Any Ideas Of What's Going ON?

[fuddman]

In May of 2001, I noticed that the lower spine area of mine seamed to be itchy (on the inside) a lot. By June I was very sore and had soreness and numbness running down my left leg to my toes. From what I could determine it was a pinched sciatic nerve. My Rheumatologist put me on vioxx and ultram. After 3 weeks it wasn’t getting any better. I could barely walk 25 feet without doubling over in pain. I went to see a Chiropractor who started treatment. I was being seen 3 times a week. By September the sciatica was gone. On a return follow up while being adjusted he pushed down on the T5/T6 area and it caught me by surprise and I braced. It hurt a little. I caught a flight, worked for 2 days and started noticing more soreness. On the 3rd day I flew home. I noticed on that 3rd day that my right underarm area was numb. (desensitized) On the 4th day when I got up in the morning I had a pain that felt like a knife was being stuck through me from the right shoulder blade to the chest below the collar bone at a diagonal.
I went back to the Chiropractor who made adjustments and administered tens treatment. That took the stabbing pain away and just left me sore. I stopped going to the Chiropractor because he wanted to keep pushing on that T5/T6 area and I found it uncomfortable. The pain persisted along with the desensitized feeling in the right underarm. This pain is worse at night. The family doctor has given me darvacet for pain management at nights. It’s been over 4 months now. Ortho said not a Ortho problem..maybe gall bladder he suggested. ???? HELP

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-JT]

Sorry to hear about your symptoms. I'm not quite sure if you're equating the T5-6 area with the Rt shoulder blade problem (should blade is Cervical not thoracic region) or if they're separate but both still actively hurting you. But with continued pain that is requiring narcotic medications and focal numbness (underarm is about T2 area), you should strongly consider seeing a neurologist for a formal exam or get an imaging study on your back such as an MRI of the spine to make sure there's nothing serious going on. Hold off on any chiropractic manipulations for now. It's possible that it's just severe muscle spasms, but it would be important to see if there's any disc problems or other abnormalities in the spine. The neuro exam could help localize the problem to spine versus non neurologic areas (such as primary rheum disorders of the joints or connective tissue - you mentioned a rheum doc - as well as other things), thereby pointing you in the right direction for further eval. Good luck.

[fuddman]

High Res CT scan shows lung cancer at tip of right lung. That is what the pain is. Needless to say I quit smoking. Go to the pulmo on monday to get needle biopsy and go from there...
Wish me luck!

[Basil]

fuddman; glad you came back to tell us what's going on with you.  I was particularly waiting because what you described was what my husband felt several years ago with the same diagnosis.  Best of luck to you AND your doctors.  Pat.

[fuddman]

Basil..how did things turn out for your husband???