Poll regarding how us Triple Negs found our tumor

psp2pdx

Mine was 'followed' for 2 years. I was told it was a fibroadenoma. The one thing that I had noticed was that the nipple was contracting off and on and it itched. . I had always done sbe and had regular mammos since the age of 40.



I was 4 months late getting my Mammo (daughters wedding was my main focus) I had eaten so many beets I had red poop! My dad had died @ 60 of colon cancer so my mind went to that place. I always tell the chef at my favorite restaurant she saved my life(she has the best beet salads!). So we did everything before the mammo which we tacked on at the last minute, like endoscopy, colonoscopy blood work abdominal ct/mri.



When they called me back for a bx I said I was leaving town.......well I stayed and the rest is every woman that is on this site story. I had 3 different pathologist look at the tumor. The rate it was growing (ki63) was at 83% most are 15-20%. It was the fasted they had seen. I am so lucky it was small and nodes were neg(2). The radiologist was younger and picked up on this right away. The other 2 radiologist I had been seeing for years weren't there at the time. They had actually contradicted each other over my lump! One said they other was overreacting. I actually went back 6 months later for f/o and got the one who poo pooed the other. It was the year following that I the new radiologist dx me.



In the meantime I have a brand new grandson and life is good. I still look over my shoulder but am happy to be able to!!



Diane



I always felt it was a

ladybugcyndi

Mine was found on my annual mammogram.  I have been very good, not fanatical, about doing self exams for years now and never felt it.  Even once we knew it was there and where it was, no one was able to palpate it.

Jacquio

Hello, I just discovered the term trip-neg last week. Aug.2006 I had stereotactic biopsies for microcalfications - benign. "Normal" 6 mo. f/u mammo 2/07, and Aug 2007 hadd routine annual, also normal. For about 2-3 months before routine mammo, had been getting SHOOTING PIERCING pains in left breast (where microcalc had been biopsied).My nipple was also starting to look a little inverted on the top half, which alarmed me. Gyn didn't feel or see anythingunusual but 'scar tissue' from previous biopsy. I've been seeing him for over 25 years. Internal med doc felt nothing. Both docs told me to go back to surgeon who did biopsy. Meanwhile I'm thinking the pains are hormonal (at 52 was not yet menopausal).  So, the surgeon tells me he feels nothing and to come back in 3 mos.  As I was leaving his office, he stopped me, told me he wanted ultrasound. Radiologist at U/S saw nothing except previous biopsy site and said it was probably nothing and I could sleep at night. 3 wks later, my surgeon called and said he wasn't happy with that answer,and had me come in for needle biopsy in the subareola area. Found 1.5cm tumor. MRI showed it a bit larger, but no node involvement. Husband said surgeon looked shocked when he came to tell him they found 4.6cm shaped like octopus going through milkducts, right under the nipple and 1 of 10 nodes.Had partial mast and all nodes removed under my arm.  BR- PR- Her2-.  Just finished 4 rounds A/C, 4 rounds Taxol, and waiting to begin 30 rounds of radiation. I'm 53, and I worry for my daughter.

Moral: FOLLOW YOUR GUT. Don't let anyone or any website tell you there is no pain in early stage breast cancer.  I read it everyone on the internet on respected sites, and could have easily passed it off as hormonal and been in deep doo-doo months from now. THERE CAN BE PAIN IN EARLY STAGE BREAST CANCER. 

defeatbc

I woke up at 4 in the morning when my hand swung over and landed over my left breast.  I felt a lump and sat up gasping when I realized I wasn't dreaming.  It was at the 12 o'clock position, 1.4 cm, felt rubbery, and was not near the chest wall.  I did occasional BSE's, and had a check-up 3 months prior-- nothing palpable at those times, not even by the doctor.  Like many of you have described, it was as if the lump showed up overnight.

Being 31 years old, the mammograms they gave me deemed useless.  The ultrasound gave the impression that it was a fibroadenoma.  However, (lucky for me) they wasted no time, and suggested a biopsy due to my family history of bc.  And then the treatment starts....

sueps

Jaquio ....THAT IS SO TRUE...THERE IS PAIN ....I ALMOST BELIEVED THE NO PAIN ISSUE. THANK GOD I WENT WITH MY HEART ...

