22 Years Old... Anxious & Concerned About Possible BC or IBC

mustlovegermanshepherds

Hi,

This is my first time posting on this forum. I must say that I have really enjoyed reading some of these posts, everyone is so supportive and strong. I love that and hugs to you all.

I'm writing this post because on the evening of May 22nd I noticed almost a hickey looking quarter-sized red blotch on the lower part of my right breast. Of course I googled and panicked so much that I went to an urgent care less than 24 hours later. The doctor there examined the red splotch. When he pressed on it he said he felt a little lump up against the skin (freaked me out) it was tender when he pressed on it. He didn't seem too worried. He prescribed me a a cream and oral antibiotics if the rash got worse. He said to wait, that I might not even need them. Sure enough,(3 days later) by May 25 the red splotch was almost completely gone. I didn't use either the cream or antibiotics.

However, the little "bump" he talked about can be felt on that exact spot. It's about a 1/2 inch in diameter, oval shape (no sharp sides). It doesn't feel tender if I press on it anymore, but it feels more like thick skin (scary). I haven't tried to move it around in fear of it hurting or making it worse. I got out of the shower on May 28th and saw 3-4 red pinhole dots on the areola hair follicles.I freaked out thinking that it was bloody discharge but it was not. Today I can just feel the bump/thick skin, no other symptoms. Just anxious and confused and scared.

I realize it is rare at my age to get breast cancer, does anyone know a benign cause of this? I was in a BAD car accident exactly 3 weeks before all of this started. I was surprised I didn't have any damage to my chest from the seatbelt (I rolled 4 times until my car stopped upside down with me hanging from my seatbelt; ALWAYS wear one, otherwise I'd probably have been dead) I'm wondering that could have caused trauma? Any advice, links, where I should go from here (dermatologist, breast specialist, oncologist?) is truly appreciated.

Happy Wednesday!

Egads007

Hiya, yeah it’s easy to be freaked out by all this, especially after googling. Please try not to figure it out with Google. What you’re describing sounds nothing like cancer. First, cancer doesn’t go away with antibiotics (don’t I wish it did!). IBC only gets worse, sometimes within hours. It’s most likely a skin issue (blocked pore) etc. See a dermatologist or your PCP if you’re worried, and tell them how anxious you are about it. At your age the odds are almost nil. Breathe easy, you’ll be fine.

BTW, love your screen name, made me laugh, can’t wait for Mustlovepoodles to chime in!

mustlovegermanshepherds

Thanks Egads007,

Thank you for responding so promptly and for your reassurance, it means the world to me. I know I shouldn't be worried but once you go on google, the world tells you only one thing. I will take your advise and make an appointment with my dermatologist. I've had some dry skin issues anyway, wouldn't hurt for him to take a look and calm my nerves.

And I know! I saw that and I'm going to be called a copy-cat I just know it! lol

Much love to you

Egads007

Would that be ‘copy-dog’ (bad joke I know), I should change mine to Mustlovefood.

If you just have to google, search ‘benign breast condtions’. Don’t read horror stories, they scare the hell out of me too! Life’s too short...especially when you’re young and have better things to do than worry over something that’s 99.99999% cancer free...let us know how it goes at the derm

sbelizabeth

mustlovegermanshepherds-- we aren't doctors here (at least, most of us aren't) and can't offer you a diagnosis--just personal opinions based on our own experiences. Nothing you read here should prevent you from seeing a doctor again if you continue to be concerned.

That being said, what you describe sounds like a small hematoma--bleeding under the skin--from your seat belt, as a result of your car crash. Think about hard bumps that resulted in a bruise you've had in the past. Sometimes they have a lump under the skin, right? For whatever reason, this one just took a while to be noticeable, and the pinhole dots on the areola could also be signs of bruising, as it gradually resolves. I can't think of anyone ever describing their breast cancer lump as being tender when pressed on, and then the tenderness going away after a bit.

Is the hickey-kinda-spot anywhere near where your seat belt would have restrained you as your car rolled? Were you the driver, and is the blotch on the inner, lower part of your breast? If yes, I'd bet my next paycheck that it's trauma-related.

Good on you to have worn your seat belt and walked away from the crash! SB

sbelizabeth

This photo is of a man (...clearly!...) and the seat belt bruising is very obvious, but you can see the pattern of how it can go directly over the breast and areola.

Giselle20

It also sounds like it could be a fast necrosis. That are benign and caused by trauma to the breast most commonly because of seat belts in car accidents. They feel like a lump possibly tender, cause redness and possibly bruising, cause dimpling. It is caused by a damaged oil gland if I'm not mistaken.

Info on fast necrosis and hematoma

Feel free to msg me I'm also only 20 and unsteady the whole your too young thing.

I also have a beautiful German Shepherd her name is kiwi she's one and a half years old.

mustlovepoodles

LOL, Egads, you know I'm always gonna show up late to the party!

