Breast Cancer Survivor
BC Left Breast mastectomy/triple negative/tumor grade 3 out of 3. KI 67 50% . I woke up a year later with a very swollen clavicle bone on the right side of my chest. Never had an injury, never fallen, nothing. MRI revealed it was arthritis although very rare....the MRI also revealed my T-7/T-8 herniated disc had blown out and it was compressing on my spinal cord. The pain I was having I attributed to the side affects from chemotherapy. Went to see a Neurosurgeon who recommended surgery. Had a Neurosurgeon and Thoracic Surgeon who were wonderful. Very extensive surgery of course another "rare" situation and could not go through the left chest wall due to the implant.......went through the side. Came thru that surgery with flying colors. Of course the clavicle bone hurts depending on activity. In July I started getting pain in my right shoulder by September the pain is at a 7-8 constant, November/December can be a 10. The numbness tingling going down my arm and into my right hand is off and on and then out of no where I get these stabbing pains in my right hand. I have no grip status hardly with my right hand, I drop things out of my hand. I have pain that goes up the side of my neck and to my jaw and face at times. The pain also radiates to my scapula which I know because I have had a herniated disc in C-5/C-6 since the early 90's. About 2 weeks ago I noticed a large lump/bump on my front shoulder not the top but right below the top facing out that is very hard and hurts like the devil when pressed on. I came across Pan-coast Tumor surfing the web there was a blip about could shoulder pain be a sign of cancer which caught my attention. I am a healthy 56 year young person 130 lbs 5 foot 6 1/2. Exercise until the shoulder pain....smoked from age 17 until 34 not had a smoke since. I have been through a lot in the last few years but can handle another diagnosis of trouble if I have too. I just don't want to be an alarmist. Thank
Reply # - January 1, 2018, 09:00 AM
Hi cooksie,
Hi cooksie,
Welcome to GRACE. I'm sorry to hear about all that you have been through in the past several years, as well as the pain you're currently experiencing. Given the disc issues you have had, plus the surgery and chemotherapy, it is likely that a pancoast tumor would be low on the list of possible causes for your symptoms. A pancoast tumor which is causing such significant symptoms should be easily visible on a scan, so if you have had a somewhat recent CT or even an x-ray that did not reveal such a tumor, it is extremely unlikely that such a tumor is the cause of your symptoms.
Of course, it's always makes sense to raise any concern such as this with your doctor, but pancoast tumors aren't that common and there are plenty of more likely causes for your symptoms.
I hope that very soon you and your doctors can find the cause of your pain and find a solution that can provide you relief from that pain.
JImC
Forum moderator