Conversation: The conversation between human and AI assistant.
[|Human|] My mother in law, 78 has stage 4 small cell lung cancer and is receiving chemo.  She is also on an antibiotic to treat pneumonia.  She has a stiff neck and cant eat or drink from the pain in her neck.  Is this a side effect of the antibiotic or could it be the cancer?
[|AI|]  Hi, Thanks for writing in. The neck stiffness might be due to trapping of nerves from the lung cancer. The nerves in the neck originate from the cervical spine and are called as brachial plexus. It is possible that the cancer in lung is in the apex and therefore pinching the nerves and roots to cause pressure on the nerves. This leads to muscle stiffening and probably leads to stiff and painful neck. Please apply pain relief and muscle relaxant ointment and sprays over the area to reduce any pain and ease neck movements. Please do not worry.