Shoulder Pain after radiaiton

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SharonJ1234
SharonJ1234 Member Posts: 21
edited February 2017 in Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After

Hi there,

I recently finished radiation (Nov 2016). Little history. I had breast cancer 2007, had lumpectomy, chemo, radiation, femara and ovaries removed. Estogen postive. Age 41. Considered '"cured". In April 2016 my left arm started swelling - I thought lumphodema. Nope wrong - Breast cancer came back in my shoulder and adrenal gland. Now it was Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer and it had mutated to triple negative.

Good news is that I was on Abraxane (chemo drug) and both tumours are gone - yay! And they were gone before I had even finished all my chemo. Still had 6 sessions to go. I opted to have radiation to the area - as it just slightly overlapped from previous radiation. My question is - that I have a sore shoulder. Could this be related to the radiation? I have just had an U/S and CT (without contrast). Waiting on results. Long story, but my porta cath had to be removed as it got infected. Trying to be extremely positive and i am. But could it be the radiation that is giving me the pain. They don't seem to see any tumour there. Oh I did have 3 DVTs in that arm, just to top things off nicely. I believe I have kicked it again - read an amazing book by Dr Bernie Siegel - Peace Love and Healing. But just would like thoughts please. Thanks

Sharon

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  • KBeee
    KBeee Member Posts: 5,109
    edited February 2017

    Hmmmm. I have a sore shoulder, lymphedema (mild) and numbness. I did attribute it all to rads. Hoping I am not making an error, but they did a breast MRI last month, so I hope that would have shown shoulder issues. My shoulder has been sore since soon after rads. I am working with a lymphedema specialist, and I do range of motion exercises, so my strength and range of motion are both really good. For now I just put up with the pain because it is annoying, but not severe.

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  • KBeee
    KBeee Member Posts: 5,109
    edited February 2017

    deleted. Dumb computer; duplicate entry.

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  • SharonJ1234
    SharonJ1234 Member Posts: 21
    edited February 2017

    I used to have regular breast MRI's in fact every year. But nothing showed up. They don't take in the shoulder though. Hence why it missed the tumour coming back in shoulder. I always have to be different lol. Even had cancer markers bloods done all the time and when I got the cancer back, the markers were still normal!! Go figure.

    I think it is the radiation and I agree it is like a dull ache or maybe a pulled muscle. Not really stressing as I know I have beaten this again. My mantra is "My immune system is strong and I am wonderfully well"

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  • Falconer
    Falconer Member Posts: 1,192
    edited February 2017

    So sorry to hear about your recurrence, but glad to hear the chemo did its job. I've been dealing with shoulder/ neck pain for months, and it did seem to worsen after rads. I thought maybe something happened when I had a terribly long biopsy (1 1/2 hours w my arm over my head)! And then adding radiation to the area aggravated it further. I've been receiving acupuncture weekly and seeing some improvements. Hope you get positive results and feel better soon

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