Just a quick question to those of you knowledgable regarding lung cancer....is chest and back ache typically a late stage lung cancer symptom?? I am a former smoker...quit 14 years ago.. Would you likely have a cough? I have had 0 weight loss, no fatigue, lumps, blood, or cough...only rela symptom is ches..back.. and shoulder ache...not constant or severe. And, I had a chest x-ray in December,05 for the chest ache and it was clear[would that normally mean its ok since I was having chest ache at that time?]...feels like skekltal- muscle...sorry to bother you but I am a worrier, and have had this ache for four to five months...it has not gotton worse or better.

Thank you and God Bless you all. I would appreciate your advise.

dukert...if you have health insurance, I would recommend getting a Cat scan soon - don't let it go too long, just incase it is something you need fixed! You should know by now that early detection is 75% of the battle in lung cancer! I should listen to my own advice, too! Good luck and get going!

dukert, Robin's advice in right on the mark. Don't delay about getting checked out further. It is so much better to find out for sure. I pray for you that is turns out to be nothing as bad as lung cancer, but early detection is the key to survival. I am here to promise you that. God bless, Pat

Cat Scan...ok, but won't a chest xray normally determine if one has lung cancer??

Chest X Rays are not adequate to find small lung nodules. I have a nodule that they fortunately caught on an X ray during an annual physical and the doc then did a CAT Scan that showed it's size (2.0 x 1.9 cm) The scan can also show that there is no other involvement in the lymph nodes. The CT also found a smaller 4 mm nodule that the doc isn't too concerned about yet. I don't know yet if it's malignant, but I do know it needs attention immediately and I am awaiting PET scan results now and already have a consultation set up with a thoracic surgeon.

I would plead with the doc for a CAT scan - they are painless and take abut 15 minutes.

Tom

Tom,

Were you having any symptoms at all?? Cough, weight loss, blood in spectrum, etc. How long did you smoke or had you alreadt quit?? What age our you if you don't mind me asking? Why did he do the additional tests...did he suspect something?? And, important to me...would chest pain come when the tumor is more advanced...do you know? I do undersatnd that scans as you're mentioning can catch tumors at a smaller size, and much earlier.....I appreciate you listening...I hope your progressing well. I hope to hear back from you, and others...AGAIN, my big question with no other symptoms than chest ache on and off...and a clear X-RAY would it not be cancer...my GP says there would be other symptoms and a tumor would be present in chest x-ray if the pain was from Cancer???

God bless.


Duke

Duke,

Xrays do not always find the tumor, as it can be hidden behind a structure like the aorta, heart even a rib bone. My mom is stage IV NSCLC and it was found when she developed a pleural effussion .The Xray did not (and never has) shown a tumor but the pleural fluid came back with cancer cells in it and the hunt for a primary tumor began , The CT found a large tumor in her right middle lobe of her lung.

About 4 years prior to this she began feeling short of breath with activity, and they did all sorts of cardiac tests and pulmonary function tests all came back normal so they did a CT looking for a pulmonary embolism but saw nothing at that time her chest CT was 100% normal. Next she just started feeling fatigued and next she would break out in sweat , once again tests showed nothing to explain it. Then she lost about 20 lbs which she and her doctor thought was due to the fact they had increased her calcium intake. Finally the shortness of breath suddenly got very severe and that is when she went to urgent care and they found the pleural effussion and thus began our journey. My mom did not have a cough, did not have any pain and was a non smoker but when she told me about the effussion which at that point had not been drained yet I knew it was lung cancer as working in the healthcare field I have seen this exact thing too many times in the past 24 yrs. Because of the pleural effussion I knew it would be at least stage IIIB and that was what they first told her, thou there was a tiny spot on her liver the doctor did not think it was a met, but over time it did appear to be a liver met and that made her stage IV as once it spreads outside the chest you are stage IV. The good news is she is now a 21 month suvivor and thanks to Tarceva knocking the lung tumor out we have only been dealing with liver mets this past year and liver function remains normal at this time so she lives a pretty normal life except the fatigue from chemo and the downer that her doctor has said this is the last chemo he will offer her . ( it is her 3rd chemo not counting the Tarceva).

There are lots of non cancer reasons for chest pain so do not worry yourself that you have lung cancer as it would be rare that you do not have fatigue, weightloss, sweats. try to get your doctor to order a CT for your piece of mind . Best of luck to you. ;) JanMarie

Duke,
Have the dr. determine the cause of your pain. My mother was diagnosed last month with lung cancer and she had a pain in the middle of her chest. She had an xray from last year that she kept at her home. It showed an apparent involvement but not one of her doctors caught it or showed concern.

Duke,

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner but I have been on a rooler coaster here. I would be glad to try and answer your questions though. I'm 54 years old and smoked for 38 years. A very likey cancer candidate. I did not have any chest pain until January, but I had a horrible lung infection which apparentlly was the cause. From what I've learned in my research, maliganant lung tumors don't usually cause chest pain. I also had a cough for about 1 year but that worsened with the lung infection in January.