Mustlovegermansheperds, I love your name. As you have already seen, anything "breast" goes straight to "breast cancer." Google has been terrifying women since 1998.

Here are some facts: Young breasts are well known to develop lots of benign lumps, bumps, and rashes. Breast cancer is extremely uncommon in 22 year olds. Your risk of cancer is less than 0.2%. Your chances that this is completely benign are about 99.8%.

IBC worsens over hours and days. It does not "clear up", no matter what you do . IBC is among the rarest of breast cancers, usually seen in ages 60+. So the chance that this would be the rarest type of BC in a 22 year old is virtually ZERO.

I think it is MUCH MORE LIKELY that this is related to your wreck. It is not unusual for it to take weeks for the deep bruising to appear.

Incidentally, I was in a bad rollover in 2010. We were towing our camper and flipped the whole rig 3 times. Like you, we were all wearing seatbelts and they saved our lives. But we all had whiplash, swelling, and bruising that lasted for 2-3 months. It seemed like every week some new bump and bruise showed up. I have very little memory of the actual wreck, so I don't know what I hit. But whatever it was left bruises in the weirdest places.

Hopefully, your lump and the red blotches will just go away. But if it continues, perhaps your PCP or a dermatologist would be the logical next step.

mustlovegermanshepherds

Good morning!

Wow! I appreciate all the feedback, so grateful to get to reach out to you all! In response:

-Egads007: hahaha I laughed at my computer screen like a crazy person when I read your joke. Its corny but I live for that kind of stuff; I'm a Mel Brooks fan. Yeah, I think I will wait a week and see if this the thick skin is still there. If it is then I'll make the appointment to be sure that this isn't something to be more concerned about.

-sbelizabeth: yes, I was driving. I was the only one in the car. It was raining and I hit an oil slick spot on a curvy road, spun out, and then rolled down an embankment. (Luckily know one else was involved), the mark/thick skin is right where my seat belt was. I was jostled around quite a bit and my seatbelt had rubbed on the whole lower half of my right breast and right areola area. From the picture, I definitely had the mark on my left collar bone. It was super sore and took a few days for it to go away. I was expecting to have a more severe looking bruise like that on my right breast when it the rest of me was all scrapped up. But I'm still sore from whiplash and have bruises and scars that are healing. You may be right!

-Giselle20: I looked at the link you sent me and my symptoms and situations sound an awful like what the description for fat necrosis. I had a red blotch that was tender and sensitive then it went away and now I have a thick skin/bump area that is no longer tender and appears to be getting better. Like many of these lovely ladies have pointed out, BC/IBC doesn't just "get better and go away on its own". I feel fairly confident that it is trauma related to my car accident. I also have a German Shepherd (given in the name) and her name is Keely. She is so lively and sweet!

-Mustlovepoodles: Thank you! I love your name too! lol Thank you also for giving me a better grasp on the statistics of getting BC/IBC at 22 years old. I was trying to find the stats but Google kept taking me to BC horror stories instead. Case in point, I feel much more confident that this thing is not BC. As I mentioned to Egads007, it seems to be improving and if its not getting better in a week then I will make an appointment to be sure its nothing that need to be removed I am pretty sure it was trauma related from my seatbelt. I still have some stiffness in my neck and shoulders from the impact. I had an X-Ray done that day and they could see the spine in my neck moved a bit and that my muscles were agitated. Thanks for the heads up that I can expect that for another month or so. I am also so sorry to hear that you were in such a bad crash. It is so scary, but I'm glad you're here, you are a light to those around you.

All in all, thank you all for your advice and getting me the information I needed. I realize that this isn't a place for an official diagnosis and I should always go to the doctor when something is going on with my "girls" or anything else with my body. However, it is WAY better than crazy "Dr. Google". I have learned so much, you all have such big hearts, stay strong and keep on smiling.

mustlovegermanshepherds

UPDATE:

Good news is that the thick skin are has gone away. I was also able to get glass that had been stuck in my hand from the car accident out today.

The unsteady news is that there is a palpable lump that is immoveable, horizontal oval right where the red blotch and thick skin had been. I panicked and cried most of Saturday and went and saw the doctor this morning. He had a hard time finding it, but he found it too. He also found one on my left breast (didn't know about that one). As he was doing the exam he said he didn't feel any "scary lumps". He thinks it may be fibrocystic breasts which he said is not uncommon. He ordered me an ultrasound and I should hear from them in a week to schedule the procedure.

I'm relieved that he found another lump because it makes it seem more likely to be fibrocystic or fibrodenoma but now I'm terrified for the results. I've read about these horror stories of 22/23 year olds getting diagnosed with Breast Cancer. My mom doesn't seem worried, and thinks I need to relax. We don't have any history of any type of cancer on either side of our family, I'm young, I run, I eat well (except for the occasional goodie here and there) I am a "Low Risk". Which she's right, I'm just so scared. Does anyone have any advice? Please keep me in your thoughts in prayers that this is benign. That'd be much appreciated.

