<s>[INST] hi, I am a 51 year old fairly active woman, residing in North Western Ontario, Canada. Yesterday my lower neck, and the region between my shoulders started to have sudden onset of pain, but only seems to bother me when I take a deep breath or have to cough?? Is more annoying than anything as the pain is sharp and catches me off guard. As it is the easter weekend, I can not contact my family doctor til tuesday, and don t feel it is serious enough to seek attention at the regional hospital. I did undergo breast cancer treatment , surgery, chemo and radiation 2 years ago. Had 27 lymph nodes removed under my left arm. My question is : do we have lymph nodes in the back of our neck, and can they become inflamed. THis pain almost feels like swollen glands in my throat, when I have had tonsillitis , or strep throat . Seems weird. |Thanks for your help. Janet [/INST] Hi Thanks for writing in. You have not mentioned the details of your breast cancer treatment (like size of tumor, grade, receptor status, node positivity, etc.). These are required to understand the risks of it coming back. The possibilities of this kind of pain may be infection in the throat, muscular or skeletal pain unrelated to cancer, or spread of breast cancer to bones or pleura (in the chest). You certainly need a physical examination and may be a few tests to diagnose the exact condition. Regards. </s>