What were your ILC symptoms before diagnosis

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Comments

  • AKColleen
    AKColleen Member Posts: 7
    edited April 2019

    I had a dimple on my breast. My GYN could feel NO lump. I had Thermogram done...it was COLD (should have shown hot) > I'd NEVER rely on Thermograms!!

    A dimple on a breast is suppose to be checked out....so my GYN had mammogram. Nothing showed. Had Ultrasound and I was just lucky that my radiologist did rotation in oncology radiation. He found the cancer! It was already Stage 2. Had I not had it check I'd hate to think where I would be today. I was lucky it hadn't gone into my lymph nodes.

  • jessie123
    jessie123 Member Posts: 134
    edited April 2019

    AKColleen --- that exact same symptom was what a friend of mine had. Just a dimple on her breast --- however, her OBGYN wrote it off as a indention from her bra. Four months later she went back as the dimple was still there and she was finally diagnosed. Her's also did not show up on Mammogram and she was stage 2.

  • mavericksmom
    mavericksmom Member Posts: 1,275
    edited April 2019

    I felt pain, deep inside my breast. It would come and go but always in the same area. I honestly never even thought it could be cancer, I had been cancer free for 15 1/2 years, and I wish I had a dollar for every time I was told pain is not a symptom of breast cancer. First time I had IDC.

    I had an appointment with my gynecologist and mentioned the pain, she gave me a script for a diagnostic mammogram. Nothing showed up on the mammogram but they also did an ultrasound and that is when the radiologist saw an area of suspicion where I was feeling the pain. She told me I needed a biopsy.

    I decided to have the biopsy at a cancer hospital because my local hospital temporarily had no breast surgeon. I still wasn't concerned, I was absolutely sure I didn't have cancer. I was expecting to have the radiologist who performed my biopsy tell me she couldn't even find the area of concern. I was more worried about feeling foolish than having cancer.

    When I received the call with the results I said, “hi, I assume you're calling me with good news?" There was a moment of silence followed by, “I'm so sorry but the biopsy was positive for cancer, invasive lobular." I went into shock!

    It's been five months since that day, but I still bounce back and forth between being amazed at how lucky I am that I mentioned my pain to my doctor which lead to the early diagnosis, and disbelief that I had breast cancer again

  • mavericksmom
    mavericksmom Member Posts: 1,275
    edited April 2019

    I felt pain, deep inside my breast. It would come and go but always in the same area. I honestly never even thought it could be cancer, I had been cancer free for 15 1/2 years, and I wish I had a dollar for every time I was told pain is not a symptom of breast cancer. First time I had IDC.

    I had an appointment with my gynecologist and mentioned the pain, she gave me a script for a diagnostic mammogram. Nothing showed up on the mammogram but they also did an ultrasound and that is when the radiologist saw an area of suspicion. She told me I needed a biopsy.

    I decided to have the biopsy at a cancer hospital because my local hospital temporarily had no breast surgeon. I still wasn’t concerned, I was absolutely sure I didn’t have cancer. I was expecting to have the radiologist who performed my biopsy tell me she couldn’t even find the area of concern. I was more worried about feeling foolish than having cancer.

    When I received the call with the results I said, “hi, I assume you’re calling me with good news?” There was a moment of silence followed by, “I’m so sorry but the biopsy was positive for cancer, invasive lobular.” I went into shock!

    It’s been five months since that day, but I still bounce back and forth between being amazed at how lucky I am that I mentioned my pain to my doctor which lead to the early diagnosis, and disbelief that I had breast cancer again

  • tjohnson1971
    tjohnson1971 Member Posts: 2
    edited April 2019

    At 40, first mammo, then US, biopsy, lumpectomy for LCIS. Follow up was 6mo then yearly mammograms which is odd because LCIS and ILC are hard to locate on mammograms? Age 48 now, with iLC.

    When I had the LCIS I had sharp pains in my right breast, but they say cancer is painless so I thought perhaps I was pinching my boobs by laying on my stomach sleeping. After lumpectomy those sharp pains went away.

    They have returned sporadically since then. ILC is now in the same breast. I never felt anything like a lump either time, but we have been trained wrong- to always feel for a hard grain of rice or firmness like feeling your knuckle. No one ever says: thickening.

  • Pinky24
    Pinky24 Member Posts: 10
    edited May 2019

    My breast was swollen and hard, and the nipple had started to flatten. All of this happened seemingly overnight - I swear the day before my breast was completely normal.

  • leighseattle
    leighseattle Member Posts: 2
    edited May 2019

    The Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance just posted an interview with an Radiologist and Expert on Imaging and ILC Dr. Gary Ulaner at Memorial Sloan Kettering. You may find it and other resources on the LBCA website helpful. https://lobularbreastcancer.org/imagingilc/

  • sylvia55
    sylvia55 Member Posts: 1
    edited June 2019

    I had severe pain and mild swelling. My gynecologist thought it was a cyst. He sent me in for a long overdue mammogram which showed something suspicious. A biopsy confirmed cancer. Had an MRI and a lumpectomy then they did more surgery 6 days later (yesterday). The scans were far from perfect. I hope I am finished with surgery and can move on to radiation as soon as possible. I felt guilty about not getting mammograms but my surgeon said it probably wouldn't have shown up before now anyway.

  • OnTarget
    OnTarget Member Posts: 124
    edited June 2019

    I had lost about 25 pounds and noticed some pain and lumps in my left breast. I scheduled a belated gyno appointment and she said that there was nothing strange, but I was due for a mammogram (my first at age 42!). I'd skipped the gyno for two years and I felt a bit unhappy about that.

    The mammogram showed an obvious mass and was graded a Birads 5, and I also had some benign cysts. Additionally, my breast was somewhat deformed near the mass, kind of flattened. We hadn't even noticed it, but it was so obvious! It was 3cm and you could totally see and feel it!

    The ILC in my left breast was tiny and only found on the MRI. Once they saw it on the MRI, they were able to find it by ultrasound to do a biopsy.