Query about lung infection and sore s... - The Roy Castle Lu...

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Query about lung infection and sore shoulder.

Danni54 profile image
21 Replies

Are any of you really sick when you have a lung infection? I was supposed to get antibiotics today but they didn't come and I have been violently sick, have a sore shoulder and can't stop coughing, also have a slight temperature. This happened 3 week's ago as well and I feel so ill. Now I have a headache too...not Covid! Thank you for ' listening ' !

All the best,

Danni xx

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Danni54
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21 Replies
Unicorn3344 profile image
Unicorn3344

My husband has had a few chest infections as he has COPD as well as lung cancer.I usually phone my GP and once I’ve explained his symptoms he prescribes antibiotics and steroids.He is actually on his second week of antibiotics at the moment.If you can’t get through to your GP I would phone 111 or phone your lung nurse for advice as you shouldn’t have to wait for your prescription especially if you have a fever.Hope you can get something sorted soon

Danni54 profile image
Danni54 in reply to Unicorn3344

Hi. I had to write and say how much I love your name! I have a fairy garden much to my husband's disgust but visitor's and children love it ! I have beautiful 🦄 Unicorn's in the house and the garden along with dragon's etc. As for the lung infection, a friend picked up my antibiotics and as before, they are making me feel awful and my chest is still crackling so I have to persevere. If they don't work this time then the Dr. will refer me to my Thoracic Consultant who found the tumour. Finger's crossed !

It must be difficult for you to see your husband suffering. Sometimes people forget about the partner's or spouses but I see how upset my husband gets and how stressful. Take care of yourself too though and spoil yourself! Regards to your hubby .

Best wishes,

Danni

Unicorn3344 profile image
Unicorn3344 in reply to Danni54

Thank you for your kind words Danni.It is horrible to watch your partner suffering as all you want to do is make them better and you feel helpless.My daughter is home from London for the weekend and we’ve actually been able to sit out in the garden in the sunshine today which was lovely.My husband suggested I go out for lunch with my daughter which we did so it’s been a good day today.I hope your antibiotics work this time and you start to feel better soon.Take care and keep in touch xx

RoyCastleHelpline profile image
RoyCastleHelplinePartnerAsk the NurseRoy Castle

Hi Danni

Sorry to hear you are feeling so unwell.

It may be best to contact your GP/111 today and be reassessed, as it sounds like your symptoms have got worse.

I hope there is someone at home with you. Do let the doctors know you have been very sick as you may not tolerate the antibiotics unless they also prescribe medication to stop any nausea/vomiting.

If you feel acutely unwell call for an ambulance, especially if you are unable to tolerate any fluids.

You can contact us at lungcancerhelp@roycastle.org or call our free phone nurse led helpline number on 0800 358 7200 Monday to Thursday 0900-1700 and Friday 0900-1600

Hope you feel better very soon.

The Roy Castle Support Team

Danni54 profile image
Danni54 in reply to RoyCastleHelpline

Hi. I'm so sorry that I didn't write back sooner but I have been feeling awful with the antibiotics but want to persevere because I'm still coughing and crackling and only have 2 day's left but I don't think that it has cleared. I have to phone the Dr. if the infection doesn't go and she will refer me back to my Thoracic Consultant. I was being violently sick before I got the antibiotics and that's what made me realise that something was badly wrong so I put a sputum test in to the Surgery and told the Receptionist why but had a rather grumpy phone call from them asking why I thought I needed it tested! That came back that it was a lung infection so this is round 2 now! I have never had sickness the way that I have the past few month's and I don't know where all the fluid comes from and I'm sound asleep when it starts and I wake up suddenly and my throat is burning and then the coughing starts and all of that goes on for over an hour and a ½ and then I'm up for most of the night. It hurts my throat and all the retching hurts my stomach. A couple of past tests have shown Oesophageal Thrush so I'm given Fluconazole but then the sickness starts again. I am absolutely dreading it if the antibiotics don't work and I'm sick again. I don't have anybody, medical , here that I can talk to and the Dr.s are so busy with Covid that it's difficult to get an appointment with the Dr. who I usually see and I hate these phone appointments because I'm so breathless so to have this forum is very special...your advice has been so helpful all the way through and the support from all the brave people here helps so much. Thank you all at the Helpline and thank you everybody. I get scared sometimes. Not knowing what is going on is sometimes almost as bad as the diagnosis because at least then we know what we have to face .All the very best and big hugs to all at the Helpline! Plus everybody here! xxxxxxxx

RoyCastleHelpline profile image
RoyCastleHelplinePartnerAsk the NurseRoy Castle in reply to Danni54

Dear Danni54

So sorry you are having such a difficult time, please do not hesitate to contact us if you need to chat, you can email ask the nurse at lungcancerhelp@roycastle.org or call our free phone nurse led helpline number on 0800 358 7200 Monday to Thursday 0900-1700 and Friday 0900-1600

It is difficult for many people trying to have a face to face appointment and understandably, you may not feel well enough to talk on the phone.

We hope you feel better soon and respond well to the antibiotics.

