erka9132
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Posts:13
Hi, my mom has been doing pretty good with a status of Ned at her scan last week. She was treated for sclc. For a little while she has been having some sharp pain when breathing, the doctor had a look at her scan and said the pluera was clear. From our search of the internet we understand that the lung has no nerves to cause pain. Do the airway tubes, the bronchi?, have the ability to sense pain. Her original tumor was connected with one of her airways deep in the lung.
Hope I have made some sense.
Erka
Forums
Reply # - July 31, 2017, 12:45 PM
Hi Erka,
Hi Erka,
Yes, problems with the bronchus/airways can cause pain, as in bronchitis. It's easy to assume that any chest pain, in the context of an existing lung cancer diagnosis, is caused by that cancer, but cancer patients are subject to the same types of less serious conditions that non-cancer patients experience. In most cases, a recurrence significant enough to cause such pain would be visible on a scan. Your mom's pain is certainly a subject worth discussing with her doctors, including not just her oncologist but perhaps a pulmonologist or internist, to try to determine the cause.
I hope she can find some relief from these symptoms soon.
JimC
Forum moderator
Reply # - July 31, 2017, 12:47 PM
Hi Erka,
Hi Erka,
It's so good to hear your mom's cancer is NED! I hope it's gone for good!
Irritation in the bronchus can cause pain. If your mom had radiation near the area it's possible to have ongoing inflammation that can cause pain. However there are other reasons for chest pain that should be ruled out. I know how dangerous assuming can be but I'd assume her oncologist ruled out embolism and some other form of pleural irritant as well as heart problems but you probably want to make sure.
The best way to understand what's causing the pain, what condition her lungs and bronchi are in, and ways to rid herself of it is the pain ask her onc what he/she thinks it is. It may be that a pulmonologist who sees a lot of lung cancer survivors is better suited to finding a solution.
Cold restricts the airways that can cause pain so if there is already damage to the bronchi and lungs cold air could make it worse.
I hope she's over this very soon.
All best,
Janine
Reply # - August 1, 2017, 04:46 AM
Hi Janine and Jim,
Hi Janine and Jim,
Thank you for your replies. We did go to a pulmonologist but we felt that he was a bit guarded with any diagnosis due to the cancer and treatment. On the contrary, the oncolologist has really studied the scan and tried to explain to us potential causes and what he was looking for to rule anything out or in. It was only later we thought that maybe the pain could be from the bronchi but we weren't sure if that would be typical of sclc to give pain from it.
Does sclc normally grow in the bronchi. On the plus side, we are pretty confident that the scan remains Ned, just another bump in the road.
Erka
Reply # - August 1, 2017, 09:15 AM
Eria,
Eria,
It's not unusual for sclc to grow around and into the bronchial tubes that branch out through the lungs. Did the onc suggest that this may be the culprit? And, did the onc have suggestions on how to mitigate the pain?
I'm keeping hopeful for pain free breathing.
Janine
Reply # - August 1, 2017, 09:55 AM
Hi Janine,
Hi Janine,
The onc didn't really have any suggestions other than to get an opinion from a pulmonologist. As far as the onc was concerned he could not see anything to cause the discomfort. We were told that quite often pain is due to the pluera, but that looked clear and it was only later that me and mom started to think about all different things ( Without much medical knowledge) and it was us that thought about the bronchi theory. But we are confident that the oncologist and pulmonologist had a good look at the scans, as would have the doctor who reported on the scan, and if there was something connected to the cancer, we guess that it should have shown under such watchful eyes.
We have been trying to refrain from pain relief at the moment as it is manageable and has more effect on us thinking about the cause than the actual pain.
Thank you again for your replies.
Erka