Mine came up over night...had irregular period for first time in my life...but had  been rundown for months...really rundown without knowing ...looking back I was direly ill

I was bent over doing some paper work last August and the lump started pinching...thats probably when I knew things weren't right.

LISTEN TO YOUR GUT FEELINGS AND NOTHING ELSE XXX

jdash

2 x dx with trip neg  11 yrs ago i was lying in bed reading and my hand touched up right above my breast and i felt a lump  ran to doc  it was 1cm no node involvement

10 years later day before my annual mammo and sono i felt a lump  ugh my heart sunk   i knew right away what it was

again triple neg  this time over 6 cm and lymph nodes were palable

must have been soooo fast growing  mammo DID NOT PICK it up

TexasKaren

I had a normal mammo (one of my first ever since I've always had bad fibrocystic breasts) in Aug 06.  In Aug 07, right as I was thinking of scheduling my annual exam and mammo, I found a large lump in my left armpit.  My tumor was only 1.7cm and hard to locate on ultrasound (yes, deep on chest wall), but I had 8/14 positive nodes (triple neg).  I have always done breast self exam religiously, even with the fibrocystic breasts, but I missed the armpit node for a couple of months because that "normal" mammo the year before and going through menopause gave me a false sense of everything was ok and I got a little lax in checking my armpit during my BSE.  Stupid me.   I have enjoyed reading this posting.... it does show a strong indication of how these are diagnosed.  You should share all these responses with a cancer research center or university breast cancer center.

vmd

My ex-wife had a hysterectomy only a couple of months before discovering the lump. She was laying on her side and felt a fairly large lump.  I believe she first thought she was laying on something and then realized it was in her breast.  Her doctor also commented that he was surprised they had missed that (considering the size of the lump).  I don't believe she was doing monthly exams, but according to some of you who do monthly exams,  the growth was so fast that it would have been difficult to detect regardless.

swkrissie

I found my tumor following a breast infection in November 2002, I was nursing my 6th child. After the infection, as I was nursing her, I felt the lump. It was actually a cyst caused from necrosis in the milk ducts preventing flow of milk from the lobules. We found out I had cancer from that blockage.

They tried 3 months of antibiotics thinking I had an abscess, but when the skin over my breast became inflamed and they thought it could be IBC, they did a lumpectomy which showed DCIS and IDC. Had a mastectomy 3 days later, no IBC thank goodness.

swkrissie

I had shooting pains in my breast before I was diagnosed too. Many women in my support group were also in pain before their diagnosis.

rogam

I found mine in the shower at the end of Jan 08. It was in the 2o'clock position.

osufan

This is too weird. I had clear digital mammogram in July 07 then this lump popped up over Christmas holidays - high outside about 2:00 position - not near chest wall.  Had diagnostic mammogram and it still didn't show up.  Finally ultrasound found it.  2.6 cm no lymph node involvement. I had bi-lateral mastectomy and am now half-way through 8 rounds of chemo. I have always done self breast exams and had 9 annual mammograms before 2007 because my mom died from breast cancer 20 years ago.  I was scheduled for a breast MRI in January for routine screening.  The lump really did just pop up out of nowhere!  Scary that mammograms aren't catching these sooner.

Aussiegirl8

I was breastfeeding my 9 month old and thought I had a blocked milk duct. The lump seemed to appear overnight and was quite painful. I had an ultrasound and the report said that it was 2.5cm milk cyst. My surgeon tried to drain it with a syringe and of course nothing came out. After a fine needle biopsy and core biopsy I was diagnosed with a grade 3, triple negative tumour. During my lumpectomy my surgeon removed a 5.3cm tumour, much larger than the 2.5cm I thought it was originally. It turns out that I also had DCIS. Then decided to have mastectomy due to possible genetic link (lost mum to ovarian cancer in 1994).

suz45

I was 45 had never had a mammogram, but had my gp do a physical b/e 6 months prior to finding the lump. I was stretching one evening and had an itch, I scratched and felt the lump on my left side. It was in the 9 oclock possition a few inches left of the nipple. I went to my dr first thing the next morn and the rest is history. Had a lumpectomy w snb, chemo and started radiation yesterday.

