Hi, to anyone who reads this. I found this site while Google searching and I'm honestly not entirely certain that I should be asking questions here. I haven't been diagnosed with cancer but have severe anxiety about some back pain I've been experiencing next to my shoulder blade. It started weeks ago, or at least, that's when I noticed it. It doesn't hurt much (barely detectable) unless I'm deep breathing, sneezing or laughing. When doing any of those things I experience a sharp pain in my shoulder blade on my left side. I had hoped it was from sleeping wrong but it won't go away. There hasn't been even a slight decrease in this pain and so my anxiety has grown. Google is a scary place, and ultimately I will see my doctor for this, but I thought I'd ask here, for anyone that might know, do these symptoms sound alarming? Do they warrant a checkup and maybe an x ray, if my doctor permits? I am female 38 year old. I'm a former smoker (it's been over 10 years since I smoked). I smoked for 8-9 years. I've had a lot of exposure to household cleaners and for a number of years I worked with resin without a respirator. My aunt died of lung cancer in her 40's. She was a heavy smoker.
I havent lifted anything heavy or done anything that I think would explain an injury. No sicknesses of any kind. Just odd, unexplained pain.
I'm nervous about posting this here. I'm afraid that I'm taking up time and space that I shouldn't. If it's inappropriate for me to be asking this here, I'm sincerely sorry. Thank you for your time.
Reply # - January 11, 2024, 03:20 PM
Hello Hello, Just want to…
Hello Hello, Just want to let you know I see your post and will respond more appropriately in the morning.
I joined GRACE as a caregiver for my husband who had a Pancoast tumor, NSCLC stage III in 2009. He had curative chemo/rads then it was believed he had a recurrence in the spine/oligometastasis that was radiated. He's 10 years out from treatment.
Reply # - January 12, 2024, 08:29 AM
Hi, I'm sorry for the delay…
Hi, I'm sorry for the delay. It's OK to post with questions here, it's what the forums are for. However, our expertise is not in diagnosing cancer but in knowledge of cancer management after diagnosis. With that said lots of people get pinched nerves in the cervical spine, google search for reasons and find us. However, the pain from a pancoast tumor is excruciating...a good thing when talking about lung cancer because at that stage it's still curable whereas most other lung cancers don't cause pain until it's metastasized and not so curable. 99 or more times out of 100 the pain like you've described is caused by a pinched nerve. I hope you see your doctor and get a better understanding of what's happening.
Best of luck,
Janine
I joined GRACE as a caregiver for my husband who had a Pancoast tumor, NSCLC stage III in 2009. He had curative chemo/rads then it was believed he had a recurrence in the spine/oligometastasis that was radiated. He's 10 years out from treatment.