i have a pain that feels like someone punched me in front lower left side of my chest and it is spreading upward and down a little .. it doesnt hurt any worse to breath or anything its feels sort of like a pulledmuscle in a way but if so why would it be spreading and i havent done anything strenuous or anything that could cause that .. my concern is cancer .. i know that it can spread throughout the body and i smoked for 13 years and just recently stopped about a month ago .. i noticed the pain a few days ago and has now spread about a 4 to 6 inch radius. i dont have health insurance so seeing a family is out of the question right now. Is this something the E.R. needs to checkout? Could this be cancer. The reason i quit smoking is because it got to where i could barely breath after having one and it would take me a minute to recover.
Thanks for your question on Chat Doctor. I can understand your concern. Yes, you should definitely visit emergency room and rule out heart diseases. You are a chronic smoker, having left sided chest pain, breathlessness on exertion, all these are commonly seen with heart diseases like heart failure and coronary artery disease (CAD). So immediately consult doctor and get done blood pressure monitoring, ECG, 2d echo and stress test (trade mill test) to rule out heart related diseases. You may need cardiac supportive Chat Doctor.  Don't worry, you will be alright. But don't wait at home, consult doctor as soon as possible. Hope I have solved your query. I will be happy to help you further. Wish you good health. Thanks.