Inflammatory breast cancer

pinkedge

I got an ultrasound about two weeks ago about a rash on my breast. I waited pretty long (a month) to bring it up to my doctor because I have eczema and brushed it off with that. She wanted me to do an ultrasound and said it was probably mastitis which is a breast infection but she just wanted to make sure. They didn't find anything on the ultrasound so she told me she'd give me antibiotics and if they didn't work, send me off to a breast specialist. Fast forward to now, the antibiotics didn't work and now I'm supposed to see the specialist. I know it's gonna take weeks because I live in Canada and the waiting lists here are known to be long. I know that IBC is aggressive and can spread so I'm terrified by the time they diagnose this and it is IBC i'll be near dead. I also got an ultrasound on my stomach because of some digestive issues and they found a lesion on my liver, so i'm further convinced that I have cancer and it's spreading already. My doctor keeps brushing me off and I do understand how rare IBC is especially in young adults like me but I'd rather I find out now and it's nothing then to find out a month from now and it's too late.

Beesie

I am in Canada. Wait times for cancer are not long and urgent situations are prioritized and seen very quickly.

Since the symptom you have is a skin rash, can you also ask for a referral to a dermatologist? That probably should have been the first step taken. A dermatologist can do a punch biopsy, which will diagnose IBC or a skin condition.

Do you have any breast symptoms other than the rash? Has the rash changed over the 6 weeks? Here is a list of 8 common symptoms of IBC. If you only have one symptom (and particularly if it hasn't progressed over 6 weeks) it's highly unlikely that you have IBC and much more likely that you have a skin condition, which is another reason to see a dermatologist.

Inflammatory breast cancer doesn't commonly form a lump, as occurs with other forms of breast cancer. Instead, signs and symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer include:

• Rapid change in the appearance of one breast, over the course of several weeks
• Thickness, heaviness or visible enlargement of one breast
• Discoloration, giving the breast a red, purple, pink or bruised appearance
• Unusual warmth of the affected breast
• Dimpling or ridges on the skin of the affected breast, similar to an orange peel
• Tenderness, pain or aching
• Enlarged lymph nodes under the arm, above the collarbone or below the collarbone
• Flattening or turning inward of the nipple

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/inflammatory-breast-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20355413

pinkedge

the rash started out as a small patch but has now gotten much bigger, also there is crust and yellow pus coming from it. There’s also redness around the breast and it’s warm and a little tender.

I have been on the waiting list for a dermatologist for the past year because of my eczema. In my experience and also my family’s the waiting lists are always long whether they think it’s urgent or not. Maybe it’s because I live in a rural area.

Beesie

Ah, the problem is more so that you are rural, not so much that you are in Canada. What I've found is that any time I've had an urgent need, my GP notes that in the referral and I get seen very quickly by the specialist - most specialists leave a few open appointments for urgent referrals. For something that isn't urgent, yeah, there can be wait times but that's okay.

One issue in your case may be that your GP doesn't see your situation as being urgent and hasn't put the referral through that way. The thing that is true of the Canadian system is that the GP is the gatekeeper and you can't see specialists without a referral from another doctor, usually the GP but it could be a Gyne or another specialist. Once you are a patient of a specialist, at least here in Ontario, if you have seen them within the past year (and depending on the type of specialist, sometimes longer), you can continue to see them directly without the referral. I used to ensure that I would call to book a skin check appointment with my Derm before the year was up so that I remained listed as a 'current patient' and wouldn't need a referral.

As for your symptoms, I don't know but I wouldn't think that the crust and yellow pus would indicate IBC as much as an infection - but either way, it sounds like this needs to be addressed quickly. Is there an urgent care clinic anywhere near where you live? I'm in a major city so it's different but we have lots of them - clinics that usually are in hospitals or large medical centers but aren't ERs but instead are for urgent but non-emergency medical needs. If your GP isn't taking this seriously, that might be one way to get around her.

MinusTwo

Derm docs are notorious for LONG lead times in the US too. Beesie is right. Get your GP to push through your first appointment or hit a clinic.

And yes, I always make appointments with my derm doc for 6 months out AND a year before I ever leave the office.

pinkedge

I will bring this up to my doctor in our next follow up appointment. Good news is someone cancelled so I'll be able to see the breast specialist tomorrow. The rash has gotten so much bigger since a month ago so I'm glad I'm not waiting much longer