Confused?!

Nlunn27, yes, it's possible. When a pathologist notes the presence of breast cancer, Inflammatory bc is a clinical diagnosis--something a doctor would diagnose based on the "clinical" appearance of your breast.

I noticed a 3-inch circle of light red skin, that had orange peel (peau d'orange) texture within it, and my gyno sent me for a diagnostic mammo and ultrasound. They discovered a 0.8 cm lump under the "umbrella" of redness and peau d'orange, and a needle biopsy proved IDC cells in the lump. Then we were in high gear...everyone concentrated on the lump, ignoring the red skin. I had a lumpectomy and it was a big nasty surprise to discover the extent of my lymph node involvement. I did notice that during the first couple of days following the lumpectomy, the red spot had turned very bright red and angry looking, and had become significantly larger. This effect faded somewhat as the incision healed.

It wasn't until I saw my oncologist for the first time that the red spot was even mentioned. She had a look and wanted a skin biopsy. Sure enough, there were IDC cancer cells in the lymphatic channels of the skin, which is the basis for an inflammatory BC diagnosis. Clinically, to make a formal IBC diagnosis, the redness/swelling/rash (however an individual's IBC manifests itself ) must involve at least a third of the breast skin (which mine did not, but it was pretty close).

Redness and swelling next to the lumpectomy incision could simply be a response to the trauma of surgery. But keep asking, and think about getting a medical oncologist involved. IBC is pretty uncommon, and many physicians have never seen a case.