[CarolineC]

Kristin,
Do NOT lose faith. I was just thinking about you the night before last and read your blog of your trip to DisneyWorld. Let’s take a deep breath and a step back and look at what has been going on in your life.
You had strep throat and bronchitis twice in a short period. Parker had the flu, maybe you had that as well. You’ve had Kadcyla which can cause lung inflammation and Docetaxel which I have read on another site can also cause lung inflammation.

I have one stable bone met in my sternum, but last fall the big woop-de-do was that I also had it in my adrenal going into my kidney and let’s throw in lung spots. Fast forward to now. My adrenal gland has stopped growing (stopped drinking oral contrast-Gastrografin-which I suspected was antagonizing my adrenal), my kidney progression is stable (had Pamidronate last year which I read could cause kidney problems) and my lung thingies are stable. Now the thought is that they are fungus, sarcoidosis, inflammation. I have not changed treatment from Letrozole and Herceptin. I have stayed the course.

Many things happen in our lives that I think are being caught on scans and aren’t cancer. I, like you, have been having foot pain. Last fall my Herceptin was delayed and after I had a reloading dose I felt great, but eventually felt under the weather abit. In Feb I had a lot happen-I noticed two dots by my mastectomy scar and some inflammation and I could feel tiny bumps under my skin in my back. Then my Herceptin was delayed again and before the reloading dose I felt like a vice was wrapping from my back to my front ribs and my back felt like it had been beaten with a steel rod. I couldn’t sleep laying down, just sitting up on the couch with a pillow on my lap and leaning forward. I felt pain like labor pains in my left shoulder and under my left arm and the pain was so intense in my back I was crying sometimes. 1-4 a. m. was the worst for me.

In mid-April the day after my Herceptin my stomach broke out in dots and a week later I had vertigo and dizziness. I was constantly attached to the heating pad and couldn't move after 4 p.m. and felt like I was taking Motrin like M & Ms, but never over the recommended dose. Only a few weeks ago I was finally able to stop playing musical beds , couches and chairs to see where I could sleep. An occupational therapist got me a ROHO mattress and that was even uncomfortable.

I went to a pain management doctor a few weeks ago to try to alleviate the pain. I had just started being able to sleep laying on my side. I had planned on just getting information about the procedure, but I was going to a conference in Vancouver and thought it might be nice to not have so much pain. He punctured my lung while injecting needles into scar tissue on my mast line. (which is where he thought the pain was originating from). I’ve had two ports placed and a biopsy of my sternum and no one ever punctured my lung. So here I am with my son graduating next week and I’m still recuperating. But I am recuperating. I have stomach pain now because they think my diaphragm was involved in the lung incident or maybe the virus attacked my stomach. My scans are stable and my TMs which had risen to their highest, have slightly declined.

My point is, I think I had shingles. I think maybe you could have had it as well. I don’t know. I do know that you’ve been sick with non-cancer things and that is what they are seeing on your scans. Your body is in pain and has alot of inflammation. You need to heal. What makes the doctors think the lung issue is cancer?

Take care,

Caroline