I recently had a scare with breast cancer and I decided to research it. I found out that just because your Mammogram and Ultrasound are clear doesn’t mean you are free of breast cancer. There are many types, and some do not involve a solid mass. There is a type of breast cancer called Inflammatory Breast cancer that is often not detected by a Mammogram or Ultrasound. This is an uncommon type of cancer that forms in layers or nests. It is a very aggressive cancer that can often look like a breast infection. The symptoms of IBC are: changes in the shape or size, breasts that are warm or hot to the touch, change in the normal color of your breast, skin that appears red, pink, or bruised, for no apparent reason, change in the texture, may look like the texture of an orange, nipple discharge, itchy breasts, swollen lymph nodes in the underarm or above the collarbone. The most reliable test for IBC is a biopsy. Be your own advocate!
Glad to see you are educating about Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC).
I would add one thing though; this ‘can’ come on literally overnight. Literally waking in the morning to a swollen breast or black and blue or a bug bite. Not all those symptoms of course, but this is a nasty breast cancer, and NOT all that uncommon anymore. With the advent of the internet you can find support groups and research into IBC.
Great website and great networking tool.
Patti Bradfield, CEO
The Inflammatory Breast Cancer Foundation
http://www.eraseibc.com