IBC Patients on Their Own Symptoms Prior to Diagnosis
- ” … swelling on my breast“
- “I’d had mastitis and abscesses — and I knew this wasn’t like those. It was approximately six weeks from onset to where I could feel golf-ball sized tumor.“
- “First redness appeared … then swollen lymph nodes.“
- “I developed a lump while breast feeding … doctor just blew this lump off as infection of a milk gland.“
- “I thought I noticed a slight change in the appearance of my right breast, but did not pay much attention to it at the time, since I had been menopausal and had started to take HRT and felt changes were related to hormones. A few months later, I noticed a hardness and tenderness in the breast.“
- “I did notice something was different; but I thought I was having a reaction to a new detergent, heat rash, overweight, wrong size bra, etc. … have had fibrocyctic disease and was used to lumps coming and going. Had no sign of a lump until I had a huge lump!“
- “At the end of Feb, I noticed my right breast was a little larger than my left, by the time I went in for my annual physical in Apr my right breast was much larger. I was not concerned about this because I have cystic breasts and my GP would drain them and I’m on my way. NO big deal.“
- “I felt hardening of my breast about 1 year before I was diagnosed.“
- “I saw a star-burst on my right breast.“
- “I always thought that I found something on self-exams, so didn’t do them often. It was slightly painful, but that may have been because I was under the misapprehension that “cancerous lumps don’t hurt.” I may have convinced myself it was painful “after” I discovered it, so as to have a reason it couldn’t be cancer.“
- “I noticed redness and edema of left breast beginning of November; attributed it to breast changes due to pregnancy. Felt a lump around Thanksgiving.“
- “I had discomfort under my right arm. I just thought it was muscle strain from gardening. Come to find out it was cancer in the lymph nodes.“
- “I had no warning of anything wrong … never noticed any changes.“
- “… had some itching that felt like she had been exposed to fiberglass“
- “I woke up the day after Thanksgiving and breast hurt when I rolled over to that side.“
- “My breast was slightly more sensitive (in an uncomfortable sort of way) about 1 year prior to diagnosis.“
- “I had gained a few pounds so I thought my breasts were getting larger. I was working so hard I didn’t pay any attention at first.“
- “My left breast was larger … I changed to a different bra … I felt like I was nursing which I hadn’t done for 25 years, Ob/GYN said that’s OK, “many women have one breast that gets larger as they grow older” … BSE, Dr exam, and mammogram all negative … I shouldn’t have accepted the BS about one gets larger than the other.“
- “I had a huge lump that appeared overnight (2 days before Thanksgiving) … I was diagnosed with IBC in two weeks.“
- “… knew something was different when my right breast started itching constantly and nothing would relieve the itching. It took about two months to diagnose IBC after the intense itching but longer than that from the time I had pain.“
- “Overnight a tangerine sized lump formed in my right breast. It was slightly uncomfortable and itchy. It quickly grew to baseball, then orange size. A reddish bruise-like mark appeared on the outside, right side of my breast, near the nipple. my areola had been swelling and receding for months, but my nipples were pierced and I thought it was a reaction (as did my doctor – thought it was an infection). My breast did, for about 2-3 weeks, become red and hot, but that went away. It is now usually pink and slightly warm. I went through five antibiotics, 2 ultrasounds, a mammogram, and 2 needle biopsies; the second needle biopsy finally came up positive, … in a rather negative way! My breast is now larger than a grapefruit (all lump), very itchy, the bruise is still there and spreading around the areola. I have sharp stabbing pains frequently. It has been 2 months and 6 days since I first found the lump.“
