Very large lump, throbbing pain, little redness, IBC?

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panda2014
panda2014 Member Posts: 4
edited June 2014 in IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer)

My girlfriend had a very large mass grow inside her left breast almost overnight it seemed. It is maybe about the size of a golf ball or bigger and has at least one pointy edge that sometimes feels like it's bulging out of the skin. It definitely moves around a bit. It causes her great pain... mostly at night. She's had a mammogram and ultrasound and all they could tell is that it was not a cyst and that it appears to only be in the breast tissue. Biopsy is happening tomorrow. A little bit of redness appears, but not like in some of the pictures we have seen and the nipple appears to be retracting a little bit. The skin seems to me to be the same as the other breast.

I know that IBC doesn't usually have a lump, but that doesnt mean it never does. She is experiencing shooting pains in her nipple and she says that she is feeling some itching as well. 

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  • amarantha
    amarantha Member Posts: 457
    edited June 2014

    Dear panda, I am so sorry to read this. It does sound most worrisome. Please keep us posted on how this turns out. I'll be thinking of you and your girlfriend.

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  • panda2014
    panda2014 Member Posts: 4
    edited June 2014

    Does this sound like IBC?

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  • Kicks
    Kicks Member Posts: 4,131
    edited June 2014

     There are MANY possibilities as to what is going on but something is so.  Remember - IBC is rare, only between 1% - 5% of all DXd BC.  So though there is a very slight possibility that IBC is present - it's very unlikely.  Also remember that 80% of all breast biopsies are benign.  No one here can tell you what is going on as we are not medical staff that has actually seen her.

    'It' does not sound like IBC based on how it presented with me.  I never had any reddness, pain or itchiness.  There are no hard and fast rules that IBC has to follow with everyone.

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  • Akevia
    Akevia Member Posts: 209
    edited June 2014

    Hello panda goodluck with your girlfriend's biopsy. I experience shooting pain from the nipple and I also have a large tumor, so yes you can have IBC and have a tumor. Hopefully this is not the case and I hope everything comes back clear!

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  • panda2014
    panda2014 Member Posts: 4
    edited June 2014

    Had biopsies done yesterday. Doctors said very suspicious for malignancy but they said they didn't think it was ibc... Although now I am noticing that the skin is starting to look pitted. Not a good sign. They also found another lump on her rib cage below her breast. One other thing they said was that they didn't see an increase in blood vessels and that might be a good sign?

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited June 2014

    Please let us know how things turn out. We're thinking of you.

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  • panda2014
    panda2014 Member Posts: 4
    edited June 2014

    still waiting but she is starting to have pain deeper inside like in her lungs. Poor girl is trying to apply for assistance now. She is unemployed and has no money and obviously no health insurance. Denied for Medicaid... What a joke.

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  • Kicks
    Kicks Member Posts: 4,131
    edited June 2014

    If you have one in your area, she should see Planned Parenthood for help.

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