Hello,
I am a 29 year old female with chronic chest pain since 2002. I was raised in a household with 2 smokers, so was exposed to second hand smoke for my entire life, and have a personal smoking history of 12 years. My mother died at age 53 of NSCLC. So, obviously, I have serious risk factors for the development of LC in spite of my relatively young age.
My pain is all on the right side, starting about 1 inch to the right of my breastbone. It travels all the way down my ribs to my right flank, although the spot to the right of my breastbone is the most painful. I have a corresponding knot in the muscles of my back in the exact same spot. I do have chronic diarrhea and it has been mentioned that this pain could possibly be my gall bladder.
The pain is NOT constant. It comes and goes frequently, although I cannot tie it to any specific activity. Sometimes it will not hurt for weeks at a time. Other times it hurts for weeks at a time. NSAID's as well as heat/ice do seem to help.
I have had multiple negative chest xrays. I have no cough, mucous, fatique, or any other apparent symptoms aside from the pain.
I have spent thousands on testing to try and determine the cause of my pain, but remain undiagnosed. My doctor's current supposition is that it is postural and he has sent me to physical therapy. I do have very, very poor posture and spend 8+ hours a day sitting at a computer. Despite the negative xrays, I remain anxious that it is lung cancer.
Can lung cancer cause long term, sporadic chest pain with no other symptoms, while still remaining small enough to be undetected by chest xray?
Thank you.