Does Breast Cancer Hurt - honest truth from bc patients
Comments
-
Does anyone think it's necesaary for me to call back and mention the armpit pain? Thank you!
0 -
A year and a half before diagnosis of Stage III IDC, I had the bee sting pains. Being large breasted and going through peri-menopause, I figured that was the reason. I would have those sharp shooting pains especially before going to sleep. Some nights it was so painful, I had trouble falling asleep. I can remember on at least 4 occasions, searching the internet about breast pain and cancer. Everything I read, and I mean everything said pain means no cancer. Had I only known, I could have probably saved my left breast and caught it much earlier.
I might also mention that I felt fluid running around in my breast. I know realize it was because the ducts were blocked, my nodes were involved, etc. and the lymphatic fluid was trying to find its way.
My lump was large and deep and even surgeon had hard time feeling it. Thankfully, a small lump developed on surface that was my "save your life" lump. I am always telling women that BREAST PAIN CAN MEAN CANCER! Thanks for starting this!
0 -
I also had pain. Mine was 1.9 cm in 3 oclock position. It was a shooting pain and tender to touch. It also moved around. My doc thought it was a cyst but sent me for tests anyway.
0 -
Mland, I would mention it to the ultrasound tech so that she can pay more attention to that area, good luck to you
0 -
jankc...yes I know that I have the possibility of having to have unnecessary biopsies as a result of the MRI, but I am prepared to face them if I have to. I need to know for sure that I am clear. Keeping my fingers, legs, eyes.......CROSSED!
0 -
Yes, my tumors did hurt.Largest one was 2,5 cm It was at the 3 o'clock position, For literally years I had complained to my gp and obgyn about pain in my left armpit and intermittent swelling, They always brushed me off. My (then) GP even said "If it was a tumor, you'd be dead by now."
0 -
Mine hurt, too. And it hurt months prior to me feeling it. I was told by a friend who is a naturopath that you're more susceptible to breast cancer if you have painful breasts before your period. I don't know whether to believe it or not. What I do know is that I've always had painful breasts during PMS. And after my surgery, and radiation, I don't have pain on that side during PMS anymore. I do have pain with the other breast still. It makes me nervous considering I have the gene. I didn't know that when I chose a lumpectomy over a mastectomy. Sometimes, I wish people would stop sharing information with me. lol
0 -
I had pain too that felt it was deep that would come and go and last a few seconds in the summer of 07. The only reason I ended up going to the doctor at the end of 07 becasue I ran into a washing machine at work that caused a hemotoma to form in the same breast that had pain.
0 -
1openheart, I'm crossing my fingers and counting on scar tissue for you, all clearly visible in the MRI!
0 -
Thanks, jankc! Me too.
0 -
I had pain so bad it would wake me up in the middle of the night. It would start and stop for no reason. That used to drive me nuts, I wanted a reason. It would hurt for hours then not hurt again for days. It was so very random. When I went to the Dr, he told me it was a infected duct and gave me antibiotics. They did nothing, of course. It hurt until a few weeks after I started taking tamoxifen. The mass has shrunk to about half the size it was a few months ago. Now, there is no pain.
0 -
Thank you, Maud. I think I am feeling overly worried right now! I will definitely mention it to the tech. To everyone else sharing their information/experiences, thank you!
0 -
Let's look at two statements.
1) "Most of the time pain in the breast does not turn out to be breast cancer."
2) "Most of the time breast cancer doesn't hurt."
These two statements are completely different. The first statement is almost undeniably true, and I think that's the statement that most doctors are telling their patients. But the second statement isn't necessarily true, and many women are apparently being told the first and translating it into the second.
If you don't agree with me, change the two statements around and see what you think:
1) "Most of the time a lump in the breast does not turn out to be breast cancer."
2) "Most of the time breast cancer doesn't present as a lump."
Again, the first statement is certainly true but the second is not. Think about it! It's the same with pain!
0 -
Am not even going to try to understand that post.....yewie
It is obvious that many women on this thread were dismissed by their docs and to negate their experience, well, beyond words
0 -
hello, I had no pain in my breast prior to finding my lump, I had soreness under my arm, but not pain and in the shower one morning there it was a hard lump and because I worked in the O R for 15 yrs and retired from a clinic when I was diagnosed I knew right away even before the biopsy, I called my Fiancee at the time, now husband and told him what I.d found and he said no way we had made love the night before and it was not there, but told later it had been growing for yrs, I was 42 at the time and thought I was too young for a mammogram, I thought it was women much older than I, so no I didn,t have pain and the chemo did make me naseous but had meds for that my docs kept me very comfortable, thank God and that was 18 yrs ago I am a Survivor(Praise GOD) and I pray for you and Us ALL. msphil (idc, stage 2, 3 nodes, L mast, chemo and rads and 5 yrs on Tamoxifen)
0 -
Maud, was your last post directed at me?
0 -
I do not understand what you're getting at Cyclepath, could you clarify ?
0 -
How about itching? My tumor was next to my nipple, on the surface. For about a month I thought it was a mosquito bite, but the itch never stopped. When I noticed that it had grown, I called the doctor. When I told the dr. about the itching, she just said that no one has ever mentioned itching. I don't even think she wrote down what I told her. So what if all the drs. think its not worth mentioning? So I'm curious if anyone else felt that sensation.0
-
Maud, sorry, but I don't get your point.
