Hi, my name is Penny and I have only posted once or twice on this forum which I found very useful. My sister had DCIS in 2001 and had a mastectomy, but no chemo or rads. In March 2007 she found she had a lump in her armpit. It was found that she had HER 2 positive (not hormone receptive) with 25 out of 26 nodes infected. She basically had the full works - chemo - FEC and Taxotare (is that how you spell it?) followed by radiotherapy 3 times a week for four weeks. Herceptin for a year and tamoxifen for 5 years which she is currently on. She had a CT scan in April of last year which was clear. She goes for blood markers every three months.
She seems incredibly well, glowing skin and healthy hair, keeps her lymphodeama under control, but she has this pain in her chest, which she has always had and has been told that it is radiation damage. However, it is getting worse and sometimes when she bends down almost gets spasms in her chest like cramp!! She is obviously petrified that it is something more sinister.
If there is anyone out there who has had anything remotely like these symptoms, I would be really grateful if you could post back.
Many thanks.
Penny x
Sorry your sister has this pain. Did they say what exactly in the chest is damaged? Is it the lung? The muscle…I guess that could spasm. Has she had an echo to check out her heart?
If it were me I would want an explanation of the damage so I could at least understand what was going on. I hope her medical team can do this if they have not already.
Interesting! I am 2 weeks through radiotherapy, one week to go and for the last few days I have had an increasing “feeling” in my chest area, bit like indigestion but it never goes away. I did have severe heartburn during chemo so wondered if it was to do with that but I’m going to mention at at the hospital tomorrow as it is obviously so close to where I am getting radiotherapy.
Thanks for your comments. My sister has had her heart checked and it is absolutely fine. I don’t think she is particularly worried about the spasms as she is pretty sure that it is muscle damage due to the radiation - she gets these when doing sit-ups or bending down for things. She is more worried about the uncomfortable feeling that she has on her mastectomy side and sternum - which prevents her from lying on her tummy and is uncomfortable when she sits in certain positions. She has a mammogram coming up in feb when she will speak to her onc again. We just hope that everything will be okay.
Hi Penny,
I used to get cramps in my chest muscle on the radiated side - just as you’ve discribed. Thankfully I no longer get them, but they did last well into my forth year post bc! I had chemo and 25 rads in 2004. Hope this puts you and your sister’s mind at rest.
Josie x
I will tell my sis. I can’t believe how great this site is for info. My sister has two young children and never has the time to do any research, so I tend to do it on her behalf and this site is invaluable! Thanks again.
Hello
I finished rads 2 years ago and in the last few months have had really bad pain in my rib and chest area. I hate bending down because Of the cramping pain. I had a CT scan and was told it is due to rads side effects. I see my Onc in april so may get some more answers then.
Best wishes
Hilary
Your symptoms seem pretty similar to my sisters. She says when she closes the cat flat she gets down on all fours to shut it rather than bend over due to the cramps/spasms. It is good to know that she is not alone and that most people who have these symptoms are told that it is rad damage to the muscles. It is always good to get second opinions though and I know that my sister will be asking her onc again in Feb. If I find out anything new will post.