Breast Cancer Symptoms - a comprehensive list from those w/bc
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When there is burning or pain else where, is that a sign that it possibly has spread?
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Hi Catmac,
Has what spread? Cancer?
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yes...that is what has been occupying me for a long time now....
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The burning pain through your underarm?
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JOY - I appreciate your full story so much. All the information we share gives others leads to what they are going through.
In general - Went to GP today and where BS left positive margin in multi-focal area that he did not realize was there bcz he did not do enough tests to be fully prepared for my surgery that could have saved my life..... there are still three small masses, though smaller than they were awhile back. There were five. The pain is not as often as it was, the pain now is usually after I have used the RIFE machine on cancer CD and taht was proven w path report that there was unnatural death of cells, neucrosis, so that pain I am happy to feel. The other pain, I was afraid of. I am more concerned with the lymph system and this attaching to the chest wall or ribs.
The point is, listen to your instinct, your body, your fears. I am going to always be diligent about this, even if i am told the cancer is gone, I will do more to make it go away. This is systemic, always systemic.
If others - even med pros are attempting to reassure you, listen to you foremost, it is your body, your life.
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DianeEssa, I love your quote from Rumi. I live by that as well. I just joined this site today because I googled Rife machine and saw the reference here.
Three people have mentioned the Rife machine to me recently...that they believe that it works. I'm so glad to see your great results! Amazing! Did you buy one? I live in NJ and I want to experience it...today!
I am ALL for noninvasive holistic treatments that work!0 -
In response to May 7, 2012 10:38 AM katyand4 wrote: My symptoms when looking back prior to diagnosis were the night sweats and the arm pit odor.
i have also noticed this too.. I also have psoriasis which produces really dry patches of skin I have had this since I was 14. I now have 3 big patches on my body ( 1 patch is right inbetween my Breast friends) but it has only showed up in the last 4 months. Now the doc's think it is unrelated but with the amount of other symptoms I am having, I am wondering if it is just that now.
I have also been under alot of stress. My mom is in the hosiptal right now due to a blockage in her small intestines which she had to have it surgerically removed.
In 07 i had to have a hysterectomy due to Uterine cancer ( stage 2) , and all i needed was surgery ( since it didn't spread to the tubes or cervic)
IN 2011 I was when I got out of an abusive relationship --- which is now over with thank god, but the stress from the everyday living of it was hard on myself and my children.
So here it brings me to this date with having a sore breastfriend and discharge. Waiting to go for a mammo and another US .
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am 41, and a life-long insomniac. about 2 years ago i became absolutely convinced that i had cancer. i thought prob skin cancer so kept going to various places to get every single mole checked and re-checked. they must have thought i was mad. got so anxious ended up having major panic attacks and put on citalopram which helped tho was still convinced i had cancer. GP checked colon, and i even had a brain scan coz the anxiety was making me dizzy. i remember the GP thinking i was just a hyperchondriac, and telling me "there is nothing wrong with you". anyway, eventually decided to do a breast self-exam, and guess what. whole breast full of tumour. i want to go back to him and tell him he should listen to his patients more.... on some weird, sub-conscious level i knew something was amiss
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Did anyone have burning in their neck, behind their ear and in their collar bone? I do not have swollen lympnodes, but have this burning sensation. I looked up where lympnodes would be in your neck and the burning I have is these positions....
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CatMac81, I ended up having a throat infection at the same time too, and a swollen node on the right hand side of my throat which the dr said was unrelated as there was a throat virus going around. took some anti b's and was better in 3 days.
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Diagnosed with IDC at age 48.
I noticed a dimple, thought it was my underwire but had a feeling, so got it checked out. We couldn't see it on mammogram (very dense) but could see it on US and MRI.
Prior to that, I had been experiencing lack of energy (thought it was middle age) and I also had night sweats that I now know (but didn't then) can be a symptom of cancer in the body. No night sweats since my UMX. Never had any pain. No other symptoms.
