My Surgeon Made Me Scared Jenna Diagnosed At 37
Jenna received a moderately differentiated IDC diagnosis. She was also carrying a genetic mutation and had cancer cells that divided more quickly. Jennas surgeon was actually very blunt about how aggressive her triple positive breast cancer was.
Fortunately, her oncologist was optimistic and gave her the best course of action for treatment. It included six rounds of chemo every three weeks , Herceptin for a year, and a double mastectomy. Jenna is in the process of finishing a five-year treatment of Tamoxifen.
Before Jennas treatment began, she froze her eggs to give her the option of being able to have children. Because of the gene mutation, Jenna also has an increased risk of ovarian cancer. Shes currently discussing with her doctor the option of removing her ovaries.
Jenna has now been cancer-free for over three years.
Lump In Breast Hurts Or Painful Lump In Breast
Conditions whereby one develops lumps on the breast, or hard lump inside the breast are very common. This usually depends on which period a woman is experiencing these symptoms. For example, when a teenage girl begins to develop breasts, during menstrual periods and pregnancy, women usually experience numerous kinds of breast pain associated with other changes. These lumps on breast are usually painful but not always.Therefore, a lump on breast associated with a lot of pain is a common condition in women. Those lumps that occur during pregnancy are not usually painful. Also, older women rarely experience a painful lump in their breast. Although pain is usually a point of concern, breast cancer does not base on pain as the only symptom.
If You Experience Pain Along With Any Of The Following Symptoms You Should Contact Your Physician
- Bloody or clear discharge from your nipple
- A new lump with the onset of the pain lump does not go away after your menstrual period
- Persistent, unexplained breast pain
- Signs of a breast infection, including local redness, pus, or fever
- Redness of the skin of the breast that may appear as a rash, with dilated pores, and possibly skin thickening.
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Breast Lumps: Why Size Movability And Pain Matter
Your breasts are made up of fat, nerves, blood vessels, fibrous connective tissue, and glandular tissue, as well as an intricate system of milk-producing lobules , and ducts . This anatomy in and of itself creates a lumpy, uneven terrain.
A lump in the breast distinguishes itself from this background of normal irregularities. Harmless breast lumps can be solid and unmovable, like a dried bean or movable, soft, and fluid-filled you can roll it between your fingers like a grape. A lump may be pea-size, smaller than a pea, or even several inches across, although this larger size is rare.
What typically differentiates a benign breast lump from a cancerous breast lump is movement. That is, a fluid-filled lump that rolls between the fingers is less likely to be cancerous than a hard lump in your breast that feels rooted in place.
Another rule of thumb has to do with pain. Breast cancer does not usually cause pain. Benign conditions sometimes do, although there are exceptions to this rule as well. For instance, a rare form of breast cancer, inflammatory breast cancer, may cause symptoms such as aching, tenderness, pain, or burning in the breast.
The only way to know the status of a lump for sure is through medical tests, such as an ultrasound, a mammogram, or a fine needle aspiration , in which your doctor uses a tiny needle to extract a bit of the lump for laboratory examination.
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Understanding The Different Breast Lumps
Benign: The word benign is a good word. It means that you do not have cancer. Your physician will perform a biopsy to check the cell types.
Fibrocystic changes: Estimates vary but 50 to 60 percent of all ladies have fibrocystic breasts. The tissue, mammary glands, and ducts swell from hormones. The enlargement occurs during ovulation and menstruation. The lumps multiple.
Fibroadenomas: The most common type of breast lump. The condition was outlined above. Most women under the age of 25 have these kinds of lumps. They are easily palpated.
Papillomas: The papilloma is almost wartlike. They arise from the lining in the mammary duct near the nipple. Discharge seeps out that might be clear, milky, or blood tinged.
Malignant Tumor: Malignant breast cancer ultimately leads to death if not treated. The cancerous cells invade the surrounding organs and spread outward to the bones, live, lungs, and brain. Early detection provides the best promise for a cure. With breast cancer, the nipple might secrete. They often report nipple tenderness. The skin on the surface of the breast often dimples or puckers. The tumor itself often feels like a hard lump or even a thickened area of the skin.
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Could It Be Breast Cancer
Considering this rather broad question, the general answer is “yes, it could be.” The key word in this answer is, “could.” This means it is a possibility. This is why breast exams first aim to find a lump in the breast.
However, most lumps in the breast, in fact 90 percent found in women between the ages of 20 to 50 years old, are benign. Painful lump in breast usually does not mean breast cancer.It is more often newer, painless lumps that are more cause for concern.
Early signs for real breast cancer include the following:
- Intractable breast pain
- New lumps which persist even after period changes
- Discharge from the nipples
- Swelling and redness, rashes, or other skin irritations at the breast
- Lumps and swelling at the collarbone or lumps under your arm
- Any lumps which are hard and have irregular edges
Signs indicative of later breast cancer:
- Nipple retraction
- Skin which presents a texture similar to that of an orange peel
- Pain in the vaginal area
- Extreme weight loss, unexplained
- Armpit lymph nodes which are enlarged
- Extreme vein visibility on breasts
These symptoms do not mean you have cancer. They mean you need to check with a physician because they are indications of possible breast cancer.
