Beating Breast Cancer | Symptoms And Breast Cancer Treatment

Symptoms of breast cancer

The Symptoms of Breast Cancer

I often get emails or have comments posted on this breast cancer blog site asking about the symptoms of breast cancer.

Here's a brief summary but please remember - if you have any doubts at all then please go see your doctor for a check as soon as possible.

In most women, breast cancer is first noticed as a painless lump in the breast.

Other symptoms of breast cancer may include:

changes in the size or shape of a breast
dimpling of the skin of the breast
a thickening in the breast tissue
a nipple becoming inverted (turned in)
a lump or thickening behind the nipple
a rash (like eczema) affecting the nipple
a bloodstained discharge from the nipple (this is very rare)
a swelling or lump in the armpit.

Please remember that a pain in the breast is rarely a symptom of breast cancer. In fact, many healthy women find that their breasts feel lumpy and tender before a period.

But some types of benign breast lumps can be painful - so I'm going to say it again and this time in big writing:

Labels: a-lump-in-the-breast, breast-cancer, breast-cancer-symptoms, symptoms-of-breast-cancer

posted by Marjory @ 5:52 AM 0 comments

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Herceptin side effects

The last time I spoke about Herceptin and it's side effects I proudly said I didn't seem to be experiencing anything other than a running nose. Spoke too soon!!

I had my tenth Herceptin last week and just after the nurse left I wondered why I felt so tired? That fatigued feeling got a whole lot worse and by evening it felt like chemo all over again. Thankfully it had mostly worn off the next day but it did give me a bit of a surprise. I had been told this could happen but was pretty sure I'd managed to avoid it after ten treatments. I have seven more treatments to go so it will be little me off to bed after the nurse leaves 'til well into the next day. Actually when put like that it sounds quite nice!

The other alarming thing that has happened is that my eyelashes have started to fall out again. The air was blue when i noticed. Now, what I want to know and nobody seems to have the answer, is this a side effect of herceptin or a side effect of chemo? My eyelashes did grow back in much longer and thicker than before and I thought aaah a nice reward for months of feeling crap. Again, spoke too soon!! Joking aside I am more than a little concerned that I'll wake up to find them all gone. I found it distressing the first time ( shallow I know when you're receiving life saving treatment) and if it happens again I don't suppose I'll be over the moon. I just love putting on mascara and seeing LASHES. If anyone out there has experienced this let me know. I also want exact timescale of regrowth. Only joking....

As a note at the bottom( Ha Ha) I also seem to have diarrhoea rather a lot and I know this can be a side effect with Herceptin. God, serves me right for being so confident!! Ah well it could be worse, I might have the aching joints or a frozen shoulder as well. Now that I think of it......


Marjory

Labels: a-lump-in-the-breast, breast-cancer-symptoms, cancer-support, chemotherapy, herceptin, living-with-cancer, mammogram, symptoms-of-breast-cancer, what-is-a-mammogram

posted by Marjory @ 3:23 PM 8 comments

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A Painful Lump in The Breast

A Painful Breast Lump - Could It Be Breast Cancer

I'm one of those guys who checks now and again to see who has visited the site - and what they searched for to find us.

Painful lump in the breast comes up time and time again and it's obviously a topic that worries people. I thought I'd put together this little information package about breast pain and painful breast lumps.

Please remember - the details below are not intended to let you diagnose the cause of your breast pain - see a doctor if you have any kind of lump in your breast.

You need to remember that - while most breast lumps are not breast cancer, some of them will be! Please see a doctor if you have a lump in the breast - don't try to make your own diagnosis.


What Causes a Painful Breast Lump?

• Breast Infection
  Infection can cause a painful breast lump. This is most common in women who are breast feeding but can also occur at other times. A breast lump caused by an infection is likely to be painful. Some women will also have redness in the breast and feel shivery or unwell. You should be aware however, that some kinds of breast cancer - called inflammatory breast cancer can also show itself a bit like this.
• Breast Injury
  Injury to the breast or to the chest wall can cause a painful lump. Falling against a bit of furniture or a direct blow to the breast can cause bruising inside the breast tissue. This sometimes results in a painful breast lump.
• Benign Breast Lumps or Fibroadenomas
  Adenoma lumps are common. An adenoma in the breast is a benign lump that does not turn into cancer. They are usually painless but some women are aware of discomfort.
• Breast Cyst
  Breast cysts are often tender, and sometimes are really quite painful. A breast cyst is a benign lump that is filled with fluid. They often change size and can seem to appear or disappear as the hormone levels change in a womans menstrual cycle. They often are most uncomfortable or painful just before your period is due - typically improving when the period starts.
• Breast Cancer
  This site contains a huge amount of detail about breast cancer in other articles. You need to be aware that any lump in the breast could be breast cancer - although most are not.
  Breast cancer lumps are often painless - but they can be painful in some women - or painful some of the time.

Can a breast cancer lump be painful? Yes - definitely.

Is breast cancer always painless? No - certainly not.

I'm repeating myself, I know, but please ..... if you have a lump in the breast and are reading this site - go see your doctor soon.

Gordon

You can read more of our posts about breast lumps and breast pain on our breast lump archive page

Labels: a-lump-in-the-breast, cancer-support, mammogram, symptoms-of-breast-cancer, what-is-a-mammogram

posted by Marjory @ 9:15 AM 6 comments

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Herceptin - Look Out, They're At It Again

Herceptin Press Hype Misleads Women Again

Well - here we are again, again, again ...... !

Only days after NICE - the UK National Institute for Clinical Excellence reviewed herceptin and ruled that it should be made widely available in the UK - and after my previous herceptin in the UK posts - I find that the press are at it again.

So its black marks and raspberries to Medical News Today who lead today with the headline:

"Basically, this means that all women will get treatment free - probably in England and Wales, and most definitely in Scotland"

Much better journalism can be found at Politics.co.uk who take the same press release from NICE and get the story spot on. They say:

Labels: a-lump-in-the-breast, cancer-support, herceptin, symptoms-of-breast-cancer

posted by Marjory @ 3:44 PM 4 comments

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