ETA: My pcp told me a couple of years prior to Dx that my vitamin D was low but I didn't worry about it. After treatment, my internist ran my Vit D and it was 21 (normal is 30+ but my integrative onc wants it above 60). Put me on 5,000 IUs daily and tested again in 3 months. This time it was down to 12! Integrative onc very concerned at this point and was put on 50,000 IUs weekly. Latest blood tests show levels now at 38 so on the improve. My integrative onc believes that my vit D level was probably the cause of my BC and that increasing it above 60 will be very protective against recurrence. Who knows, but it's an easy enough fix if it does the trick!
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Other than the mass I thought was the result of an underwire mishap, and in hindsight, the only other thing was wrong was I was tired. Not tired, but TIRED. My friends always affectionately (at least I hope it was affectionately) teased me for being totally ADD, but I wasn't for probably a month or so before the lump appeared. I was unnaturally tired - so much so that I asked my mother if the thought i had a bad thyroid or something. I went from sleeping about 5 hours/day to needing to nap all the time.
Now, at about 5 months past rads, I'm back to bouncing around, and have been for quite some time, so I guess the tiredness was a symptom of BC.
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The first diagnosis (age 44) I had no symptoms....none. My body just failed me. I had lost 25 pounds in the months prior and was feeling great then my father had a stroke and died 5 months later. Then we went on a cruise. Then my brother-in-law died right after my diagnosis. But I had no idea. Found by a routine mammogram. (see signature for particulars)
Second diagnosis was 4 years 1 month later (age 48) and I kinda knew but was in denial. My breast would itch so bad (only the one with the tumor would itch) and I had lots of pain that continued to get worse and worse until I was diagnosed. I never noticed any eating habit changes as I have been overweight for years and have always craved sweets.
Nobody can ever tell me that breast cancer doesn't hurt....it absolutely can hurt. But now that I was feeling so great the first time and I got cancer I can never be sure about the signals my bodies gives me any more. It's sad.
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Thank you everyone for contributing to this invaluable reference thread. I cannot adequately express how grateful I am that so many people have described their symptoms, or lack of them, in such detail.
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A lot of new experiences on the list, good to read. I have shooting pain and burning in the right axilla. Did have before the surgery too. Well, after a PET CT, brain MRI, breast and axilla US and all the CBC and bloodwork, then biopsies of axilla nodes...... there is no cancer EXCEPT in the right axilla where the surgeon did not check enough prior to surgery and ended up leaving cancer nodes, there are three still in there that show cancer. The left neck nodde was questionablee and found through biopsy to be clear, probably infection. But I repeat, this is systemic, I will never stop making choices to support my body to stave off cancer growth.
Yes, burning pain in nodes can be cancer, but it can also be infection.
The tired part, something is wrong, when we are so exhaussted, something is always wrong even if not cancer, and we need to figure it out and rest too, not easy to do at once, I know. I remember needing a nap five times a day, too tired to get up in morning at worst of it. I know I am so much better because even with the node cancer I am trucking around feel pretty good. Now to deal with these nodes.
Bottomline, make sure your surgeon does enough tests to know what he is getting into, I think a sentinel node is not enough, why should I need two or three surgeriees when he could have ordered an MRI or PET CT prior to surgery, the mmammo and US is not enough.
Again, thanks to all who stop to add to the list. It comes up for google searches and those seeking are getting more help this way. Bump it after you read, a way to pass it forward to more on bco who need to add or read to learn.
Diane Essa
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It was an interesting read. Has anyone had the incredibly shrinking breast? Mine has shrunk nearly a cup size in the last month. Not diagnosed yet and am seeing the bs this Friday. (Bump)
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Mine is shrunken bcz the surgeon removed 25% of it, but don't think that counts does it LOL though not funny at all but we have to laugh anyway or we just sit and stare.