Kind regards

The Roy Castle Support Team

RoyCastleHelpline profile image
RoyCastleHelplinePartnerAsk the NurseRoy Castle

Hi Danni

If you are currently undergoing any cancer treatment, let the oncology/ lung cancer nurse specialist team know of your symptoms. You have had a really tough time lately and this must be wearing you down. If no one is at home with you, maybe there is someone you can call to help you.

You mentioned a large hernia before, which if it is abdominal may be upsetting things also, hope you have contact with a doctor today.

Kindest regards

The Roy Castle Support Team

Janehead profile image
Janehead

Hi Danni, just checking in to say I hope you're feeling better and have got to the bottom of your infections.Sending warmest wishes

Xxx

Danni54 profile image
Danni54 in reply to Janehead

Hi Jane. Thank you for the support. I got antibiotics from the Dr. which are vile but I will keep taking them! The Dr. said that if these antibiotics don't clear the lung infection this time then she will send me to the Thoracic Consultant who found my cancer and contact the Specialist Nurse who is on his team. I still can't get my breath properly at times which is scary and I'm still coughing but I have told the Dr. that I can't cope with the sickness again because it's happened a few times in the last few month's and it's so violent and goes on and on. I don't know where all the fluid comes from! Sorry! Hope you're not eating! How are thing's with you? You are going through so much. I am so lucky to have support from you and other's so please know that I'm also here for you.

Love,

Danni xx

Janehead profile image
Janehead in reply to Danni54

I'm ok thanks. Coughing a bit of an issue for me too at the moment..just leaves my back so sore. But I agree sickness is the worst and again seems to involve your whole body which is exhausting. Doc has given me an emergency antibiotic treatment I was hoping for some results today, even just preliminary ones after the ebus. The nurse explained if treatment is needed (it will be) then everything goes back to the labs to sort out and target specific treatments. So, more waiting I guess! Feel a bit annoyed that Easter will slow everything down further but that's just me being grumpy! Have just enjoyed a lovely gentle lakeside walk so home for coffee now. Hope you manage some rest over the weekend xx

Janehead profile image
Janehead in reply to Danni54

Hi Danni, how are you doing with those antibiotics...hopefully you've turned a corner? I have an appointment coming up this Friday with the results of my EBUS and hopefully some kind of plan. Managing to feel reasonably optimistic about starting treatment although my constant coughing and resulting back pain are exhausting! I am fully expecting a stage 4 diagnosis due to the spread but have read so many uplifting stories about living with cancer that I want to be one of those people! I have changed my GP too as I have felt badly let down by them throughout this process. It just makes me feel like I am taking a bit of control. Anyway...hope you're continuing to improve and at least feeling more comfortable. Gentle hugs x

Danni54 profile image
Danni54 in reply to Janehead

Hi. The antibiotics have been horrible but I have finished them so, hopefully, they have worked but I don't think so because I'm still crackling at times and have a bit of a chesty cough. If it doesn't clear in the next couple of day's I will go back to the Dr. who prescribed the antibiotics because she said that she would refer me back to my Thoracic Consultant. If I speak to my usual Dr. then I'm going to push to see my Consultant. I am so scared of being sick again. I'm not phobic about being ' ordinary ' sick but this is on another level and is so frightening. I have never, ever known anything like it.I will be thinking about you on Friday when you get your results. Good luck and I so hope that the news is better than you think it will be. One of the worst thing's is the waiting for results and finding out what the treatment plan is. My stomach churns but at least when you know then you get on and deal with it. When it was confirmed that I had Adenocarcinoma, it was strange because I was really calm. My husband wasn't and I felt so sorry for him. I'm so grateful that I had the Lobectomy but because the hospital had left me for 15 month's with cancer but no treatment , that's why I've been left with so many health issues.

I'm glad you have changed your G.P. . I don't suppose you ever had an apology from your previous Dr. ? I really hope that this one is better because you need to have confidence in them. Please take care and let me know how you get on . Do you have somebody going with you to your appointment. Just imagine all of us here being with you and giving you our support. Thank you so much for yours. People on the forum are amazing and the advice from the Support Team and Nurses helps so much. Take care .

Love and big ( and gentle also ! ) hugs,

Danni xx

Janehead profile image
Janehead in reply to Danni54

Hi Danni, yes hubby will be coming with me and he's great! Your story sounds rotten so really hoping things start to come together for you now. I just crave a 'normal' day when I can think about something else...and stop coughing and hurting! My new GP is actually a friend of mine so I consider myself very lucky. She will push for everything and I can just text her with any questions. She is the one really pushing the positivity🥰. It's so important to feel like you have people in your corner isn't it? We will get there💪keep in touch xx

Danni54 profile image
Danni54 in reply to Janehead

I am SO glad that your hubby is going with you. It's great that you have his support and your Dr. sounds wonderful, so to have the support from both is so good . Your husband must be so worried about you and I keep saying that people tend to forget what the people who love us are going through. Please tell him that there are a lot of people here who are thinking of you both. I have a friend here who has lived with Stage 4 lung cancer for year's. When Covid started they stopped her Chemo for 10 month's and unfortunately, the tumour grew but they then started her on Immunotherapy and the tumour has shrunk again. She is still having treatment because they can't cure her but they can and do keep her able to go for a walk, drive and live a fairly ' normal ' life although she still gets tired easily. Hopefully that will encourage you. Cancer leaves a bit of a mental scar I have found because I have a niggle when I get some of the symptoms I had before the Lobectomy which I do just now. I am definitely going to phone one of the Nurses here tomorrow and have a chat . My husband took me for a drive to our local Garden Centre which hasn't happened for a long time but I have ended up with awful pain in my right shoulder and along my scar and coughing . It was such a beautiful day and it felt strange being out. I'm still glad that I did it !

