Broken Rib?

[MONICAGELLER409]

As some of you know, I have met in the bones. Well, i have in a lot of areas but right now I’m focusing on bones. I have a mets in my ribs and since yesterday I’m having a great deal of pain trying to take a deep breath, coughing and moving torso. Has anyone experienced this and was it a broken rib?

This is like a never ending bad roller coaster ride!

[Barbteeth]

Hi Monica

I had the same pain as you before I was diagnosed with mbc..I had fallen off my horse and he landed on me so I assumed pain was from that..an X-ray showed different!!. I have bone mets everywhere including ribs.. since starting letrazole 3 months ago the pain has lessened but not completely gone

Stay well

B x

[MONICAGELLER409 in reply to Barbteeth]

Hi B

Thanks for sharing that you too have experienced this pain. At first, I thought I was reading too much into it but because of the mets in ribs, I decided to check with all you wonderful women here. Sometimes, things happen so suddenly that I can’t even believe it’s happening.

Im glad you’re doing better with the Letrozole. Hopefully, it will help with your pain a little more each day.

[Bangorbea]

Hi Monica,

I have Mets to bones and after a failed attempt at a trial at Dana Farber which included Keytruda and Eribulin, I started breaking ribs. The first four (2 on each side) occurred while diving into the backseat of the car to avoid being hit by a foul ball. This was extremely painful and spent 2 days in the hotel room while on vacation.

I broke several more doing simple things like getting up off the couch and pulling pants on while having my phone tucked under my ear and shoulder. I have broken a total of 9 ribs.

My last CT was in June and in the report it was stated that I have 7 broken ribs in various stages of healing. This was 3 months after the initial breaks. They take a long time to completely heal and sometimes it feels as though I may have rebroken a few.

Both my orthopedic oncologist and my radiology oncologist want to try more radiation. So far they haven’t convinced my medical oncologist. After the failed trial we needed to find treatment that would stop the long black train from going off the tracks. My treatment now is Taxol weekly for 4 weeks then 2 weeks off. The scan shows it is working with shrinking tumors in my liver. The bone mets is somewhat controlled but is evident in ribs, right hip, right humerus, pelvis, pubic bone, spine L1-L5, and T15.

I control pain with a 75mcg fentanyl patch and 6mg of Dilaudid for break through pain. Most days the patch is all I need. My quality of life has been impacted by the new treatment but we seem to be winning the race for now.

Good luck with your journey Monica.

[MONICAGELLER409 in reply to Bangorbea]

I’m so sorry you’ve been through so much. You are a trooper and a true fighter. I pray you have continued success on the new treatment. I will continue to take pain meds and hopefully it will heal or at the very least hurt less. Thank you for sharing with me. It helps to know I’m not the only one dealing with this.

Good luck to you too!

[DMC652691 in reply to Bangorbea]

Hasn't your Doctor started bone strengthening treatment. Mine wants to but my teeth are so bad need to have them pulled first, but don't have $3200. I'm taking calcium and Vit-D till I can start someday

[Bangorbea in reply to DMC652691]

Yes. I have been on Zometa since 12/15 when I was diagnosed with MBC. It is infused every 3 months but sometimes delayed a week or 2 around my 6 month dental check-up. My oncologist told me that Zometa lives for years in bones and bone marrow, constantly working to strengthen bones.

[MONICAGELLER409 in reply to DMC652691]

Yikes that’s a lot of money. This illness will deplete all funds in no time.

Yes i am on bone treatment but mets still growing.

[Bailey3266 in reply to DMC652691]

Wow; that seems steep; my moms complete teeth pulling & upper & lower dentures were only $3,000; perhaps Medicaid would help or maybe a “dental school” would be cheaper or free. Sounds like the bone strengthening may help mentioned in posts below. Good luck!

[Solochabe1]

I do have a broken rib And they round New sports ok both fémur on My legs theyre talking about surgery

[MONICAGELLER409 in reply to Solochabe1]

Sorry to hear that. I guess broken ribs are more common than I thought. Good luck to you

[MONICAGELLER409]

Just to let you all know the outcome...I went for an xray of what i thought would be a broken rib. Turns out I have pneumonia! Had no idea this could be so painful. Altho through the pain i am happy it’s not a broken rib. Pneumonia is being treated with antibiotics. I can deal with that.