Anyone with tumor location above the breast?

My tumor was located in a similar spot, right breast, toward my armpit. It was found during a routine mammogram, I was really lucky that they caught it. During my screening mammogram, the tech kept redoing my right breast, telling me that there was a skin fold. At the time I was annoyed, and when I got the callback for the follow up mammogram, I wasn't worried at all because I assumed that he tech screwed up with the original mammogram. I was 48 at diagnosis, no family history of BC, breast fed both my children, never smoked.

I do know exactly how you feel. At the time of my diagnosis a good friend was battling Stage 4 BC (she died the following year) so I knew exactly what could happen to me. It's common to blame yourself, BUT IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT, NOTHING YOU DID CAUSED YOUR CANCER. You're not going to die any time soon, and probably not going to die from BC. The 5 year survival,rate is over 97 percent. There are many good treatments for BC, and more are being developed all the time. This will change your life, but in many ways it can be for the better. As I approach my 3 year cancerversary I have a new perspective on what I see important in life, and I have opened myself to new experiences and new friendships. While I do wish that I had never been diagnosed it does not have to be all bad.

Good luck to you, sending a warm hug your way. You WILL get through this

On the positive side, the lumpectomy didn't affect the overall look of my breast. The incisions are in the crease between breast and arm. I'd be happy to answer any question or concerns you have, or just offer support. Feel free to private message me as well

cherry- I'm sorry you found yourself here. But this is a wonderful supportive community to help you through this difficult time. The tumor in my left breast was just behind the nipple, so my situation was rather different. It was not seen on the mammo either, but I had bleeding, so my gyn sent more testing. However, this story is about my mom, who, 25 years ago, had a lump high above her right breast. For several years she could feel it, but each mammo she had showed nothing. Finally, a more experienced and persistent tech turned the machine in a different way and sure enough was able to capture an image of the tumor that warranted more testing and showed a malignancy. She counts that tech as one of the people who saved her life. She just celebrated her 76th birthday this month. She did have a lumpectomy chemo and radiation followed by Tamoxifen. Back then, reconstruction was not commonplace so in 25 years her right breast has lost more of its lift than the left, but as she says, "I can live with that." It's a frightening time you're going through. Be sure to ask your dr for support for your mental health as well. Good luck to you. ((Hugs))

Cherry:

My tumor was above the nipple -- about 2 inches -- directly above. Noon location. There was a possibility of chest muscle invasion. I chose BMX, and if the chest muscle was involved it would have required rads, but it was not. So there's every chance you will not have that issue, too.

Mine was ILC, which usually presents larger on actual path/surgery than in scans. MRI showed 1.2, actual 1.8. I was very small and felt the lump, which I believe it not typical for ILC. So I feel lucky to have found it.

Sorry you are here. BUT -- take a breath and ask questions. No matter how small. BC.org is literally a life-saver, or was for me. This will get better, I can promise you. And I'm new to this as well.

Cherry:

I did not have to have Chemo because the Oncotype test the result indicated no chemo (score of 14). I believe in Europe they more widely use Mammoprint.

Lumpectomy was suggested in my case, and then I would have also had radiation, so this may be an excellent course of treatment. Due to ILC and family history, I chose BMX.

Ask lots of questions. On this list and to your doctors.

Good luck and thinking of you.

Cherry,

Once your lumpectomy is done, you will know a lot more. The treatment plan is usually put together after that. Even here in the US people don't just choose to have chemo. They can choose not to have it though. In my case, since the tumor was small, medium grade, caught early my doc did not think that I would need chemo. Turns out that I had a positive node, and Oncotype was intermediate, so the docs recommended chemo. I could have chosen not to do it but I decided that I wanted to do all I can to beat the cancer. I suppose I could have pushed for a mastectomy, but since the survival rates are the same for both surgeries, I didn't see the point, and I am rather attached to my breasts.

Cherry, you should update your diagnosis (type, grade, size, hormone status)in your profile, and make it public. Then we will be able to see it in your signature and people can give you more specific info.

my tumor was located very high in the breast, up in the tail of the breast which is almost under your armpit. It was about the size of a cherry, so obviously it had been there awhile. I have regular mammograms but I think that the plates just didn't capture that space. The last mammogram finally caught a shadow, so they did an ultrasound and that's where they found the tumor.

Even so, it was still an early breast cancer. They were able to excise it all with a lumpectomy. When we found out that I had to gene mutations that cause breast cancer, I had a bilateral mastectomy. I did have four rounds of chemo, due to my PR negative status. But no radiation.

My chances of remaining cancer free are pretty high. I don't sit around worrying about whether this could recur. It will either recur or it won't. 100% or 0%. I refuse to waste time and energy worrying about something that has not even happened yet. If it does happen, then I will deal with it pragmatically just as I always have.