0 -
Maud, you posted: "Am not even going to try to understand that post.....yewie It is obvious that many women on this thread were dismissed by their docs and to negate their experience, well, beyond words"
I was asking if that comment was directed at me. I wrote the post above yours.
0 -
Lynliz, was your bc invasive ?
This is an extremely helpful thread, thank you Essa !!
0 -
Hi
I am the same as some others-i did have pain. I could feel my lump even though it did not show on mammo or US (9.2 cm). My lump was sore and hurt if i bumped it or rolled over in the night on it. I also felt heat in the effected breast it was hot to touch. My body temperature overall was high for quite some time before DX i don't mean hotflash i mean literally body temp. higher constantly. It was the warmest i have ever been through our Canadian winters in my life.
And i was tired as well -not just tired more like exhausted for no apparent reason. Nothing much had changed in my life.
But i also had 17 lymph nodes full of cancer and did not feel anything there. I was not surprised when they told me my breast tumor was huge because i could feel it and it hurt the bigger it grew. But i was surprised about all the nodes there was no pain or swelling or discomfort i had absolutely no idea there was all that cancer there because i figured i would feel it like the tumor if it was ther.
0 -
I had a very deep, shooting pain in the effected breast. It was cyclic in nature, almost like a heart beat....pain.....no pain, no pain.....pain....I went to a movie the night before my diagnostic mammogram and held this breast the entire time. The pain was very deep in the breast.
My sister has had the same pain in her breast but no cancer....I had had this pain before but it would go away the next day. This time it was more painful and did not go away. But I could feel no lumps, nor could any of the surgeons or oncologists feel lumps, or residents, etc....there were lumps but they were too small to feel. I have no idea why I had this pain or if it was related to the cancer. I also was having intense pain under my arm-pit area (not IN the armpit), very painful to touch here. This pain was not near where the axillary nodes were and I thought it was from my bra. I had four nodes, but where the pain was was NOT where the nodes were. During treatment and after my mastectomy, I had a couple episodes of excruciating pain, almost like I was having a heart attack. I don't know what caused this pain.0 -
Cyclepath: "many women are apparently being told the first and translating it into the second"
I do not agree. I believe women understand very well what they are being told and they are not translating it into something else.
This thread testifies to the fact that doctors did not understand what many women were telling them and in many cases their cancer progressed as a consequence. These doctors should be sued. That is my opinion.
Don't bother clarifying that post, thanks
0 -
I had severe pain in the left inner elbow and left sholder. Sought medical advice and was told I had pulled a "muscle". Dr. told me to have massage therapy and rest. It took 2 weeks to be a bit better but the pain never left. Then in October 2010, the pain returned and it was so severe that I was off of works for a week. I saw the nurse practioner, massage therapist, the phisotherapist, the chiropracter and finally the doctor at the walk-in clinic who told me I had a pinched nerve. It was during this time that I felt the lump at the 10:00 position. When I finally saw my own doctor, surgeon, mammogram/ultra sound, etc., I was diagnosed with breast cancer. After my surgeries, I asked both the surgeon and the family doctor if they thought the pain was related to my cancer, and was told no. I told them both that I didn't believe them and that this was the start of the cancer. Other people I have talked to have had similar experiences. My brother kept complaining about his sore lower back (thought he bent down the wrong way to pick up a pail) and was prescribed meds to get rid of the pain. A year later he was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer - the cancer had spread to the bones and was wrapped around his spice. So I'll never believe a doctor when they say "cancer doesn't hurt". Until they experience it, they will never know!
0 -
0
0 -
Maud, please put me on ignore as I request in my sig line. Thanks.
0 -
Mine hurt that is how I located the lump. I would roll over and think ouch. So, after about a week I went looking for something and found a tiny lump. All the doctors said they would never had found it on their own. And my family dr. did say breast cancer USUALLY doesn't hurt but thankfully pushed me on for more tests.
0 -
Hi - I started the thread with hopes it would remain uncontroversial except for the truth being told. That works when we keep it in our experience, strength and hope.
If we each keep this in our own experience, the thread will flow with no drama, easy to read, no stress to readers and to those doing their searches and find it. Do we really want them to find issues? Stress?
For us, we need to find the way to make less stress in our lives, and this entire forum of support is a great place to start. So.....
- Do not negate what women are saying here, which is what I feel has been done (the negating part, even though it may not be realiized)
Thank you so much for helping this flow from our experiences.
Everyone, the ignore button for any individual you feel is causing you stress is easy to find -
Go to their profile and choose 'Ignore this member' link on the upper right, it's by the send message to this member.
0 -
MLand, I agree with Maud - the one call I think you need to make today is to be certain your dr understands the armpit pain so an ultrasound will be used there too, I would hope they go further than they did for me, checking both arms, along collarbone and in bony area between breasts that does not get into the mammo.
LynLiz - you reminded me, my nipple did itch before the dx and until after the surgery, it itched like a bugger and often each day felt llike a bee stung it, that beeeeeeeeeegan after the surgery though, but the pain in breast was thhrough and through long before dx. I am adding itching to the initial post.
Also, per White Rabbit's suggestion, have gone back to initial post to include a request for location, while we are at it, might as well include details that could help. It's like our own little trial on the why the pain is for some and not others. Maybe we will know more from this meeting of the minds.
There is another thread just started for symptoms if you caare to share or want more info,whichis how I realized the pain needs addressed.
Breast Cancer Symptoms - a comprehensive list from those w bc
0