I also got tested for the brca1 gene a few months ago. The call came in yesterday, my results came back possitive. So that light at the end of the tunnel just got a little farther away. Hugs Suz

lag

Mine was found during my very first mammogram-I was 37

EyesOTex

I keep telling myself I'm gonna answer this so here goes:

Clear mammo and physical exam by gyn Nov 29, 2005.  (Why do I remember?  It was my birthday!)  But I do have dense breasts, you know, that's why all my mammos say "presumed normal".

Mid-April 2006, while stretching in bed in the morning, rubbed the sweat (!) out from under my very small boobs and went ""Ouch"...there was something under my left one right on the chest wall.  Got app't with primary because I thought it was a lipoma.  Sent me to mammo....they stretch boob to Tasmania and end up turning machine upside down with tech on her knees to even get a corner of the tumor in the screen.  On to ultrasound, biopsy, etc. etc.  It was "only" about 2.2 cm but felt bigger than that to me!

On to bilat mast, reconstruction, and ACT chemo.

I don't remember what the other quesitons were!  But I'll get to round 2 later...

dana

jacqueline56551

Hi! I had both inflammatory and triple neg. bc. My breast was inflammed. Jackie

cstock39

I got pneumonia in middle of Jan '08 and the lump appear out of no where by Feb 1st and by May 1st it was 5.3cm.  

drcrisc

Wow...I can't believe how many stories are the same or similar and that also makes me a little sad. 

I found mine by accident after getting up to "go" at 2 AM on Feb. 29 this year.  It was in the 12 o'clock position and close to the skin (easy to feel) but couldn't see it.  It was also one of those "sudden" appearances because I would have felt it just in the shower doing every day stuff!  Because I just turned 40 last year, I was still due for my first mammo.  The lump didn't hurt before that, but did after and continued until it was removed.  After the lumpectomy, my bs told me it had probably been there "a long time".  Like close to 10 years - wow, again.

EyesOTex

drcrisc and every other tri neg...

who is buying that this thing has been here for "a long time"?  they told me that , too.

I'm not thinking so...

dc

twink

unhunh... nope, I don't buy it.  I had my regular mammo in August, came back with the usual disclaimer about my dense breasts.  October, in my bath, I felt this mass with the ball of my palm.  It was noticeable in the mirror as well.  I don't think I missed this thing for years.... sorry.

Sadie-Rose

The part that doesn't make any sense about the " it has been there for a long time" comment is that TNBC is very aggressive and fast growing. I had a normal mammogram and six weeks later found a large lump in breast. Later the surgeon said it could be seen in the mammogram, but the radiologist missed it. Still my doctors don't think it was there for very long because the tumor had a high grade for cell growth.



I'm with Twink-- Uhhuh,....nope, I don't buy it.



Warmly,

Sadie

HeatherBLocklear

Hi all,

Although I've already told my story, I want to add my "no, I don't think so" to the thread above. In fact, I have proof -- not only did I have a clear mammo at the end of June, I also had a manual breast exam by one of the most accomlished and well-known breast surgeons in my part of the country. There was nothing there at the time. By November the lump was probably ca. 4 cm. By February, it was off the charts (and the sonogram).

They keep trying to fit triple negs into categories they know, and with which they feel comfortable. However, the reason triple negs are now seen as a separate category is because we do NOT fit the usual profile. Our tumors don't need years and years of hormonal influence to grow; instead they are like many basal cell cancers in that they appear suddenly and grow like a California wildfire. In other words, our tumors do indeed pop up overnight, and I'd be leery of any oncologist who tried to tell me my triple neg tumor had been there "for years."

Hugs to all,

Annie

EyesOTex

Yes, Sadie,

I think what I was trying to say, really, is just that for us TNBCs....

