Lump on Rib

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  • kltb04
    kltb04 Member Posts: 1,051
    edited May 2012

    I went ahead a started a new post and was going to try and link to my old one but I can't figure out how.  I will try and be concise.  I have posted about rib tenderness before but am having a new issue. Here's the history:

    Diagnosed with Stage IIb IDC in February, 3 cm, right breast. 1/4 nodes after SNB.

    Clean scans - head CT/Total Body PET/CT in March

    Started neoadjuvant chemo (A/C x4) in March, treatment 4/4 coming up next Monday

    Brought up issue of rib discomfort to MO in April - vague weird discomfort I had noticed for months, even before DX - she ordered rib series of xrays and they were clear. I described it at times as a heaviness on that side or fullness.

    Weird discomfort on left side (non cancer side) worse with a little swelling under left breast.  I got to the point this week where I was noticing it constantly.  Not really pain - I do have occasional little pains in the area but I chalk a lot up to chemo.  This just felt like a heaviness/discomfort and now slight swelling.

    Last night while poking around, I found a lump on my rib area.  I have to really search around to find it but once I do it is definietly there.  I can't gauge the size but it is largish and when I push on it it appears to move a bit, definitely not hard/bony on the actual rib.   I have made my ribs totally sore by pressing on them constantly so I am not in any position to judge if I am really having pain at this point.

    Called MO and nurse told me she would "note it in my file for my appt Monday".  I am stressed beyond all reason about this.  I don't see how it could be a tumor of that size while I have been having chemo that would just pop up.  Hoping for (and posting hoping to hear stories of) - lipomas, cysts, etc...I do have a lipoma on my lower leg that I have had for years so I have had some experience with them.  That one I can feel is squishy though.  The one in my rib area, I don't have that reference, it just kind of rolls up or down when I press on it.  There is nothing equivalent on the other side (cancer side).

    Help :( 

  • lago
    lago Member Posts: 17,186
    edited May 2012

    I answered your PM. hugs

  • kltb04
    kltb04 Member Posts: 1,051
    edited May 2012

    Thanks lago...

  • kltb04
    kltb04 Member Posts: 1,051
    edited May 2012
  • BocaCiegaBabe
    BocaCiegaBabe Member Posts: 98
    edited May 2012

    I do have a good story. An acquaintance was DX'd with breast cancer in 2009. She's had a rough time with her surgeries, later developing sepsis. Finally everything seemed to be going smoothly, then she discovered a lump on her rib. Something was showing up on X-ray as well. It was biopsied and was totally benign--a cyst. Hopefully yours will be just that! Sending good thoughts your way!

  • kltb04
    kltb04 Member Posts: 1,051
    edited May 2012

    Thanks...that's just the kind of thing I hope to hear...I have made a promise to myself not to "mess with" the area this weekend - I made it unbelievably sore yesterday from pressing all over it trying to find the "mystery lump."  My SIL gave me the "highly unlikely that you have a tumor grow up during the middle of chemo after clean scans" speech last night.  I always feel reassured immediately after I talk to someone but then, boom, the worry comes back.  :)

  • kltb04
    kltb04 Member Posts: 1,051
    edited May 2012

    Well I will take this diagnosis any day. It is cartilage. MO felt around on it for about 5 seconds before declaring it so. Such a relief. She is very much a scanner and test runner so the fact that she feels it is not an issue makes me feel tons better!



  • lanagraves
    lanagraves Member Posts: 596
    edited May 2012

    Yay! Glad it is cartilage. Wish my onc were more of a scanner and test runner. He's a good doc but very nonchalant about things.

  • BocaCiegaBabe
    BocaCiegaBabe Member Posts: 98
    edited May 2012

    Oh what a relief it is! ( That old lingo ran through my head as I read your post). Congrats!

  • anamerty
    anamerty Member Posts: 195
    edited August 2012

    having my bliat mast. on Monday . my cancer under 2 cm is in the 7 oclock position pushed up against my rib. I can feel it. Would the cancer spread faster to the bone if it was right on the rib?or is it in the cartilige? Has anybody here ever had their cancer in that spot? My first breast cancer over 13 years ago was in the 6 oclock and pushed up on my rib also, but it was so much smaller than this one, and after my rad treatments they gave me 3 more "boosters" just to that area because it was so close, but this new one seems to be really stuck to the rib

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