I will be thinking of you . Please let me know how you get on. We all have a core of steel which is what keeps us all going and everybody here will be there for you and I have been helped so much by people here. Good luck. You will get through!

Love and hugs,

Danni xx

Janehead profile image
Janehead in reply to Danni54

Hi Danni, so like you I have Adenocarcinoma. Now I have another 2 to 3 week wait while they test for mutations and I can then see the oncologist. The nurse said all being well there is no reason why treatment shouldn't start pretty soon after that. More waiting🙄. I hope you are having a good pain free day xx

Danni54 profile image
Danni54 in reply to Janehead

Hi Jane. The waiting is the worst isn't it ? When you get the diagnosis you just want to get on with it but then you have to wait for the treatment plan, you get that and then you have to wait for the date and so it goes on. I'm, absolutely, not blaming anybody for that but for us I find the waiting mentally exhausting. Please let me know how you get on. The weather here is beautiful and a friend came over to work in my garden but I, stupidly, couldn't sit and watch her do it so I did do a bit and now I'm in agony! Will never learn! My shoulder went into spasm again yesterday but really badly and I had to text Norman to come in and put Arnica on it. I do find that helps. There is so much to do out there and my friend is clearing a border round our pond , putting black fibre down and bark mulch because I need to cut back which I hate but I will, also , have to find a gardener . My husband cuts the grass but doesn't know a live plant from a dead one ! He has killed off a few of my favourite plant's! Do you like gardening? I loved it...still do but just can't.

My hubby plays in 4 band's so I'm on my own a lot which I never minded when we had dog's and I really want a dog but can't do that either! Weird how life changes so quickly! This is why I chatter a lot! Apologies! I'm thinking of you and hope that your treatment starts soon. Take care.

Love and hugs xx

Janehead profile image
Janehead in reply to Danni54

Hi Danni, never apologise for chatting. That's why we're all here after all! My hubby is a great cyclist and thinks nothing of disappearing all day or overnight for an 80 mile trip! But that's his thing and I know it does him good but some days can be quite long can't they? He likes to be busy so enjoys the garden too and we grow quite alot of veg which is lovely. He needs to learn to relax a bit more! I really miss my work as a TA...my teacher sent me a voice message from all my kids yesterday wishing me luck! Was so sweet but obviously it just made me cry! I'm feeling ok about the treatment etc but yes the waiting goes on and on and does mess with your head. I was doing really well with the positivity but slumped a bit just before my appointment and I'm finding it quite hard to get back up. I think it's mostly to do with the back and rib pain and coughing which makes me feel so low. Without that I think I would be ok. Still trying to sort out the right mix of painkillers. I feel like a right old druggie. Anyway time to jump in the shower. Please feel free to chat whenever you like...I enjoy the virtual company xx

sassassas profile image
sassassas

Hi DannieJust wondered how you're doing? I hope you got the antibiotics and you're starting to feel a little better.

Sarah x

Danni54 profile image
Danni54 in reply to sassassas

Hi Sarah. Thank you for checking in. I am so touched by people here being concerned about me. Sometimes I feel really alone and I am becoming a hermit because I can't drive any more and Covid has just been horrible. I have the antibiotics and they are making me feel pretty awful but I haven't been sick today so that's a plus ! The Dr. is going to send me to my lovely Thoracic Consultant who found the tumour for the 2nd time if this doesn't clear up this time. Am in bed today because I'm feeling wiped out !How are you today? I hope that you are O.K. Please let us know how you are. Thinking of you.

Love,

Danni xx

Tike3 profile image
Tike3

Hello Danni

A sore aching shoulder is sometimes associated with lungs. I never had any symptoms of lung cancer, just an aching shoulder which I thought was muscular. Went to GP with IBS and the scan he sent me for accidentally showed my upper lobe of left lung and tumour.

Diagnosed with Stage 4 NSCLC treatable but not curable.

xxxx

Danni54 profile image
Danni54 in reply to Tike3

Hi. Thanks for getting in touch. I'm trying to catch up with messages because I'm in bed feeling rotten! My tumour was in the top right lobe so they removed the lobe and hope that it won't come back and I have an Xray every year. Bit of a shock when you go in with 1 thing and then you are told that you have lung cancer! With me , it was an Xray for pneumonia that showed the tumour. I am so sorry that yours is inoperable. I count myself so ' lucky ' that they operated on me but having left me for 15 month's with my tumour on Xray but no treatment because they forgot to mention that I had one, has left me with multiple health problems. Just an old wreck !Take care please and I hope that you let us know how you get on.

All the very best....and hugs ! Danni xxx

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