How many of you actually had a palpable lump?

Not only did I not feel a lump, but the lump wasn't detected on a mamo or ultrasound!  I went to my PCP for underarm pain and she ordered a mamo and ultrasound.  The ultrasound showed the enlarged lympnode but no lump.  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.  I've been having mamograms annually for the last 8 years .

Hi Rovergirl,

I had visits with my general practicioner, mammograms and an ultrasound and was told everything was normal. I happily went my way until I noticed nipple retraction 10 months later - didn't really feel anything different but went back to the GP. She sent me for a biopsy and it turned out I had a very big ILC tumor. Perhaps an MRi would have picked it up earlier but nothing else did.

And I'm not a medical doctor or oncologist but I do know that the vast majority of ILC tumors are ER+. Are you sure yours is ER-? Perhaps there are others with the same diagnosis who will post and clarify this.

Take care,

Peggy

I had thickening or hardening in the lower left quadrant of my left breast which I thought were cysts. I believe they were there for awhile the doctor didn't seem to be concerned and nothing showed up.  It wasn't until I noticed a definite thickening and hard spot on the top of my left nipple that I still was not thinking cancer but told the doctor about it.  That's when my ILC was diagnosed on ultrasound. 

I have a thickened area which feels ropey, like a thick strand of licorice.  In Oct. my gyn said it was "normal for the upper outer quadrant to be thicker", and then my oncologist said it felt "fine" in Dec.--my mammo and MRI were clear in March. I go to the oncologist  next Tues for 6 mth f/u and will be showing it to him again. It's on the same side as my lumpectomy, but that was almost 5 years ago, and I've just noticed this more in the last year, so I don't think it's scar tissue. (unless it can suddenly form after all this time?) They keep saying it's "fine", but it sure doesn't fell "fine" to me.

Anne 

I have to say that I was lucky that when my doc found the thickening she insisted that I have it checked out. She said it is probably nothing but we won't know until we do the tests. And the rest is history.



If only we had a crystal ball! This site is full of women who were told the same thing. I'm sure that the docs are right about it sometimes being nothing, but I wouldn't want to bet my life on it. Personally, I would pursue this until I was comfortable with the outcome.

I found a lump and my nipple had started to invert. Had a mamo nothing showed up ultrasound saw it and they hard a hard time finding it with the ultra as it was hiding under the nipple. I'm really upset after surgery it turns out the tumor was 5cm and had all my nodes removed and 14 out of 15 tested bad. I'm off to chemo next week.

    I felt the lump when I took off my bra one night.  I'm good about self exams cuz my grandma had bc, and I knew it hadn't even been a month since the last one.  It was already like 2cm., and has grown since to 2.5cm. My skin is also dimpled around it. It did not show on the mammo, but it did on the US.  I've had a biopsy, PET scan, and a port inserted, and I'm now on my 3rd chemo(Abraxane, every week for 12 weeks).  I'm surprised how little effect it is having on me.  I am working during treatment 3.5 days a week,  I usually only work 3 days(12 hrs. ea.), but I feel alright and want to work a little extra, since after this 12 wk treatment, I'll start the harder chemo for the next 12 weeks, and I probably won't be able to work as much.  My chemotherapist says that I am doing well because I work out 3 days a week, and to keep it up.  Jane,I don't think that I would work both jobs, though.  You will need time to let your body rest and heal.  That just sounds too stressful.  I know it's a hard decision, but you probably won't have a choice depending on the type of chemo you get.  I wish you luck.

Hi - I had a lump, but it was waaaaaaaaaay up at 11 o'clock on the left breast - not what you'd think of as a "breast" lump, but I've learned that breast tissue extends all the way up to the collarbone. It was outside the field of mammography, which I'd had faithfully since a baseline at 39. (I'm 45.) Also, if I were to lay down, it would blend in with the surrounding breast tissue - I had to sit up to locate it for various doctors and techs. My gyn thought it was just a rib. It seemed to change size with my cycle, so at first I wasn't that worried. Mammo tech really tried to scraaaaaape that section into the field for a diagnostic mammogram, but it was just too far up. It was imaged by ultrasound - BIRAD4, approximately .7 cm, so I was scheduled for a biopsy. I had an ultrasound-guided, vacuum assisted biopsy that confirmed it was ILC. Then I had breast MRI's - that area was the only suspicious thing that lit up and it appeared to be more like 2.02 cm. I had lumpectomy and SNB - the tumor was 2.1 cm, and we got "okay" margins, due to the location. I will allegedly be followed up with alternating digital mammos (to detect OTHER things) and MRI's. I'm glad I pursued getting this little globule checked out!

i had thickening of the breast tissue which "they" said was normal for age. ok..so then i wake up one day and there was clearly a lump at 2:00. it felt like a sebacous cyst. a year later it was finally correctly dx and here i am today 2 yrs out of bi lat mast-chemo-rads..and one week ago i began the processof recon with surg for tissue expanders! i feel very fortunate that i survived it all!

Unfortunately, those of us with Lobulars don't usually have our tumors discovered by mammogram until they are larger.  Some of the ductals they find are incredibly small because they are calcifications.  Not true with lobulars.  Dense tissue in lobulars often hides larger tumors.  This was the case with me certainly and also with many of us here.  The only blessing for us lobular girls is that most of these types of tumors are not Her/2 positive therefore maybe not as aggressive.  A one inch lobular vs. a one inch ductal, no contest, the ductal is almost always a more aggressive tumor.

I have a palpable lump on my left breast.  i had my first mam today along with an ultrasound.  The lady that did the ultrasound sound I had ALOT of cysts and told me to wait to see if the Dr. wanted anything else.  She came back and said i will get the results in about a week.  Should I be worried?  I have had a lot of pain in my left arm that just started about a month ago.  I am getting a little worried, but I don't want this to take over my life.  I had brain cancer 5 years ago and I became obsessed with finding all the info I could find on that.  I feel myself doing it again. 

This is switching up the subject a bit, but I have been wondering are there many ILC women that have gone to stage 4?  If so, were you dx at that stage?  I suppose I am wondering how often ILC goes to stage 4.  Is it more or less than the other types? 

g

MRIs pick up more detail, so in that respect they're more reliable. They're also supposed to be more reliable in estimates of size, but that may not be saying much. In my case US showed a 10mm mass, MRI showed an irregular area estimatef at max. 6.6 cm, but the final pathology report placed it at 2.2 cm.  The mammogram succeeded in spotting a problem area, but the skill of the radiologist may have had something to do with that.