Pleural effusion confusion...
My therapist thinks I use learning about the science and medicine of MBC as a coping mechanism. She isn't wrong. But also, there are far worse out there. Here I'm going to do a little writing about malignant pleural effusions- what are they, how do they happen, and how do we treat them, at least in the context of MBC. I was diagnosed with a pleural effusion in 2020. I had no idea what one was or that breast cancer could cause this. Cancer Research UK / Wikimedia Commons So what is it? A pleural effusion occurs when fluid builds up between the outside lining of the lung (pleura) and the lining of the chest wall (pleura). The space between these two linings is called the pleural space and usually has about 10-20 ml ml of fluid lubricating the area so when your lung expands and contracts it can do so easily (that's my understanding anyways). However, various disease states can lead to a build up of this fluid to 100s of mls to over a liter. This puts pressure on the lung an