MelissaDallas

mustlove, it is EXCEPTIONALLY RARE for someone in their early twenties to be diagnosed with breast cancer. Conversely, 60% of women have fibrocystic breasts. Your doctor is probably right. It is way premature to be crying all day or looking at "worst case" scenarios when they likely do no apply to you.

mustlovegermanshepherds

MelissaDallas,

Thank you for your input. You're right, the odds are in my favor, it's just scary to be going through this process at all. I keep assuming that the "c-word" is the only one thing that it could be. I keep envisioning how I will have to tell people and what I'm going to do about it. I've been warned to stay off of Google and keep my mind busy on other things. I just got a call to make my ultrasound appointment and it feels like a very real threat. I'm sorry, I know I'm probably acting crazy but this thing has just consumed my mind. Any pointers for the procedure? or how to relax?

MelissaDallas

Have you had health anxiety about other things? Crying all day and panicking is a reaction WAY over the top to the real level of "threat." Why do you keep thinking cancer is the only thing it could be, when clearly that is about the least likely possibility? Your doctor has told you it feels fibrocystic. More young women than not have lumpy breasts. As to the procedure, not much to it. You lay down, they put a little warm gel on you and move a transducer around for a couple of minutes while they look at a display. Easy peasy.

mustlovegermanshepherds

Yes, I have had health anxiety about other things. Back in September 2016, I got a bruise on the same breast but in a different spot. Went online and wigged out thinking it was IBC. After I got check out I also started thinking I had lynphoma from constantly pressing on my armpits and neckand then colon cancer from having a nervous stomach from worrying all the time. The following weeks only to be told by my doctor that I may completely healthy. I was never diagnosed with Hypocondria. But I probably have that 😂 I don't know why but the worst case scenarios always come first for me and I Can't shake them. And I guess since this is a very real thing that I can feel, it makes me think "well, I'm dying"

You're right, I should just relax and trust the doctor. And okay, the procedure doesn't sound bad. Hopefully the results aren't either🌻 Haha thank you for talking to me. It helps putting thoughts down. :

MelissaDallas

You should talk to your doctor about anxiety. It is miserable to live with and very treatable.

mustlovegermanshepherds

okay, I'll do that. Hopefully that will help me calm down and relax a bit more.

mustlovepoodles

The fact that your doctor has located lumps in both breasts should reassure you, somewhat. It is quite unusual for BC to present simultaneously in both breasts,at any age. It is even more rare for any type of BC to present in a 22 yr old. You will have more information after your US, but i feel confident in encouraging you that whatever this is, it is EXTREMELY UNLIKELY to be cancer.

mustlovegermanshepherds

Thanks mustlovepoodles,

Again, thank you for the reassurance. I'm about to go in for my ultrasound. Nervous. Send me good thoughts/pray for me and hopefully all is well!

mustlovegermanshepherds

UPDATE:

I had my ultrasound yesterday and you were right MelissaDallas, it was eastpeasy! And I got my results that evening. I was nervous at first, but my dotor said that it was a fribrocyst. No abnormalities, no signs of malignancy. Follow up in 2 months. I was so relieve don't I almost cried.

The only thing that is holding me back on being 100% confident in this test is that after I got home from the US, I was laying on my bed (on my stomach) I got up and for a split second my right nipple looked inverted. Scared me so much, but it went back to "normal". Should I wait until the follow up appointment or have the doctor look at me again and push for an MRI/biopsy? Any advice is apraeciated, I'm so sorry for being a parinoid weirdo. Hope all is well and have a happy Father's Day!

nonomimi5

inverted nipple is not anything to get MRI/biopsy about. It is common. It can wait until the follow up. Take a deep breath, exercise and do meditation. All the worrying you are doing is causing more damage than good and you will get sick from it. Healthy lifestyle and nutrition is the key.

MelissaDallas

The kind of introverted nipples that are a sign of cancer don't occur for a ' split second.

mustlovepoodles

Both my nipples were inverted until i had my first child at age 30. Breast-feeding took care of that for me...

mustlovegermanshepherds

Okay, I think I've been reading more into this than I should have (big shocker *insert sarcastic voice*) but I just like to be sure, especially when it comes to health. It's a blessing and a curse. I should accept the good results, focus on relieving stress and just be a 22 year old woman. I like to run and go to some new running shoes, I'm excited to break them in. Ladies, you have been wonderful, I cannot thank you enough for your help. Hopefully, I won't be on here for a long time. If something serious does happen, i know I Can always come here for support and encouragement.

(((Hugs)))

mustlovepoodles

Hopefully, you will never need this board again, mustlovergermansheperds. But if you do, we'll still be here kicking cancer's ass.