What to do now??

harper1234

For 3 weeks I have been experiencing soreness and some pain in my left breast, with pain radiating into my shoulder and shoulder blade. The pain in my back is more bothersome than the breast pain. I'm sore up into my armpit also. No redness, no rash, no itching, no skin changes that I can detect. I also have noticed slight swelling in my arm pit area, upper arm, and breast.

I went to my OB/GYN he ordered a mammo and ultrasound. Both were normal. Lymph node in my arm was around 2 cm. I was referred to a surgeon and he said he saw no signs of breast cancer but had no idea what was causing my pain. So I went for a second opinion and second surgeon did another ultrasound and said he sees nothing but can't say why I'm having pain and soreness. Maybe a pinched nerve or pulled muscle. I have very small breast and he said that because of that he seen no reason to do an MRI. He said he could see the difference in size but it wasn't that much of a difference.

I'm 48 years old and have not had a period for at least a year. I'm just at a loss. Any ideas of what this may be would be greatly appreciated. It's just a nagging pain! I guess my next step is maybe an orthopedic dr?? Any suggestions??

footballmomma

Honestly, I had the same symptoms when I tore up my rotator cuff and bicep tendon. The pain radiated all over the left side of my chest, down my arm,and left side of my back. Women in their 40s are ripe for SLAP tears in that area as well which would impact all the same nerves. The SLAP tear is an over use injury. If you have noticed an loss of range of motion in your shoulder or feel weaker on that side when you lift things, I would go see an orthopedist since your mammo didn't show anything.

harper1234

Thanks for the info. I would think the same thing but I have no loss of range of motion. I'm going on 9 weeks of aching pain, mostly in my armpit, and left chest area, that does radiate into my shoulder and arm. But now I can feel a difference in the lymph nodes in my armpit. I had a CT scan yesterday afternoon and will get results tomorrow. Just want to find out whats wrong and work on getting it resolved. I'll will update tomorrow after Dr's appt.

Salamandra

I hate when doctors don't take women's pain seriously. It's good news that it's not cancer. But you probably will have to keep pushing and advocating for yourself to get to the bottom of it. Any doctor that makes a dead end, ask them what other kind of doctor do they think you should see. Good luck!!

footballmomma

I hope you get good results from your CT scan and more importantly some definitive answers.

harper1234

Went in this a.m. for CT results and pretty much normal, they saw nothing! Nothing in my left breast, armpit, chest, or shoulder area. I was really surprised with the pain that I have had. Beyond frustrated!!! Don't get me wrong I am very relieved that nothing serious is wrong (hopefully) but was wanting answers so I could get on with resolving this. I have now been referred back to my OB/GYN but he can't get me in for another month.

On a side note the CT scan did detect a lesion/cyst on my liver that I will need to keep an eye on. The dr said we would just watch the area since I have no symptoms relating to liver problems. Will have an ultrasound of liver in a few months.

happyperidot

Have they ruled out cardiac causes? Have you had any bloodwork done? EKG?

BevJen

Just a suggestion -- if it were me, I would be a bit more diligent on that liver "lesion." You don't have to have symptoms to have something going on in the liver -- in fact, your blood work could be absolutely normal and you could feel fine, but that could still be problematic. Perhaps you could try and get an appointment with a gastroenterologist and have that doc review your films. Medicine is so specialized these days that I wouldn't trust this to an ob/gyn -- the liver is not really within their toolbox.

CGLion

Harper - One thing to note, as I've had my share of orthopedic injuries, is that ct scans rarely see any muscle or ligament injuries. I had a completely ruptured ACL for 3 months and complained of significant pain and instability. My dr just kept pointing back to the "normal" ct scan I had then saying nothing was wrong.

When I was finally allowed an MRI it showed the complete rupture. MRIs are not perfect, but they are much better at seeing soft tissue injuries.

Bevjen - I really appreciate that info, even though it was not initially directed at me

I recently had a ct due to a kidney stone and apparently have two cysts on my liver, one 14mm in size. It mentioned the second 14mm cyst was new compared to a scan I had 3 years ago. My doctor never mentioned it to me when they went over the report, just mentioned it showed some very early signs of fatty tissue in my liver but that my labs were normal so they were not worried. I just happened to see the cyst info when I picked up all my imaging reports last week. I'll be asking for more info when I see them next week.

harper1234

Well with it being summer (dr's taking vacation) and I live in the affected area of where hurricane Michael hit last year (yes we are still in recovery mode), the dr's here are backed up with patients. A lot of dr's left the area after the hurricane. Anyway I can't get into my OB/GYN until August 2nd. Thank you all so much for the insight and suggestions.

I'm beginning to think it may be muscle related, today my arm is extremely sore to touch in the area near my breast and armpit. My only reservation is I can move my arm all around with no issues and its not like there's more pain or a catch in my arm if I do certain movements. I feel like there is something under my armpit, kind of like when you put a t-shirt on and it bunches up under your arm. (only way I know how to describe it) It has felt like that for weeks and seems to be slightly swollen. I have a friend who works for an orthopedic group so I may see how quickly I can get in with them and ask for an MRI.

I had a full blood work up done in April and everything was normal. I don't have a thyroid (was removed in 98 due to a benign tumor) so I have blood work at least twice a year.

Just so frustrating I had planned to do a half marathon in December and my training routine has been derailed due to all of this.

And the liver thing is just added stress! I do plan to have an ultrasound soon even if it's just to get a baseline of whats going on. It's a very small spot, less than a centimeter. Anyway thank you all. I'll keep you updated!