When to See Your Doctor
What Are The Causes Of Breast Lumps
Causes of breast lumps include:
- Changes in the breast tissue : Tiny, fluid-filled sacs and fibrous tissue feel like lumps.
- Breast cysts: Fluid-filled sacs form when fluid becomes trapped in the milk ducts. Cysts are common in premenopausal women.
- Fibroadenomas: This benign lump is the most common breast tumor in young women . Fibroadenomas are most common during a persons reproductive years.
- Breast infection: An infection in the breast tissue can cause a lump.
- Breast cancer: A tumor growing in the breast tissue causes a lump.
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Myth : Women With Lumpy Breast Tissue Have Dense Breasts
False. Lumpy breast tissue has nothing to do with breast density, Dr. Pederson says. Your breasts can feel lumpy but not appear dense on a mammogram.
Nearly one in two women have dense breast tissue, indicated by the amount of milk glands and ducts and supportive tissue, which appear solid white on a mammogram. Because cancer can appear the same way, women with dense breasts may choose to have 3D mammography for better cancer detection and fewer false positives. Women at high risk may qualify for MRI screening.
Fat Necrosis Vs Oil Cysts
Oil cysts can also cause a lump in your breast. Oil cysts are benign, or noncancerous, fluid-filled sacs that can appear in your breast. Like other cysts, they will most likely feel smooth, squishy, and flexible. Oil cysts can form for no reason, but they often appear after breast surgery or trauma. As your breast heals from surgery or trauma, breast fat necrosis can melt instead of hardening into scar tissue. The melted fat can collect in one place in your breast and your body will cause a layer of calcium to form around it. This melted fat surrounded by calcium is an oil cyst.
If you have any oil cyst, the lump is probably the only symptom youll notice. These cysts can show up on mammograms, but theyre usually diagnosed with a breast ultrasound.
In many cases, an oil cyst will go away on its own, so your doctor might recommend watchful waiting. If the cyst is painful or is causing you anxiety, a doctor can use needle aspiration to drain the fluid. This usually deflates the cyst.
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Yes Breast Cancer Can Hurt
by Patient Advocate
The myth that breast cancer doesn’t hurt causes way too much pain! Like many myths, this one has roots in a fact. Compared to a breast cyst, which is often very tender to the touch, a cancerous lump usually doesn’t hurt when a woman or doctor feels it.
We hear many reports from women that go something like this:
I found this lump in my breast, so I went to see the doctor. It really hurt when he did the exam. He told me not to worry because breast cancer doesn’t hurt, but I am worried. Shouldn’t he have ordered a mammogram or ultrasound to see what it is?
Probably the doctor made a determination based on the shape, texture and tenderness of the lump that it was a cyst. I hope that what he said to the patient was, “Usually a painful lump like this is not breast cancer.” However, what the patient took away was the message that breast cancer doesn’t hurt. And yes, he should have ordered an ultrasound. An ultrasound is an easy, comparatively inexpensive test that can usually tell for sure whether a lump is a harmless, fluid-filled cyst.
Our community member Peglove recently wrote a describing her experience with a painful lump:
Fortunately, Paget’s is not usually an aggressive form of breast cancer, but sometimes it is associated with other tumors inside the breast. For this reason it is important to see a doctor, especially for a rash on just one side.
Love, S. and K. Lindsey.Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book, 5th ed. Da Capo Press, 2010.
What If The Lump Feels Like A Ridge What If I Have A Pea
You should have a familiarity with your body and what the breast normally feels like, including its normal shape, appearance, and texture. Generally, women are advised to analyze their breasts in the shower with soapy fingers to get a nice feel of the normal tissues. If you do that and have some familiarity with your normal breast tissue, and then find something different, you should reach out to your medical team.
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Symptoms Specific To Invasive And Non
Breast cancer is a complex condition for more information, please refer to our breast cancer page.
Ductal carcinoma in situ is a specific type of carcinoma in which the cells that line your milk ducts have become cancerous, but the abnormal cells have not spread into the nearby breast tissue. Because the cancer cells have not invaded nearby tissue, doctors consider DCIS to be non-invasive or pre-invasive breast cancer.
Symptoms of breast tumors can vary from one person to the next, and vary from one type of breast cancer to the next, but some of the most common early signs of breast cancer can include:
- Swelling, redness, or other visible skin changes occurring in just one breast or both breasts
- A change in the shape of one or both of your breasts, or an increase in size
- Discharge other than milk from your nipple
- Changes in the appearance of one or both of your nipples
- General pain in any area of your breast
- Lumps or bumps that you can feel on or deep inside the breast
In another type of breast cancer, known as lobular carcinoma in situ , abnormal cells form in the glands that produce milk. While LCIS involves the development of abnormal cells in the breast, it is not a type of cancer a diagnosis of LCIS does mean you have an increased risk of developing invasive breast cancer.