My cancer is what i call above the breast also, about in line with my armpit. Directly above the nipple (called "twelve o'clock" but a few inches above the nipple) Found by me and then seen on ultrasound. Never seen on mammo prior.

After the diagnosis, I was sent for bilateral MRI and for another mammo so the surgeon would have a mammo of the biopsy clip. The mammo tech could not get the clip in the photos without my help. She took a couple mammos and then was "I don't see the clip" I showed her where it was (since I could feel the lump) and we had to do a lot of maneuvering to get that tissue in the mammo machine. Awkward,and painful for the photos

Mine is the most common breast cancer, IDC, so there are ducts up there!

I am almost 6 years from my stage IV IBC diagnosis. I am so happy to be here and feeling pretty good. I have some mobility problems now but they are not connected to cancer. I have a good number of scars and I don't care one bit. Sometimes, I wonder about that--my lack of caring about all the scars. But I just don't care.

I guess I don't worry too much about the scars either. They can only be seen if I lift my arm up and you look at my armpit (which hopefully no one does). My skin there is also discolored because of the radiation boosts, but it's been fading over time.

Radiation was pretty easy after chemo. My hospital is close to my office, so I did the treatments during lunch. The whole thing takes ten minutes. About 3 weeks in, my skin started getting red right at the edge of my bra line where my incisions were but my doc was right on top of it. I had to put Aquafor and bandage the affected area for the rest of the treatments. At my hospital they have a lot of safety protocols with the radiation to make sure that no mistakes are made. After I finished treatments, my breast felt very firm, but two years later, it's almost back to normal. My skin healed very quickly after. I am lucky that my tumor was in my right breast, so no issues with my heart. I found the radiation fascinating. In my next life, I will be a radiation oncologist. So much math and physics involved. They have to determine the optimal angle for the beams so that they get the tissue they want without affecting other areas. The best part isn't that all of my underarm hair is completely gone on that side, so no more shaving, lol. As far as long term side effects, I'm only two and a half years out of treatment, so who knows what will happen in the future

Cherry, my lumpectomy scar looked great, even though it was about 4" long. Unfortunately, my BMX scars looked pretty terrible. I lost a lot of tissue to necrosis and the recovery was long and arduous. It's been about a year & a half and the scars look a lot better now. Not pretty, but at least they aren't angry red now.

I wanted to speak to your comments about my positive attitude and tell you how I found my strength: This is not my first rodeo.

My youngest son was born with severe global developmental delays. He was medically fragile, had feeding problems, and in every way remained like a newborn baby for over a year. DS was found to be blind and deaf. Needless to say, we were frantic to find answers and he needed full support all the time--we couldn't leave him with anyone. He had over 200 blood tests, to no avail. Our geneticist finally told us that whatever it was, it probably was bad; he told me to take my son home and love him as long as we could. He wasn't expected to live long.

I was utterly devastated. I mean, so much that I was almost paralyzed. I couldn't take care of my children. All I could do was lie in the bed with my son and cry. Other people stepped in a brought food, took my kids to activities, and did my laundry. And I just cried and cried.

And then, six weeks later the geneticist called. It seems that one test came back that made the diagnosis--an extremely rare chromosome disorder that normally causes babies to die in utero or shortly after birth. DS was already 2. The doctor said that although DS would never walk or talk or in any way take care of himself, his health seemed unaffected--in other words, his main requirements would be educational and supportive care. I was stunned. Here I had just WASTED 6 weeks of my children's lives laying in deep depression, mourning events that would never happen. In other words, I borrowed trouble.

Even though the diagnosis was pretty bleak, it snapped me out of my depression and set my feet on firm ground. My motto became, "Whatever it takes!" I would do absolutely anything to help my boy overcome. I pushed him hard in PT, OT, and Speech therapy. I dragged him around on my back, saying, "You gotta walk, son. I can't carry you forever." I found ways to trick him into eating from a spoon. I was like a woman on fire! My other kids thought I was horrible, because I sometimes made him cry. And you know what? Most of those dire predictions didn't come true. DS learned to feed himself, learned to walk, swim, and ride a horse. DS turned out to have some vision and only mild hearing deficits. He went on to win blue ribbons in Special Olympics and horse competitions. He even learned to camp!

Today, my son is 22, a grown man 6'3". Of the approximately 150 children worldwide who have his particular disability, he is the only adult who is still walking. He has a happy, fulfilled life, living in a group home and attending a special needs program for adults. What if I had given in to that depression? what if I had not pushed him so hard? How different would his life have been? And what would my other children have learned from it--that when the going gets tough, the tough wimp out? NO! Not on my watch!

Whatever it takes, a motto that has served me well for over 20 years.