The Colon Club

Thanks kandj. Updating for any future researchers here... Surgeon called me back and said he believes the left shoulder pain is because they resected the far left lobe of the liver, and it’s likely to be referring pain from the diaphragm up the phrenic nerve. Anything that upsets my diaphragm definitely makes it worse (big meal, bending over, drinking a lot of water). He basically said to keep an eye on it and if it gets worse or any spike in temperature or other general unwellness, come on in!

I know this thread is about a year old, but wanted to follow up with something similar that happened to DH.

He went in on 2/5/2020 for liver MWA, and on 2/11/2020 for a liver resection.

The MWA was on his right side, near the top. The liver resection was on his left. The surgeon took a biopsy of a spot on the the right but determined it was most likely a burn mark from the prior MWA. The liver resection was a removal on his left side. It was on the tip of pointed part of the liver.

Following the liver resection surgery, his complaint was mainly of pain in the area where he felt the biopsy was, and additionally about severe shoulder pain.

Following the surgery, the surgeon asked him, before he mentioned, if he experienced shoulder pain, and he was surprised she would ask about that. He told her that he did, and she told him it was fairly common and would go away, but didn’t explain why.

The pain did go away. All of it.

He reconvened chemo on 3/2, and part of his side effect was a return of the shoulder pain. It was less severe than after surgery, but went away a couple days later.

However, it came back again after his subsequent, 8th round, with about the same intensity as after the 7th round.

He will bring it up to his oncologist this week. I’m wondering if anyone may have experienced something similar. I feel like it might be chemo interfering with nerve regeneration. Similar to neuropathy.