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I was diagnosed last August with multi-focal IDC. I felt a "lumpiness" in my right breast in late March though. I've always had fibrocystic changes in my breast, especially the right one, so I figured that was all is was, although deep down, I knew it was different than my usual fibrocystic changes. I always thought that a cancerous breast lump would feel like a pea-sized lump or marble sized lump, not lumpy. I watched it for a several weeks and I thought I noticed it decreasing in size certain times of the month, so again I convinced myself that these were fibrocystic. as did finally make an appointment with my GYN to have her take a look and, of course, I cancelled it. I told myself that it was fine for me to wait until August (when my routine mammo was scheduled) to figure out what it was. Oh, and I noticed my nipple was just slightly inverted when I raised my right arm......that should have been a huge warning sign to me!!!
Two years prior, I had what they called "benign calcifications" in that same breast.....hmmmm???? I wonder.
I went on that day in August for my routine mammo, mentioned to the tech my new lumpiness finding in the right breast. Had the routine mammo, which then turned into a diagnostic mammo, which then turned into an ultrasound. While I was having the ultrasound, the resident and tech were pressing so hard in my lymph nodes and I knew immediately somethingn was up. Within a few minutes the attending came in and pretty much told me that I had breast cancer and did I want to have a biopsy that day. Obviously, I called my husband and he came into the city to be with me and I had my biopsy within the hour. Love the fact that I went to a Comprehensive Breast Center.....no waiting for results!!! So basically, I went in that day and had a routine mammogram and walked out 4 hours later knowing I probably had breast cancer!
That lumpy feeling in the breast was actually two lesions, very close together. That is why it felt lumpy and not like a marble or pea! There were two buggers in there!
My advice to women is any changes that you see/feel in your breasts, please go to your doctor and have them take a look. Any difference at all.....period! Know your boobs!
Up to that time, I was feeling great! I was thinner than I ever had been, working out, etc......
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I was diagnosed last November with IDC, Stage 1 Grade 2. I had no symptoms whatsoever until diagnosis, except for the lump I found accidentally when getting dressed one day. I ran 5ks, did yoga several times a week, am (and was) in grad school, helped care for my aging parents AND my grandchildren, and published my thesis. I tell my DH that the last day I felt *really good* was the day I was diagnosed - and it's been downhill from there. I had no family hx of BC, and simply could not believe my dx. It was almost surreal.
And DianeEssa, you're right - a sense of humor makes all the difference in the world. I laugh at myself all the time, mostly to keep from crying. I joke about my cancer frequently, maybe a little too much too often, but I choose to find the humor where I can, when I can.
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You are right about having a sense of humor when things are tough, NancyHb and DianeEssa. It makes things go so much easier when you're under stress. I started calling my breast Lumpy Rutherford and now it's Shrinky Dink.
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I think eveybody around me figures ive lost my mind cause i'm trying so hard to keep my sense of humour. I actually told a friend this morning - yes i have cancer. Yes i'm going to die. But the two are not necessarily related! Sick sense of humour i know, but they say true stuff is the best :-)
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I'm so used to facebook. I almost tried to find the like button. I love your sense of humor ridergirl.
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I use humor in all sorts of situations, but have learned that not everyone finds my "dark humor" to be funny, so I have to be careful. I've named my breasts Lucy ("righty-tighty, lefty-loosey", and it's my left breast that has been giving me so much trouble) and Ethel. My hot flashes are "Mildred, you b*tch." I dressed up in a pink tulle skirt and headband, glitter shoes, and black sequins for my final chemo, calling myself the Boob Fairy. I play the Cancer Card with my family and close friends - but only as a joke - and in general it seems to put people more at ease. I try to think about laughter being good medicine, and being light-hearted has helped ME feel better about all of this, too. It's not always easy, but I keep trying. :-)
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Nancy, I try to laugh too. Might as well, and as you say, it makes me feel better.
I like your nick names. It reminds me of my grandmother who always named her cars and all her household appliances ( the appliances were named for the maids she used to havein the good old days).