What Is Normal Breast Pain
Women may experience breast pain during puberty, menstruation, premenstrual syndrome, pregnancy, menopause, and after childbirth. Breast pain felt during these times is considered normal. Breast pain associated with menstrual periods called cyclic breast pain normally goes away on its own. Some swelling and tenderness is normal before or during the hormone fluctuations that occur during menstruation.
Fibrocystic breast changes may also cause breast pain. Fibrocystic breasts may contain lumps or cysts that can grow tender leading up to a menstrual period.
Some women experience breast pain during breast feeding. Breast pain may occur when breasts swell with milk, or other complications from breast feeding. Meeting with a lactation consultant can help.
Other factors that can contribute to breast pain include breast size, diet, smoking, breast surgeries, and certain medications.
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Lump In Breast That Moves
There are cases where a lump on your breast can be movable. Lumps that are movable can be cysts on breast. Cysts are not harmful and they are usually drained by a medical practitioner. They are usually soft lumps that are filled with fluid with some debris which makes them to be raised on the skin. Cysts are easily treated and therefore you should not let them be a cause of worry. In some cases the cyst may drain away on its own.Also you can develop a soft, smooth, round lump that moves a little when you press on it. In some cases these lumps may cause pain when touched and they can be small or large. No matter the case, if you find that a lump on breast is causing you more problems, do not hesitate to have your doctor look at it because you may not want to lose your breast just because of something that just started like a small lump that moves around.
Painful Lump In Breast: Pictures Hard Sudden Cancer Cyst Remedy
Breast is an organ that goes through numerous changes starting from puberty, to monthly menstrual cycle, during pregnancy, and even while undergoing menopause period. Most of the changes that occur in your breast during these periods are very normal and should not cause much concern. However, there are changes that may call for medical attention. For example, if you develop a major painful lump in breast, it may cause discomfort that may need you to involve your doctor.
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What Causes Lump In Breast That Hurt
When many people hear about a lump on the breast the first thing they think of is cancer. However, you should know that not all lumps that develop on the breast should be a cause for worry. However, the best thing to do when you realize this condition is to have it checked by your medical provider to ascertain the underlying condition behind the lump on your breast. There are a lot of conditions that will result to a lump on breast some of which will just heal and disappear without your intervention.There are numerous lumps that can form on your breast that can be benign or non-cancerous hence they are caused by conditions like change in hormonal levels in women. They experience this problem mostly during menstrual cycle.
How To Perform A Self
Screening techniques help you and your doctor identify suspicious spots in your breast. A mammogram is a common screening option. A breast self-exam is another.
The self-exam was considered an important part of early breast cancer detection for many decades. Today, however, it may lead to too many unnecessary biopsies and surgical procedures.
Still, your doctor may recommend a self-exam to you. At the very least, the exam can help you familiarize yourself with your breasts appearance, shape, texture, and size. Knowing what your breasts should feel like could help you spot a potential problem more easily.
1) Pick a date. Hormones impact how your breasts feel, so its a good idea to wait a few days after your menstrual cycle ends. If you do not have a period, pick a date on the calendar you can easily remember, such as the first or fifteenth, and schedule your self-exam.
2) Take a look. Remove your top and bra. Stand in front of a mirror. Observe how your breasts look, inspecting them for changes in symmetry, shape, size, or color. Raise both arms, and repeat the visual inspection, noting the changes to your breasts shape and size when your arms are extended.
4) Squeeze your nipple. Gently squeeze on each nipple to see if you have any discharge.
6) Keep a journal. Subtle changes may be hard to detect, but a journal might help you see developments as they occur. Jot down any unusual spots and check them again in a few weeks. If you find any lumps, see your doctor.
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Are You Having Breast Cancer Pain
How often does breast cancer cause breast pain? If you have breast pain, what are the chances it’s cancer? What types of breast cancers are more likely to be painful? Since breast pain affects roughly half of all women at some point in our lives, these are important questions to be asking.
Learn about about how often breast cancer is painful , and whether pain may increase your risk of breast cancer in the future.
How Is A Breast Infection Diagnosed
In a breastfeeding woman, a doctor can typically diagnose mastitis based on a physical examination and a review of your symptoms. Your doctor will also want to rule out whether the infection has formed an abscess that needs to be drained, which can be done during the physical exam.
If the infection keeps coming back, breast milk may be sent to a laboratory to determine what bacteria might be present.
Other tests may be necessary to determine the cause if you have a breast infection and youre not breastfeeding. Testing may include a mammogram or even a biopsy of breast tissue to rule out breast cancer. A mammogram is an imaging test that uses low-energy X-rays to examine the breast. A breast biopsy involves the removal of a small tissue sample from the breast for lab testing to determine if any cancerous cell changes are present.
If you dont already have a primary care doctor, you can browse doctors in your area through the Healthline FindCare tool.
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