Recurring Cellulitis

CnealRN

Hey, everyone. I’m new to this site.

First of all, I wanted to tell every single one of you that whether you’re a survivor, currently going through treatment, or awaiting answers you are truly an inspiration to me. My mom is a 10 year survivor and, while I may not know the struggle first hand, breast cancer has forever changed my life.

With that being said, I reach out to you all for answers. I’m concerned. As aforementioned, my mom went through breast cancer treatment 10 years ago. My memory is horrible so I don’t want to lie and tell you how long she’s been cancer free, but hers was detected early and she had minimal complications. So after her initial rounds of chemical and radiation she was virtually cancer free. She had a lumpectomy/breast conservation surgery and in order for her radiation to take she had to have a mild breast reduction (even still her breasts are still pretty large. I think she’s like a DD or DDD). Her only complication is her wound dehisced and she developed cellulitis.

Fast forward to January of 2019. Her left breast became red, hot to touch, and she had malaise. She went to the doctor, they gave her a shot of Rocephin, and prescribed her oral Keflex. She it cleared up. I thought nothing of it. This past Saturday morning she woke up with the same symptoms. She’d been feeling like crap for a couple of days, but she said the erythema of her left breast developed almost over night. Me being a nurse, I told her she needed to go to the ED and get seen for antibiotics ASAP. She went and they gave her an other shot of rocephin and prescribed Keflex again. She’s been been onthe antibiotics going on the 5th day. The redness is starting to clear up and she said she’s instantly felt better the Sunday after getting the Rocephin at the ED. She’s following up with her oncologist on Friday.

This wait feels eerily familiar to when she’s was first diagnosed with cancer many years ago. It doesn’t help that help isn’t the most optimistic. She has this sense of doom and says her biggest fear is her cancer coming back.

My question is, is cellulitis common in breast cancer survivors? Even starting 10 years after treatment? And is it normal to have 2 bouts of it in the span of 4 months? She has diabetes and mild Lymphedema which makes her a little more susceptible as well.

Everything I’ve researched about cellulitis is related to it occurring during treatment, but not after it. I just want some reassurance because this is going to drive me crazy until we get answers.

Thanks for any responses!

Moderators

Hi CnealRN, and welcome to Breastcancer.org! Sorry for what you're here, but we're glad you've found us!

Until you get responses from other members here in the forums, these are some of the articles we have about cellulitis in our main site:

• Skin-associated Infection (Cellulitis): "Risk factors of cellulitis include being overweight, having large breasts, and/or having previous breast surgery or radiation therapy."
• Wham Bam! A Cellulitis Scare After All These Years « Breastcancer.org Blog

We hope this helps!

The Mods

vlnrph

How great to have a nurse for a daughter! Good thing that you sent her promptly for treatment.

On the lymphedema forum, there are quite a few case reports of cellulitis popping up long after initial therapies are over. Sometimes, it starts from a scratch or hangnail. Your mom's diabetes is also a factor, as you realize. I wonder whether her blood sugars began going out of range prior to infection appearing: chicken or egg?

Encourage her to remain well hydrated so the fluid doesn't stagnate even more. If I were her, I would opt for 3D mammograms. Check in here after she sees the oncologist and let us know what the outcome is.

KBeee

The fact that it responded to the antibiotics is good. Perhaps there was some lingering infection. Glad she's seeing her oncologist soon. Hopefully he/she can offer more advice.

CnealRN

Hey, guys. Sorry for the late response. I’ve been busy with work. So her oncologist told her she didn’t think it was IBC, but she is supposed to follow up with her surgeon to see if she’ll need a biopsy and she has a MRI on Monday. I was kinda relieved that she started feeling better after her initial round of antibiotics. It started to clear up, but then just today it started getting worse. I’m praying maybe she just needs a stronger antibiotic or IV route, but im even more scared now. Please keep us in your prayers

KBeee

Hoping it resolves soon!!!

CnealRN

Thank you. So when she talked to the surgeon she told her it didn’t look like IBC to her. You would think that would be relieving, but after reading some of the stories on here and knowing that it presents differently among everyone, it’s not. She had a double mammogram and an US today... showed nothing but skin thickening which could be r/t to cellulitis. They were going to draw off fluids and send them off to see if it was some type of infectious disease, she had no pockets. She has her MRI on Friday. The surgeon started her back on 10 more days of Keflex. After she started back taking it Iran started to resolve again and she feels better. Honestly we haven’t gotten any answers yet, but the fact that it has been responsive to antibiotics gives me some hope. So it’s goes back my original thought that maybe she just needs a longer course or IV route or a different antibiotic. Continue to pray for her

reflect

I'm sorry for your mom. I've had recurrent cellulitis secondary to lymphedema 4 times since my surgery 3 years ago. I recently started a prophylactic antibiotic, for one week a month I take antibiotics 4x a day. Weird I know but my doc is smart so we'll see. The cellulitis hits hard and fast with no warning, not fun. I plan to see a lymphedema specialist as well. Good luck !