Good afternoon, I was diagnosed with HER2+ breast cancer at the beginning of 2019 and received 8xFEC-T, 23 of radiotherapy, followed by surgery. In May of this year the affected breast began to look inflamed across the bottom half, that area hardened and the breast became swollen, particularly underneath my arm. I also had pain in my shoulder blade. I was checked over at the Breast Unit where a Mammogram and CT Scan thankfully showed no return of the cancer. I was told it was late side effects of radiotherapy. These symptoms haven’t gone away, in fact in the last 10 days they have increased to the point where I have pain in my shoulder/ribs when I breathe, pain in the breast, mainly under my arm and a general feeling of exhaustion to the point where I’m struggling to get through the day. At work I run out of breath when speaking to visitors. I contacted the Breast Unit yesterday but they wouldn’t see me without a referral as 5 years have passed but recommended getting the pain on breathing checked in case it was a PE. I contacted my GP who referred me to the local Urgent Treatment Centre where I spent 8 hours last night waiting for a blood test, which showed no markers to indicate a clot. I will ask to see my GP again but I wondered if you had any advice as to what might be going on, if this is common, and if there is anything that can be done to relieve these symptoms as I’m finding it pretty tough at the moment. Many thanks, Vanessa.
