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← Return to Breast Radiation: I feel very tight in rib area, anyone else?
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Breast Radiation: I feel very tight in rib area, anyone else?
Breast Cancer | Last Active: Feb 13 9:48pm | Replies (67)Comment receiving replies
Sorry this reply is a bit late!! It showed up on the CT scan.. Yes , now a year later my lung capacity is diminished. The skin on my chest wall has become so tight that it impedes my breathing. It feels like I can’t expand my rib cage enough to get a good lungful of air. My exercise hill (300m) which I used to almost “fly” up, now I am slow and sometimes need to stop to catch my breath☹️😖. Also the scaring in my axilla impedes the movement of my arm and has caused me to stop playing tennis and putting my hair up is very difficult and painful.
The doctors are thinking I still have cancer and want to put me on AI . Tamoxifen or Letrozol. I am worried about my bones with the Letrozol an my eyes with the Tamoxifen . How is anyone’s experience with these drugs. How quickly did you feel bad? Did you feel bad?
Thank you for any info🙏🙏🙏
Replies to "Sorry this reply is a bit late!! It showed up on the CT scan.. Yes ,..."
A couple of things to the whole post.
Yes, radiation hurt my ribs and my lungs. I had whole breast radiation for 24 treatments. My right lung is scarred, two months after treatment, I contracted pneumonia, right lung collapse, intubated for 8 days and hospitalized for 14. I know everyone is different - but it was too much for me and in retrospect ill prescribed. (I'm somewhat tainted in my views now - sometimes believing it's more about the money and not about medicine, sadly.)
I was on Letrozole for approximately 7 months. Over the first several weeks, joint and muscle pain increased and eventually became crippling. My Oncologist prescribed Cymbalta for pain for a couple months, but it had little effect. I was weened off cymbalta and left with no other option than to stop taking the Letrozole. I'm about 9 weeks free of Letrozole and about 60% better on the joint and muscle pain but have severe neuropathy in my right hand and moderate in my left. Two fingers have "trigger" finger which may never resolve without surgery.
I retrospect, I would have fought much harder against the radiation - My "numbers" were so close to having a very short treatment of 3-5 days vs the full boat. I also would have researched (and most likely refused) Letrozole - the side effects were so severe.
I'm in a watchful waiting mode with the onco dr. and prayerful to not have recurrent cancer.
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You have been going through a lot. Have you had PT at all for the arm movement? Possibly it can be improved with exercises or even some massage. Have you asked the oncology team about tightness on chest wall. I know how uncomfortable that is--my rib cage and intercostal muscles were injured many years ago from a surgery (unrelated to cancer). Here again, PT has helped. And I've gotten some coaching from a pulmonary therapist, too. There may be things you can do to help. You sound like an active person who might feel good about working on the physical symptoms with an expert. What have you tried? I might have missed that if you previously posted. Wishing you the best.