Well, we don't need that condescending "don't worry, dear, it's been there for years" that the docs give the other 85-90% of their patients.  Forget the conventional wisdom, Perfesser, we aren't conventional!

And, since we don't have a "post-chemo chemo", and I don't even get a blood test for crying out loud, much less any kind of scan or anything unless i have "a complaint",  I think it's legitimate for us to NOT buy that "well, it doesn't make a difference in the outcome as to how early you find the recurrence".   I think it might, considering the pace of growth of most--not all--of our TNBCs.

Vent over.

Sort of...in January I told my onc. about a lump in my posterior cervical lymph area.  He couldn't feel it.  In April it had 5 cousins, and the one he felt he thought was a cyst...a tiny cyst.  He said we could get an ultrasound guided fine needle biopsy if I wanted to...I said if he thought it was a cyst that was ok...He said he thought it would ease my mind if we did the biopsy.  All came back malignant.  My Son The Radiologist says the postbiopsy CAT scans I got would not have raised an alarm because the nodes were all under 1 cm.  The PET scan onllly picked up on some OTHER nodes that were "suspicious" for malignancy, in places I couldn't feel.  (BTW, the official flower of the International Radiologyy Academy is the hedge...ha...ha)  And, says the onc., they're just like grains of rice.  Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.  Now.   

Ok, I think my rant is really over now...

Thanks.

dana

lynn770

Wow!  I'm amazed at how many of you got the "it's nothing to worry about if it hurts" comment.   

I was hugging my husband one day, he's very skinny and it hurt my breast.  I thought his sternum had poked me but I found a tiny lump in my left breast at 9:00 near my own sternum.  I've always had lumpy breasts but I'd never had pain like that before.  It was a few weeks to my OB-GYN appt so I decided to let her find it at the breast exam.  She didn't feel anything since it was so far out, so I asked her about it.  As soon as I said it hurt, she said that it was a fibroid and nothing to worry about.  She's the doctor right?  I went to grad school for all those years for something else not medicine.  I changed to a different bra and it didn't hurt anymore so I figured she was right. 

1 month before my next OB-GYN appt, the next year, it started hurting again, all the time, and it felt bigger so I brought it up, after once again, she didn't feel it during the breast exam.  This time I insisted that she order a mammogram.  I'd never had one before, I was only 33 when I found the lump the first time.  The radiologist came in and spoke to me after the mammogram.  He told me to follow up with my doctor immediately and not to wait for the test results to get to her.  I knew that was a bad sign.

Now I tell every woman I talk to about breast cancer to never accept that comment from a doctor about pain.  Some of them had heard that before.  Sometimes I want to kick myself for not following up the first time she told me that, but my husband says that things happen that way for a reason and just be grateful that though I waited a year, I was still lucky to be in the early stages, perhaps that it was too early the first time and fate intervened.  I guess I was really lucky that it was a slow grower because it seems like most of you TNs have extremely fast growers.

cancerviking

My tumor was found in a routine screening mammogram. My ob/gyn, the radiologist, the breast center RN, my husband, the surgeon and myself could not feel the lump even with the films and ultrasound at hand. I keep reminding all my friends and co-workers to get their mammograms.



Pam

cancerviking

My tumor was found in a routine screening mammogram. My ob/gyn, the radiologist, the breast center RN, my husband, the surgeon and myself could not feel the lump even with the films and ultrasound at hand. I keep reminding all my friends and co-workers to get their mammograms.



Pam

smithlme

My second diagnosis (DCIS), came after my first post Mastectomy mammo, 369 days (leap year) later. If it hadn't been biopsied, I'd hate to think what might have happened...

Linda

Rovergirl

I had enlarged lymphnodes and my PCP thought I might have Lymphoma.  During the lymphnode biopsy the surgeon determined I didn't have Lymphoma but breast cancer.  It wasn't until I had a Breast MRI that the extent of the disease was determined.  Yes, the tumor was large and located near the chest wall.

FightOn

Found mine drying off after a shower back in May 03, had a clean mammo in Jan, 12 o'clock position on the right breast, so it seems like I grew a four centimeter, grade three tumor in four months time.