Shrinking breast size

Shrinkage was a symptom for me. My tumor was close to the chest wall, and as it grew, it started to pull my breast in. The surgeon confirmed that the shrinkage was a symptom of ILC in my case. That being said, I've noticed both of my breasts have shrunk since I've been on tamoxifen.

I wouldn't be suprised if your mom's shrinkage is from the radiation, however I would suggest that she contact her surgeon and have him/her do a breast exam, b/c he/she would be best at feeling the thickening that comes with ILC. Also, a breast MRI would show ILC, which the surgeon could order if there's any concern.

You're welcome. Hope it turns out to be nothing--keep us posted.

The shrinkage was overall and must have been fairly sudden, b/c I actually didn't notice it until after diagnosis and the surgeon pointed out that the sick boob was smaller than the other one, and said that it was because the tumor was essentially pulling the breast "in". It stayed the same shape and did not have dimpling or caving, but that may have been b/c the tumor was deep against the chest well.

I had had a "clean" mammo the year before--it was a baseline mammo done at age 37 b/c my mom had bc. Ironically, right before I found the lump, I'd read about how MRIs were better screening tools for young women with dense breasts, and I was going to ask about it at my upcoming gyn appt. I hadn't been feeling well overall for awhile, but attributed it to Mommy Fatigue. I hadn't done a breast exam for awhile and randomly decided to do one, and my hand went straight to the lump. 

ILC usually doesn't form a lump, but I started a thread about that a couple of years ago called "How many of you had a palpable lump" that you can probably find if you go a few pages back in the ILC board to get more info. I have pleomorphic ILC, which behaves a little differently than classic ILC, and the surgeon thinks that I probably had thickening for awhile, then all of a sudden the cells clumped up enough to form a lump, and it was probably about that time that the breast started shrinking. I'd had pain in the area of the tumor over the ribs for awhile, and it turns out it was b/c the tumor was growing into the pectoral muscle. 

After I found the lump, I had an u/s that showed part of the tumor and gave them a target to biopsy. Once that came back positive, I had an MRI, which actually showed the tumor as larger than it really was. They also did a diagnostic mammo at that point, and once they knew where the tumor was, they could see a little bit of it on those films.

So basically, imaging in general didn't work well for me--different methods showed the tumor either too big or too small. However, the surgeon estimated the tumor size within 2 mm just by feel, so I'd really encourage your mom to go see her surgeon, b/c in my experience, they have very good hands and can tell a lot off of physical exam.

You're welcome! Keep us posted on what the onc says.

Big hugs--I know how tough all this is. My mom's bc was harder on me than my own.

Glad to hear the onc was unconcerned. The odds of you mom developing ILC after IDC in that breast are low. I'm sure she's fine

The BRCA testing is scary. I looked like I'd be positive on paper and all the docs were quite surprised when it came back negative. I remember the waiting period being rather stressful, though. The main thing to consider regarding the BRCA testing is--what are you going to do with the info if it comes back positive? 

Good luck with everything!