One of our dogs is named Lucy, which often becomes Lucy-goosy.0 -
Sense of humor about it is the only thing that puts my friends at ease, which helps me deal and not feel like a victim
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The first symptoms of breast cancer are not humor and hopefulness for most. BUT it gets to that point where you just gotta go there. I remember two months ago when I had lost weight for no reason, 20 pounds in 6 weeks, we know it's cancer, and the gp's nurse kept saying how good it was and she knew I was nauseous, dizzy, irritable.... and I let her have it then said, did I mention I am easily irritated and mad at the world? she said yes, and then I was bawling when she left the room. Then sitting there while my (female) GP examined breast and I was still sniffling and then we laughed and I said, I never would have thought I would start bawling over losing weight, and we laughed harder.
So appreciate all the experiences. This is a thread breast cancer people are giving to their med people and friends, it is a running list of what can happen in real life, so we don't feel alone and so we are in reality of is it or isn't it, and don't let anyone tell you it isn't until you know it isn't.
Need humor or to let off steam, see threads on bco - you're going to love these --- and bring on all the humor you want here too, we need it.
You Know You're A Cancer Patient When
OMG They found a cure for stupid
Bonfire of the goddesses
Diane Essa
edited for typos and an afterthought.....
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I really appreciate all of these posts with your symptoms. I just received the phone call that they found "cluster calcification" on my mammogram and that I need to come back for another one that is higher magnification. They told me not to worry..yeah, right. I had low Vit D and was put on high dose for a month and then told to take a supplement with calcium 2x a day. I also began waking up in the middle of the night sweating. (menopause happened 8 years ago and have not had night sweats in at least 5 or 6 years) Another symptom that I have (and I am not trying to buy trouble where there is none yet, but I am concerned so wanted to share before I am Dx'd) is my nipple on the breast that needs re-imaging has been itching like crazy! No lumps have been detected. I had cervical cancer in 1978 and after a wide conization, was pronounced cancer free (carcinoma in-situ) and I had two healthy children. I breast fed one of them. I also had my first period at the age of 10 (almost 11) and I know that is a concern.
No family history of BC but father's side loaded with other types. He lost 2 sibs in their 50's and his mom. I have been under a LOT of stress for the last 3 years. Husband out of work, Mom passed away and caring for father with dementia. Another thing that may or may not be related to having possible BC or calcification is I have been on Weight Watchers and have lost over 80 lbs in the last 19 months which is what I attributed the night sweats to. I thought it played with my hormones.
I am really scared. I am glad I found this community because I have a hunch I am going to need you all a lot. Even if benign, my understanding is that once cal clusters are found, the chances of developing BC are higher.
Thanks for all of the information. I really appreciate it.
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I found a lump, more like a mass now back in Oct. since then I have been to 3 drs. All of them feel it and another one I didn't know about. I have had 2 mammos and 3 US an they come back clear. It is painful, have a red looking rash near the same area as the mass, extremely tired, and very worried!! I feel like something is being missed, the mass wasn't there and now it is, but nobody is listening because mammos and US were clear. My 30 year old niece was just diagnose last week with stage 3 breat cancer. So now I am even more worried.
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Excellent topic...looking back on the months before the dx I started losing weight. I had cut out all sweet stuff so I just chalked it up to that but I recall now I lost it rather quickly. I did not have any pain but my energy was zapped a little. Have to admit I was blindsided too by the dx although my sister and I are considered high risk because our mother had bc in her late 60s. She died in her 80s but not from bc. While we are categorized as high risk because of genetics I do not fit any of the likely to get bc criteria...had baby at a young age and in my 30s as well; menses at age 13, etc....fact is other than the family connection doctors do not know why we are the unlucky ones.
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wrsmith - I'm curious about the itching you said you had. I was dx in Nov'11 had a lumpectomy and rads (see sig). Recently the breast with the diagnosis has itched so badly that the only thing that makes it stop is to put an ice pack on it. It's strange because even though it's the same breast, the itch is on the bottom under side and the cancer was high on the top near my sternum, almost in the muscle. I'm wondering if I should be concerned about the itching or if I should contact me Dr.?
thanks for any info/insight you can give me
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