Back here again.... will be demanding an MRI on Monday

Hi All,

I first posted on here 6yrs ago for changes etc that showed as very dense area in upper outer quadrant of my right breast..... as i was 33 at the time I was fobbed off by a breast surgeon as too young with a denses breast and he ushered me out of his office 😕 I'm 39 now.

I have recently been feeling some weird pains in the right breast as well as let down reflex which burns like heck and also have a thick sticky discharge from that nipple, which I noticed last night also has some clearness to it.

However. .... it's actually my left breast which has been giving me the most anxiety provoking issues which are visible and worsening since November.

For approx 8 or so months my left armpit has felt bruised and is sometimes more swollen than usual and i have had odd twinges of pain between nipples/breast and a pulling sensation in my armpit.

In November i woke up one day and my left breast absolutely stung like wasps had attacked it and had weird visible ropey lumps running across the top & down the sides etc and i noticed a sideways v shaped indent where my left breast was pulling in. I thought hmmmm, I'll wait and see if it's period related.

Turns out its not.

Went to Dr early December who sent me for ultrasound saying she'd never seen it before and that she was more concerned about a hard .5cm lump at 6 o clock on my right breast under my nipple.

Went for ultrasound and the radiographer says 'it looks like you have varicose veins in your breast, i have never seen that before, I'm going to get the Dr to come in and have a look also, is that ok?'... next minute in comes the Dr who also reckons he has never seen it before 😕 they looked at it, felt it, were baffled by it, checked for compression and blood flow then sent me on my way.

By the time my Dr received the report he reported it as 'a superficial vein in upper left breast'...

My Dr calls to give me those results approx a week later and says to me 'all clear, you're fine', i responded with 'actually I've had more changes and have thickening in the left outer quadrant, redness and puckering, i have pain in my left shoulder and down my left arm and all my veins are sticking out on my arm, I'd like you to send me for a mammogram' she told me to come in so i did and she looked and felt around, wondered if mri may be better but not covered by medicare. So sent me for a mammogram and on the form simply wrote 'lump at 5 o clock on left breast'

I attended for mammogram on 2nd jan.

Tech reads form and says ok so you are just here for a routine mammogram? I answered with 'erm, actually I'm having some issues ' she takes one look at my breast and tells me she'll be right back.

She returns and says you've actually been booked in for an ultrasound as well.

So have my mammo, then in for ultrasound and the radiographer goes 'ooh, i can feel that' as she runs over the thickening with the probe, she zooms in etc and i see that she's taking lots of pics and titling it as 'ROI'. She then explains she'll have the Dr come and have a closer look. She comes back with the dr who looks totally disinterested and stands at other side of room watching the screen. Radiographer goes over where my boob is pulling in and dr says 'hmmmm ' radiographer is in that area for a while and is looking expectantly at the Dr when the Dr says 'probably just normal breast tissue' and turns to leave, radiographer tries to draw her attention to the area of thickening and the Dr responds with 'is young, probably just breast tissue ' and walks out the door.

Radiographer looked at me and apologised. Says if you notice anything else make sure you follow it up. Wipe your self over and get changed.

Anyhoos, fast forward and I now also have a long indentation line under my left breast, it's dark pink for the bottom half, is now the same size as my right boob, flipping burns and itches like mad inside, can't lay on it, it hurts behind my nipple as well, my 4& 1/2 year olds head when he rests on my chest has me whincing in pain with watery eyes, the thickening has more than doubled and now looks orange peel like in parts of it (had hubby help take some photos of my boob) and he said 'why does it look like that? ' lol and he said it feels alot hotter than the other one. I've been tracking the changes in photos since just before xmas and you can see the changes plain as day.

Sorry for super long post, I'm anxious and after receiving a call last wed to say my mammo & ultrasound were clear, I've requested an appt with my Dr again for Monday as I'm going to demand an MRI & a referral for a biopsy.

Couple that happening with my left breast with the weird feelings and discharge coming from my right nipple and I am seriously pooping myself!!!

Did you ever breastfeed your child? Is there any chance you have an infection in the duct?

I wonder if you have seen your PCP to discuss this. Maybe a breast specialist could see you but if cancer isn't what is going on, they could refer you to the proper person. There are other things that can cause these symptoms.

Glad you are investigating cancer first and hope your concerns are respected. If you keep hearing it is not cancer, that does not mean there is nothing to address. I have had infections that caused similar symptoms.