As I said the x ray from my annual physical caused my doc to do a CT Scan and that showed the two nodules. I also had a pulmonary function test that showed I had good lung capacity but the pulmonologist wanted to do a blood test on me because of my travel history.(travel to Arizona) She also ordered the PET scan to see if the nodules showed high cell activity - an indicator of malignancy. My blood test came back positive for coccidioidomycosis (aka Valley Fever) which can cause lung nodules that look like malignant tumors. I found out too that my PET scan came back negative and the docs now think the lung nodules are not malignant.

By the grace of God, I think I have "dodged a bullet" but the VAlley Fever can have it's own problems.

I really encourage you to get more tests done. It's how I have gotten resolution to my anxiety and worries. That and a lot prayer I believe was answered.

Keep us posted,

Tom

I agree with the other posts, a CAT scan is vital if you are having these symptoms. My mom had a chest xray (she was dxed with a bad case of bronchitis), and it showed nothing. Six weeks later she had stage 4 lung cancer. I am not trying to scare you, just to let you know that apparently an xray does not show all the time ( I have no idea why, though). She would get out of breath easily (about 6 months before all this), was tired a lot, but never lost weight. She did have the chronic "smokers cough", which she blamed on sinus drainage (she had this for about 10 years). Good luck to you, I hope that this is just a case of muscle-skeletal issues for you instead.
~Mim :wave:

I also agree with Mim and not to scare you...my husband had a lung x-ray in Sept. 04 and then again in April 05 and the doctor made an odd remark which we had never even considered since he was never a smoker and said...well, he does not have lung cancer....only to find out the 1st week of June he had Small cell lung cancer Stage IV! Cancer works in odd ways and likes to hide. I had thought maybe they read the lung x-ray incorrectly so had them looked at again after my husband had been diagnosed and they were clean as could be...the one in Sept. 04 showed a slight infection but nothing other than that and the one in April 05 was perfectly clean! I am sorry you are being hit with all of this and do hope you get some straight anwers and it is good news!
You all take care,
Kim

Dukert, the symptoms you describe could possibly be connected to heart problems. Have you had an EKG or any discussion with your physcian about this possibility?
Hang in there.

linda/gnik

Hi I have the same aches and pains, only I am a smoker, for about 14 yrs, I get these pains in the top of my back near shoulder blade on left side more so, and some times it seems diffucult to breathe. I had a xray about 7 yrs ago that showed a spot on lungs, but never went back to have it checked out. But the pain is getting worse in back. And I am scared to go have it checked honestly. I also have some rib pains. I recently found a lump under my arm, and had bx came back as lipoma. could these pains im feeling be lipoma's also?

HI I am new to this site, I was just browsing but thought I would tell you about my Dad, he was diagnosed with lung cancer after prolonged pain under his lowest ribs, he had had throat cancer 3 years previous and although he was never given the all clear from this he seamt to do ok but hardly ever ate solids (all his food was blended to ease swollowing) He went to hospitals on several occasions complaining of the pain and not being able to swollow properly. Twice attemps were made to "stretch pipe in his throat" to no avail. My Dad even caught sight of his records on one hospital visit (made available be a friendly porter) and noted that his own G.P. had put that..."this patient is sycosamatic" (excuse my spelling) to cut a long story short eventually he was given a chest x.ray and the doctor pointed out the small dark spots and told Dad he thought it was lung cancer,but would confirm this by a biopsy, which he performed the next day, this confirmed our worst fears. My Dad had small cell lung cancer. he did receive treatment for a short while but this had no effect. Sadly our Dad died 29th JUly 2004 after being diagnosed in April, I feel sure Dad would have had a better chance had he been diagnosed earlier, I,m not saying he wouldn,t have passed eventually with this terrible disease but if it had been detected earlier this could have prolonged his life. Seek help and medical advice A.S.A.P.

I did go to doc this week because of pain in back and shortness of breathe, she did a ekg and it came back as Im not getting enough blood to heart, and ordered a stress cardiolite test , and a echo, also she did a chest xray, which I find strange, she said there was either a enlarged blood vessel in lungs or a lymp node, but said after stress test and echo test came back, she would go from there. I guess i shall find out..

Good luck, I will keep you in my prayers!

Hi and thank you!
I had the stress echo treadmill test this morning, and it was abnormal.. My heart rate jumped from 59 to 179 in 3 minutes, and now they want more tests to be done...The echo also showed abnormalities, the tech told me she couldn't tell me what was going on, and would have to wait for the report to get to my doc... They sure know how to scare the hell outta you when doing test... The stress test started out with 1 dr and after the 3 min on treadmill, there where 4 in room...asking me questions, and whispering and then examinin me over and over... I was thinking am I having a heart attack or what?
I was feeling somewhat ok before going for test, now I feel blah, sick to my stomach, and I dunno strange kinda like Im weak, no energy deal... I guess this is from stress test, I dunno, but was told if I have any chest pains to go straight to ER..