Rib pain months after radiation stops

Hi, I had a lumpectomy last Jan followed by 6.5 weeks of radiation.  I am now taking Femara with the usually side effects but about 8 weeks ago I started experiencing pain under my left breast in the rib area (same side as the bc).  As a precaution my doctor sent me for a bone scan which is negative but still no diag for this pain.  Anyone out there with a similar situation?  Thanks

 

On 2/19/2009 lovey311 wrote:

Hi, I had a lumpectomy last Jan followed by 6.5 weeks of radiation.  I am now taking Femara with the usually side effects but about 8 weeks ago I started experiencing pain under my left breast in the rib area (same side as the bc).  As a precaution my doctor sent me for a bone scan which is negative but still no diag for this pain.  Anyone out there with a similar situation?  Thanks

Dear l311:

I also had a lumpectomy followed by 6 weeks of radiation in 2001.  I had a bone scan and it showed that I had 2 broken ribs-each with two breaks.  As far as I can tell this was due to the unintentional radiation of part of my lung.  During radiation I developed a severe cough which everyone ignored.  My family doctor was the one that ordered the scan.  We think that my ribs were weakened during the rads and the coughing caused the breaking.   I still have rib pain on that side and my current onc. says that may never go away completely.  I also was on tamoxifen for 3 years and aromasin for 4 1/2 years and have been in remission for almost 8 years now. I am very grateful for that. 

Leslie

Hello,

I too had a lumpectomy, followed by chemo and radiation.  A few months later I started having pain in my lower rib under my breast.  After complaining for months to my doctors (radiation oncologist, medical oncologist and surgeon), they sent me for a chest x-ray which showed nothing.  Finally, after 3 years of pain, my radiation oncologist was leaving for a job in another state, and she admitted to me that yes, this was a side effect of the radiation and that it would go away eventually.  I am six years past radiation, and yes, it did go away.  However, one interesting note... when I mentioned to my surgeon that the radiation oncologist told me that the pain was indeed from the radiation, the surgeon said she was surprised the RO admitted that to me.  I felt like they were keeping information from me, and caused years of needless worry.  All not to admit to a side effect???  Is this a conspiracy?  This led me to do a lot of my own research on side effects, which led me to this website.  Other side effects of radiation are thyroid problems, and bruising.  If you bump yourself on something, you could have a sore spot for months.  I hope this has helped you.  Good Luck with everything, feel better and stay healthy.

:)

 

 

I had DCIS and had 40+ radiation treatments.  I remember them telling me that a possible side effect from all the radiation was more brittle bones/ribs.  They said I was more prone to breaking them...My head was spinning at the time with tons of worries but I do recall thinking my football playing days were over!  Take care.  It all gets better.  I've been free and clear for 5 years.

I had a lumpectomy in 2003 followed by 6.5 weeks of radiation. At that time my oncologist said that as a result of the radiation you can have cracked or broken ribs up to 2 years after. Well it was 2 years and I was pulling weeds in my garden and it happened. After many xrays and scans having a hard time finding what was causing the pain, she sent me for a PET scan that found the 2 broken ribs. I was then told that they never heal completely. This is true because when I do certain poses in yoga I can feel them pull and I have to change position to make the pain go away. Just the other day I was leaning over tying my tennis shoes and I felt another rib crack. So it seems that this condition never goes away. Unless you really, really need the radiation, I would recommend not to have it. My cancer was a stage 1 and if I had it to do over again I would not have the radiation and just take my chances. I hope this helps others.