ribs, organs, bones,  tissue  due to it covering a large area etc.  Also surgery can cause muscle/tissue pain.

In the above post I believe that Marin is referring to "costochondritis" which I also got about 6 weeks after I finished rads.  I thought I was dying when I first got it cause of the pain and not being able to breath and at times it was hard to move.  Anyone can get costochondritis at any time and is usually treated with an anti-inflamatory for a few weeks.  I suggest you do 2 things on this topic: do a search on "costochondritis" on this site so you will find all the posts and after that google "costochondritis".  You will get alot on information.  My symptoms were not exactly as they were listed but I had 3 doctors diagnose me with it.  

I too have had numerous ct scans of the area which have been normal and am having a follow up bone scan in a few weeks. All of us have gone through the anxiety of fearing the worst and that is normal. You are a relatively new survivor and from what I have been told from long term survivors, it does get easier and you start to trust your body with time.  

Hang in there and let us know how you are doing.

Liz 

Liz08

Shelly-

I just found some more info on different types of pain after surgery and radiation.  Be sure to go all the way to the bottom for more discussions.  

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/BreastCancer/messages/3927.html

You probably will have to copy and paste into your browser.  Since I have changed browsers to Mozilla Firefox, I can no longer make links sorry..... 

desdemona222b

Here's some information from radiologyinfo.org about "more serious" complications that are possible after radiation therapy:

Very rarely, patients develop a breakdown of the skin, fractures of the sternum (breastbone) or such severe pain in the breast that surgery is needed for treatment. Radiation therapy given to the axillary lymph nodes can increase the risk of patients developing arm swelling ("lymphedema") following axillary (armpit) dissection. Radiation to this area can cause numbness, tingling or even pain and loss of strength in the hand and arm years after treatment. Fortunately, both these treatment effects are very rare. Some patients develop "radiation pneumonitis," a lung reaction that causes a cough, shortness of breath and fevers three to nine months after completing treatment. Fortunately, it is usually mild enough that no specific treatment is needed and it goes away within two to four weeks with no long-term complications. Radiotherapy may damage the heart. Fortunately, radiation techniques used now treat much less of the heart than those used in the past. Current studies have found no increased risk of serious heart disease in patients treated with modern techniques even 10 to 20 years after radiotherapy treatment was given. However, there is still some uncertainty about the risks of radiation causing heart disease for individuals who smoke or have pre-existing heart disease, or for those who receive certain chemotherapy drugs. It is likely that such risks will also be found to be very small. Women age 45 or younger at the time of treatment may have a slightly increased risk (by a few percent at most) of developing cancer of the other breast with time, compared with the risk they would have if they did not undergo radiation. There is a very small risk (perhaps one in 1,000 individuals) that cancers may develop five, 10, 20 or more years later in the skin, muscle, bone or lung directly in the area of treatment.

I thought that last bullet point was interesting - definitely something I didn't know.  The information about spontaneous rib fracture is interesting, too.

shelloz1

Thank you all for your responses, you are wonderful and so helpful.  I have had pain in my back bone through to my shoulder for a long time, this pain is something new, but I'm sure it will be nothing.  I will wait and see if it continues, and then I will follow up with the bone scan.

Shelley