what did you first present with

julieann · February 2011

I have redness on my left breast and a thickened skin area. The thickened skin area is large and has fingers that are stretching out from it. I was concerned it may be IBC because of the redness and mottled look on the skin and the skin thickening, I also have a dull ache in that breast,but I also have heard that LBC can have similar symptoms also. There does not seem to be a lump under the thickened part, but the skin is hard enough that I can't really feel under it anyway. The hardened part is also distorting my breast, pulling it in along an arch that goes up and down. The left nipple area is being pulled upward. Nice perky lookng left breast as opposed to the right breast which has a 52 year old sag. Any thoughts, any other presentations similar to this?

mdoak · February 2011

I'm interested in this question too, as the surgeon I saw today basically blew me off when I pointed out a slight increase in size of my right breast, pulling of the breast to the side, and my nipple pointing slightly higher and to the right. I have a little thickening under the breast too, which the nurse practitioner also felt without me pointing it out, but the doctor disagreed. Nothing to worry about, he said!

But, I also succeeded in getting a screening MRI ordered for June, which will be six months after my clear mammogram. So that was a small victory, although I would have liked it sooner.

Any input on how lobular has presented would be greatly appreciated. -- Melissa

geocachelinda · February 2011

Mine presented as a mass just above the nipple and the nipple started retracting. That was a year ago and I have finally been given a diagnosis of ILC T2 + 1. Will be getting a mastectomy.

geocachelinda · February 2011

Btw the mass was hard, not mobile

julieann · February 2011

I appreciate the responces so far. More would be appreciated. I think that the variety of presentations will help others to advocate for themselves. When you look at the official sites... they list six or seven symptoms. I think that leaves alot of room for interpretation. Or maybe room for the Doctors to be able to disregard what women are showing them. You hear so many stories about women who have to fight to be heard and to be taken seriously.

One question you have asked me is, have I seen the Doctor myself. Well, I have been putting off seeing the doctor. I am not sure why. I have some thoughts about it ...I know something is wrong, but don't really want to make it "real", for one thing and also because it means dealing with being ill, and dealing with getting well. I have never been sick and have watched close friends suffer thru unproductful chemo, actually dibillitating chemo. I just don't want to go there.

Tell me more about your presentations, I want to be able to convince myself to move forward.

Thanks, Julieann

Gitane · February 2011

This is copied from the Mayo Clinic web site.

Signs and symptoms of breast cancer may include:

A breast lump or thickening that feels different from the surrounding tissue

Bloody discharge from the nipple

Change in the size or shape of the breast

Changes to the skin over the breast, such as dimpling

Inverted nipple

Peeling or flaking of the nipple skin

Redness or pitting over your breast, like the skin of an orange

When to see a doctor

If you find a lump or other change in your breast - even if a recent mammogram was normal - make an appointment with your doctor.

Inflammatory breast cancer can easily be confused with a breast infection. Inflammatory breast cancer occurs when cancer cells block the lymphatic vessels in the breast, causing the characteristic red, swollen appearance of the breast. Seek medical attention promptly if you notice skin changes on your breast.

AnacortesGirl · February 2011

I don't want to confuse things but ILC can also present with redden skin. But the time I saw the surgeon for my biopsy consultation my breast looked like it was sunburnt and felt warm to the touch. But this is also the sign for infection. There is just no good way to determine what it is without going to a doctor.

The achiness is also a symptom for infection but, again, can be a symptom for ILC. I had an achiness all the time and for the two month prior would have pain for a couple weeks mid-cycle. The nipple just hurt during those times.

Thickening of the skin is definitely a concern. I had many issues with cysts prior to the BC dx (the cysts were aspirated so we knew that they really were cysts) and the thickening just seemed to be the cysts growing again.

It's OK if the doc puts you on antibiotics first. But if nothing changes after 1 round then it's time to insist on additional testing. I strongly recommend an MRI. ILC is seldom detected with a mammo.

Personally, I don't trust ultrasound on the lymp nodes. In the original dx the US saw 3, maybe 4, suspicion lymph nodes (heck, I could feel them myself!). But during my neoadjuvant chemo these shrunk and the US didn't see any lymph node involvement. Surgery told a different story. Fourteen of the nodes had cancer.

The skin changes need to be addressed. Whether it's infection or cancer, it can't be ignored.

Hipline · February 2011

I took a bad fall water skiing and bruised my chest. But the "bruise" became a mass on my left breast and never went away. When I finally had an ultrasound, 4 months later, they detected the tumor underneath the mass. It was exactly one year to the date of my last "all clear" mammogram.The surgeon told me the tumor was likely there for a year or two but would not have been detected because of my dense breasts. So, I presented with a water skiing accident and I think it saved my life!

Mazy1959 · February 2011

I was getting undressed and saw mine in the mirror. I'm very small breasted and this lump just popped out of nowhere it seemed. I had just checked myself 2 weeks earlier. It was at the top of my breast towards the armpit...I guess it would be 10 oclock spot. My lump was easily visible, hard as a rock and was mobile. It hurt...felt like I had been hit. HUgs, Mazy

momand2kids · February 2011

Had a clear mammogram in March of 2008-- PCP found a 2.5 cm lump in my regular visit in October 2008---- I honestly think there is no rhyme or reason to this..... and ILC does tend NOT to show up on mammograms-but it was as clear as a bell on the subsequent MRI--I have dense breast tissue--- I honestly don't know that I ever would have found this lump on my own--

No other symptoms other than I knew "something wasn't right" for a few months, but I NEVER would have thought this.....

