Just wondering if anyone has developed mets to ribcage...seems my neck nodes are stirring things up that even the Herceptin cant control. Had a bone scan Monday and a hotspot was noted on my ribs on the mastectomy side. Am going today to see if I may have cracked a rib...that would be a more pleasant diagnosis. Amazing that with all the technology, a bone scan can't distinguish between a lesion and a fracture, and now a simple xray will give the answer.
Hugs
Sheila

Yes. I have a hot spot on 2 ribs, one on each side, and 1 on my sternum.
No pain except during chemo treatment my sides would ache. I had a
bone scan that showed the spots last December.

Beth
What type of treatment are you on for it and is it helping?
Thankls'Hugs
Sheila

Hello,

I had a bone scan last week and they thought they saw a suspicious area on my left rib so I had to get another x-ray done of the rib. It turned out to be nothing.

I wish the best for you too!

Hugs,

-Nancy

I have not had another bone scan since 12/03 but, did 20 weeks of Taxol &
Herecptin and was NED for 5 months. Liver mets returned 10/04 and I am
currently on 8th week of Taxol/Carbo/Herceptin. I will get a CT scan in a
couple weeks. Not sure if the doctor will order another bone scan anytime
soon since liver mets is considered more life threatning then the bone mets. I feel really good like it is working. Be Well - Beth

I've had mets to the ribs for 3 years. Dx by bone scan, plain X-ray and MRI. At the time of dx, I also had 6 cracked ribs -- no trauma, just weakened ribs from the mets so that just coughing fractured them. If you haven't fallen or injured yourself somehow, you can probably eliminate a broken rib as they don't just break for no reason.

The (only) good thing about bone mets is they won't kill you and can stay stable for a long time. I take herceptin and zometa every three wks and remain stable. Best to you, Molly