Resolved question:
I recently noticed my left breast was hanging much longer than the other. It's always been the bigger breast but this seemed it the norm. I immediately looked it up and IBC came up. I checked out symptoms. I don't have many. My symptoms would be a larger breast that does not appear to be swollen, red, itchy, other strange things. It appears that I have an area above the nipple that looks faintly like light tan blotchy bruising bit ip close looks more like small clusters of spider veins giving this appearance from a distance while looking in the mirror. (At least I hope that all it is) now I've developed what feels like pain in my upper neck on my right side in the gland and area and lymphnode. My dr said it didn't appear to be swollen but it is achy with a sharp pain now and then. I fear it's ibc that spread to my lymphnoid. My dr said he thinks it would first be I'm my underarm and I could just be sick or having anxiety causing these pains. I do have a 3d mammo and ultrasound scheduled but I want an opinion. Do you believe there's a connection? I'm nervous because I know how hard it is to detect and how deadly it can be. I'm only 38 with an amazing husband who is freskjng out along with me and 6 kids together. Please advise would be great.
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
Oncologist
Hello,
Thank you for your query at DoctorSpring.com
Larger asymmetrical breasts can be normal. However with an associated enlarged lymph node, I cannot comment on ruling out a possibility of cancer. It may also be due to infection. BuT these needs to be ruled out by a physician after breast examination.
Meanwhile, mammogram and ultrasound scan of both breast would be an ideal modality. If they are not satisfactory because of dense breast , I would suggest you to do an MRI of the breast which is even more sensitive to identify a small lesion.
Feel free to discuss further,
Regards.
I'm not sure my lymphnode is enlarged?? My dr felt it and said it feels normal. He said stress is possibly causing my random pains cause there are slot of nerves and I'm under sever stress from this. But I do want to know after my 3 d test and ultrasound they claim to see nothing there including no signs of inflamed lymphnodes. Would or should I consider that to be correct? Is it possible to have cancerous lymphnode in only my jawline and nowhere else? Just want to know what kinds of questions I should maybe ask. Will they check my neck on ultrasound? Will they care if my breast looks fine? Inflammatory breast disease is hard to see so I want to be sure I'm doing everything I can to feel comfortable with the dr.s answers.
Hello,
Cancerous lymph nodes won't be restricted to only one spot. If it involves lymphatics, it will involve more than one group of lymph nodes generally.
Inflammatory breast disease will manifest as extremely painful breasts.
There is no evience of any disease in you, as of now. So kindly don't panic, once you have the reports you can get back to me.
Regards.
I got a 3D mammo and ultrasound today. The dr there told me all looked good, I have dense breast but otherwise no masses seen or thickening. Should I be ok with this answer? If my breasts are dence isn't it harder to see? Just asking your opinion. I feel relief but also wanna make sure I'm not overlooking something snd getting excited too soon.
Hello,
If the clinician is satisfied with the mammo and scan findings, i will not be apprehensive about doing further tests. However, please discuss with your physician about the need for MR breast in dense breast as sometimes dense breasts can obscure a small lesion.
I would suggest you to discuss with your oncologist again regarding this.
Feel free to discuss further,
Kind regards
Sorry to keep this going. But at 38 years old patientold with symptoms of one larger breast not swollen given a 3d mammo and ultrasound given the all clear, you would think I should get further testing? I thought ultrasound sound with a 3d mammo are very good. I'm now getting nervous again this wasn't good enough.
Hello,
My comment was not to make you feel scared. I am just giving an option of an additional test which may be needed or can be helpful in case of dense breast reported in mammogram. I have also mentioned that your physician is the best person to judge if you need an additional test based on your mammo and USG report. I added that dense breast can sometimes rarely obscure small findings but it need not be true all the time in all patients. It varies.
Hope your concern is addressed.
Regards.