Ryker's mama here, Hi to all our blogging friends and Thank You so much for all you well wishes during my recent surgery. I have information that I feel obligated to share with you in hopes that you will pass it along. Perhaps it will save a life with early detection.
I was diagnosed with IBC inflammatory breast cancer in late August of 2011. I went through 5 months of chemotherapy and just had a mastectomy last week. In a few more weeks I will start radiation therapy.
I was blessed with really good news from the pathologist. He said that he saw no residual cancer, Hooray! But remission or not my philosophy is to live everyday to the fullest. It's the quality or life that matters, not the quantity.
This is information everyone should know about and so many don't. Seems everyone I talked with at work or going about my daily activities had know idea what IBC was.
Inflammatory breast cancer is the rarest and most deadly of the
breast cancers. It strikes young women as often as older women,
breastfeeding mothers as often as grandmothers, and women with and
without a history of breast cancer in their family. It does not always
form a lump in the breast and did not in my case. In fact I had had a mammogram in June that looked normal. Instead, it forms in sheets and nests in the
lymphatic system of the skin, appearing only after it clogs the lymph
system with cancer, causing skin changes. Mine were very subtle, just a deeper pink crescent of skin about 2" by 5" that appeared suddenly and did not go away. It did not itch or hurt, just pinker that the rest of my skin.
Sometimes, the texture of the skin changes first,
becoming tough, hard, or with little dimples like an orange peel.
Sometimes, it feels thick to the touch, or hot, or just … different.
Luckily I headed to the Dr. in a timely manner and we diagnosed it early.
Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis,
especially in nursing women. The important thing to know is, if you are
diagnosed with mastitis and it doesn’t clear up with 10 days of
antibiotics, SOMETHING ELSE may be wrong. Please, please go back to
your health care professional and talk again.
Ask for tests to rule out inflammatory breast cancer. Insist on further
tests and a skin and/or core biopsy. Because each week that you delay
is a week that this cancer will grow and expand and be just that much
harder to eradicate.
Survival rates for women diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer
are grim. Only 25 to 50 percent of women will survive five years.
Believe it or not, this is a HUGE improvement over the survival
statistics of just a few years ago — when only 1-2% could expect to be
alive five years after diagnosis. Even with chemotherapy, surgery, and
radiation, 90% of women will suffer a recurrence. This is a lifelong
battle for those that are diagnosed, and it is a very difficult disease
to battle, as it’s one of the few cancers that are obvious on the
surface of the body; as it marches across a woman’s breast
For more information, please visit:
On a more pleasant note, Ryker and his therapy dog training has been put to good use. He has been the best snuggle therapy a gal could ask for! I am up and about and feeling good. As soon as these darn drains come out later today I will feel excellent!
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