SAMayoFL · February 2011

I had a "clean" mammogram in May so when I found a large lump in the upper part of my breast in August I thought it was nothing. Like ya'll, I have always had dense breasts, fibroadenomas, etc. Stuff that had to be checked out but it always ended up being fine so I really didn't want to go back to the doctor for another lump. One of the things that has frustrated me is that my lump did not feel anything like what I read BC should feel like. I found my lump in the shower, shaving under my arms. It was large from the first day I found it, not like a small pea. You know the large Hersey bars? The kind you can break off a section? A section is what my lump felt like. It was a long, thin, finger with a very noticeable edge. Now, I understand that lobular carcinoma often presents in this shape. When I found the lump, however, I had never even heard of lobular carcinoma. Also, when I started my period my breast got unusually sore and by the time I went to the doctor 5 weeks after finding the lump, my breast was warm to the touch and swollen.

My hope is that you will go to the doctor for ANYTHING that seems different to you. I had every reason in the book not to go to the doctor: I just had a clean mammo, I found the lump around the same time I started my period, I had a history of things that turned out to be nothing and what I felt did not match any descriptions of what BC is supposed to feel like. I don't want to scare you (unless that makes you get your breast checked out) but here I am, four months later, bald from chemo with one breast. My cancer was so large and aggressive that a lumpectomy was not an option for me.

Please keep us posted and I wish you all the best.

Susan

wallycat · February 2011

Sadly, I presented with boob dreams. I am not kidding.

A gut feeling after my dreams made me get a mammogram...clean. Ultrasound, clean. Tiny speck that they thought was a shadow but nothing a tech could feel, doc could feel nothing, I felt nothing, yet my inner voice and 3 consecutive nights of bolt-out-of-sleep dreams insisted on more follow up.

The radiologist suggested an MRI. An area different from the tiny spec on the ultrasound lit up.

Back for ultrasound to biopsy the lit up area...ultrasound could find nothing. Back to a needle-guided biopsy via MRI. Voila. Cancer.

My breast surgeon looked at the films, looked at my breasts and said in all his years, he has never seen anything like this...ZERO detection until the MRI and thanked me for believing and trusting my body. He said if he were looking at the films and touching/checking my boobs, he would have also thought it was nothing and sent me home.

Kleenex · February 2011

I had a moveable lumplike thing way up above my left breast, tucked between the skin and muscle tissue. Changed sizes and sensitivity with my cycle - thought it might be a cyst. It could NOT be felt when I was lying on my back - it disappeared into the surrounding tissue. Gynecologist thought it might be a rib. It was outside the area generally squished into the mammography machine. Showed up very clearly on ultrasound when I had a diagnostic mammogram as follow-up to my conversation with the gynecologist - it was declared "biRads 4" and required a biopsy. Showed up well on MRI, and allegedly nothing else was in there... Know your own body, and if something doesn't seem right, follow up! Good luck to those of you with suspiciousness lurking - I hope it turns out to be nothing, or something easily treatable that's not cancer.

amlg1 · February 2011

Had no clue anything was brewing or I should say brewed.Went for yearly mammo and my lymph nodes presented enlarged,nothing in breast.Went for mri and found ILC.

SusieMTN · February 2011

Julianne - sounds just like the way my cancer started. In addition Breast blew up in size, retracted nipple, ever so slightly pink and when swelling went down thickened area and two distinct lumps. Happened over night.

Have you been seen by anyone yet?

HensonChi · February 2011

Mine started as a pain under my arm. It was in a lymph node. Evenutally they found it in my breast. It was ILC and HER+++.

luv_gardening · February 2011

I have never had dense breasts. I noticed a change in the areola in the mirror. It was barely perceptible. I did a manual check for two nights before I found a slight thickening. The right nipple wouldn't become erect. That was a big red flag. The skin felt thick especially the areola. There was no redness of the skin but I had had some fungal infection under the right breast, less on the other side, which I had never had before. Also small pimples over my right ribs. My breast appeared to be a little larger as my bra felt tighter that side.

The doctor found it hard to feel the internal thickening but did see the skin was thickened. He sent me for a mammogram and ultrasound and assured me he had never seen or felt cancer that was anything like mine so I was to stop worrying. To be certain he asked me to book up a Breast Surgeon as soon as possible.

The mammogram and ultrasound were completely normal. The radiologist said he couldn't find anything and I should follow up in a few months.

The breast surgeon took a core biopsy and when he looked at the tissue he had extracted he assured me it looked normal. A week later the results showed I had lobular carcinoma. I insisted on paying for an MRI so I could see if I needed a single or double mastectomy. The minor infections and swelling were due to the lymph nodes being affected though they couldn't be felt. The MRI showed a 5 cm tumour but it was actually 4cm.

If I had listened to all the doctors I would have believed nothing was wrong. Your changes are much greater than mine were. I had 9 lymph nodes affected which put me at stage III. If you have had enlarged lymph nodes for 2 years and it is cancer then that is urgent. You must not delay getting a biopsy or MRI. See a different doctor and worry about insurance later. If it turns out to be benign then at least you will have peace of mind. Please don't delay any longer.

what did you first present with

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