triangle4 - 2014-01-22 2:16 PM Have a co-worker who's brother in law recently had a large tumor attached to his breast plate nearly all the away across his chest including collar bones. the treatment they decided on was to completely remove the tumor along with any bones it was attached to....the bones were then replaced with cadaver bones. He is still recovering but there are options out there!

azsun - 2014-01-22 2:01 PM My friend has a chest wall tumor. She also has tumors in her legs and lungs. She found a tumor in her leg many years ago. It was removed and they told her it was benign. A few months back, she felt a lump in her chest above her breast. It was very small, about the size of a bean when she noticed it. She had it removed, it was a cancerous. It was a awful because they took forever to get the results back. I'm not talking two weeks, more like months … they had to send it off and resend it off. Meanwhile she discovered new tumors in her leg (same spot as before) and then a scan discovered them in her lungs. She went through two tough and aggressive rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. When I say tough, I mean 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 10 days of chemo and radiation that burned her leg. SHe said she was the first patient to arrive in the morning and the last one to leave in the evening. Her leg seems to be the focal point for the radiation. She has taken everything in stride and her attitude is amazing. She says, she is going to fight fight fight (and she has). THey are going to try to remove the tumor in her leg but it had to shrink (thus the radiation) because it was near an artery. If it doesn't shrink enough, they will amputate her leg. She says, she doesn't care, she would rather live. Her son is 10 years old and she wants to see him grow up, so they can take whatever they need to keep her alive. She's been fighting since about June of last year. She didn't lose any hair until fairly recently. In fact, she didn't tell her son until her hair started falling out what was happening. So she had her son be part of everything and he got to shave her head and tried to make it a positive "lets fight this together" type situation. She hasn't gotten skinny and frail. In fact, she looks good (other than the hair loss) She doesn't work … she had to quit and can generally take care of her home, with some help, if she paces herself. From time to time, we will take turns cooking dinner for the family, especially when she was in chemo. But it isn't as frequent as she has adjusted. I bought her a Pittsburgh Steelers cap and she wears it all the time. What's hard for me as her friend isn't the hair loss (she had beautiful hair) but the loss of her long eye lashes. She just says, she doesn't care … she wants to live. Her immune system is bad and she has to watch herself very carefully. She's been admitted to the hospital a couple of times due to a sore throat that was so painful and she had to be placed on heavy antibiotics and painkillers so she could get some rest to build her strength. I don't know if that's the kind of information you were looking for, but its what I could offer as an observer. Her attitude seems to have played a tremendous role in her fight. I hope that whomever is having to deal with this takes on the same attitude. I think its helped her. I know its helped me when watching her. I understand some of the things she says about it.

barrelracr131 - 2014-01-22 2:46 PM I think a lot will depend on what type of tumor it is... are they planning to biopsy the tumor? If so, Pathology studies will reveal a lot. ETA: there are different types of tumors of varying degrees of malignancy... the pathologists can study a biopsy under the microscope and determine the tumor type and other info



(I'm a lab tech, not a dr FYI... we test some oncology patients.)



If you haven't already, I would find an oncologist with a very good reputation. Not sure where your bro is located, but typically the travel is worth it if they are able to do so. A second opinion may be a good idea if they don't really have a plan to deal with this with his current doctor. Oftentimes, the local hospitals aren't well equipped to treat oncology patients and don't have the most up to date treatment plans.

Whiteboy - 2014-01-22 3:06 PM We are in a rural area, they sent him to an IHC hospital about an hours drive away.  They took an initial biopsy but said they didn't really like the sample they had.  They also said they were short on germ cells and would likely take another one for further testing.  My bro is going to get a second opinion at Huntsmans Cancer Institute next week, that is more because of the time it is taking everybody else.  But I guess we will see what happens in the next couple of days.  Does it seem weird that they are moving so slow?  8 days from biopsy for initial result and still nothing 3 days later?