(I also had discharge for years and years in both breasts. I believe discharge was relevant to cancer only when it was black or greenish black but they can test the discharge for you, easily.)

Quick update

Saw my GP this afternoon, although mammogram and ultrasound came back ok and noted significant density in left breast.

She's referred me to a breast surgeon due to the visual changes of pulling in, orange peel skin, redness and my left breast is in her words 'alot hotter than the other one, 'it's also concerning how quickly the changes have happened in the last 8 weeks, especially with the growth of your left breast i think it's best we just send you to a breast surgeon and have our fingers crossed '. Thanks Doc....

My appointment with the breast surgeon is this Friday.

Shezza33 with those symptoms you should push for a skin punch biopsy, the only way to reliably detect IBC, even if it means consulting with a dermatologist. Swelling, skin thickness, redness, heat and peau d'orange are very concerning symptoms. Despite what the breast specialist said, the open sores and scabbing don't happen immediately (although there is often an area that looks like a rash), it happens as the IBC progresses if it isn't caught quickly or doesn't respond to the first treatment tried as the cancer breaks through the skin. I don't want to scare you by urging you to push for a skin punch biopsy, but it should be able to confirm or rule out IBC, and all an MRI can do is "maybe" confirm the need for a punch biopsy while wasting more time. I learned the hard way that even an MRI doesn't reliably detect IBC.

Even after treating me from Day One of a Stage IV de novo diagnosis of IBC, when I had skin changes a few months ago and suspected recurrence, I was told by my MO that it didn't "look like cancer" and he sent me for an MRI that didn't show anything suspect. It wasn't taken seriously until it got so bad again that now we haven't yet figured out how to slow it down, let alone stop it this time and I'm frustrated that it wasn't taken more seriously even though we'd gone this road once before.

If they don't specialize in IBC they don't always understand the symptoms and how to properly diagnose. Keeping my fingers crossed that it turns out to be something else for you.

Dear LoriCA,

I hope you get things figured out soon! To me it sound like inflammatory breast cancer which my mother was diagnosed with a few years ago! I know how you feel being younger and no one wanting to hear you out. I am 28 and having similar problems that they say are just normal dense breast tissue. Bull I say! Haha we know our bodies best and know when something is NOT right! Good luck and I hope you have a safe and healthy recover given the outcome!💖

Sincerely,

B055W0man

Shezza33 his comments make me mad. After spending time on this forum I understand why doctors might be skeptical about IBC, it seems like every woman who has slight redness starts freaking out that she has IBC, but it's frustrating to deal with skepticism when it does turn out to be IBC. If he's confirmed that you have all of those symptoms - heat, noticeable swelling, skin thickness, discoloration, peau d'orange, puckering, and excoriation, and your doctor has commented on how quickly symptoms are progressing, it needs to be taken seriously, not tell you that it may take months to schedule an MRI. Try the cream, but if your symptoms continue to progress or if that rash breaks open and starts oozing, it needs immediate attention.

It's tough to biopsy for IBC because of the way it forms, there is no defined lump. At my original dx they did three punch biopsies to make sure they got a sample that contained the cancerous cells, and they didn't biopsy the "rash" itself, they took samples of the surrounding skin.

I really hope it is just a rash and that you don't have IBC, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, but if your doctors have confirmed that you have all of the textbook symptoms and that they are surprised at how rapidly it's progressing, they shouldn't be wasting any time to confirm or rule it out. It makes all the difference in catching it while it's still curable (Stage 3 vs Stage IV). I'm the first one to tell people when their symptoms don't sound at all like IBC, but I also won't hesitate to tell people when I think their symptoms are concerning because I've gone through it. And I really don't want to scare you, I feel bad just talking about it, but I want to urge you to not waste any time if your symptoms continue to get worse.

Heya,

I thought I'd jump on for a quick update to say that I've had my beast mri and 2 days later received a call from the surgeons breast care nurse to let me know that my breast surgeon is on leave but would like to see me as soon as he is back. When I asked if anything had been found she said that it looks like what they can see in my left breast appears to be benign, but that there's something showing in my right breast that he'd like to 'discuss the way forward from here' with me. She then said she couldn't discuss anything further with me, but that in the meantime if i notice any other changes to make contact immediately, and proceeded to give me my appointment time.

To say I am freaking out a lil is probably an understatement.

I will still ask for punch biopsies of the left breast as the orange peel affect, redness, heat and pain is still there. Plus by the time my mri rolled around my areola has also changed colour and the bottom halves of both my nipples are now purple 😕