r/BreastCancerSurvivors

I had stage 1 IDC HER2+, no lymph nodes last year. Did the 12 week taxol. I had reconstruction in November with implants and fat grafting around them. April I felt a round, hard pea in a fat grafting area, and they said fat necrosis upon US. Just followed up yesterday and now I’m being told it shouldn’t grow so off to biopsy I go. The only thing slightly easing my mind is the radiologist said there are some factors such as how the first US was done/read/angle could influence the reading. I just got done with shit and am nowhere back to normal mentally or physically to do this all again.

NOT LOOKING FOR MEDICAL ADVICE, JUST ORHERS EXPERIENCES

Before I start, please forgive my candour in asking a question.

I have found that the Reddit community is great for support as one who is five years out from spinal cord surgery.

It is with this sense of community that I come to this subreddit to inquire of survivors the possible/seen symptoms that were felt before a diagnosis. I have one specific that I will get into next.

My beloved Wife lost her Mom to breast cancer and has been diligent with her screenings, the next one is in October. Yesterday she informed me that she has been getting a tingling electric sensation in her right breast around the nipple area.

With her permission I ask…

Is that tingling sensation something that we should be concerned about? Can it be symptomatic?

She hasn’t felt any changes in her personal exams but it is concerning and I hope I’m just being overly cautious but as one who told an oncologist to just give me the radial ablation instead of “wait and see”, I see the importance of early intervention. The importance of not accepting the wait and see as well but I digress.

I know personally a couple of survivors and I appreciate their candour and strength. I extend that appreciation to all of you who have survived your own journeys.

With respect,

A Concerned Husband.

​Omg what will people think when they ask
“Have you tried taking to a support group for your Cancer?” And I say I am banned from r/breastcancer and r/cancer because these people see the word “The Sun” in print and they have this out of body experience in which they no longer read my cool post filled with delightful Grade: A puns. They are looking at the words but thier mind and brain it leaves the body reading my post on earth and thier mind goes off to corporate americaland where chemicals are King and they think of all the corporate brainwashing about the Sun and even tho they are looking at my post and seeing the words they stop reading after “The Sun”
Their brain just leaves the body
Then they come back to their body reading my post and they are Scared! 😱
Then, they get mad like a Chihuahua that spots a Squirrel 😳

🌞 Sun!
Sun BAD!
Sun! Bad!
BAD! 😱

The Sun that has existed for Billions of Billions of years in the exact same place is Bad 😤

They completely bypass all my good jokes and get insanely MAD 😡 at Sun 🌞

My original post was a VENT labeled VENT If Stacy can throw a pity party because she lost both tits and now her husband only wants to screw her doggy because he misses her fine ass tits and doesn’t want to see the scars. If we can gather around for her in r/breastcancer and show her some love by discussing sexual positions to satisfy her husband and even recommend questionable sexual positions, vibrators and lubes made with questionable chemicals in a lab….
I should be allowed to VENT about my transition from Plastic to Cotton in PEACE without being harassed about The Sun; Selective Outrage!
This dude was like “GO AWAY! “
And I said “NO!”
If I did that I would be DEAD like the Hundreds of Women under 40 that DIE everyday of Stage IV Breast Cancer. I lost 4 last year!
I am ALIVE right NOW because I chose NOT to listen to Sheep on their way to slaughter.
I light a Candle for them in November and say a prayer 🙏🏼

I am just a comedian looking for a laugh to my gag of a Life. Laugh now; Cry later 🎭 and
maybe make people think about natural fabrics instead of thinking about CANCER and DYING

From my lumpectomy, radiation and chemo.

The armpit that is in the side of the lumpectomy, where it touches my back is numb. It’s been numb since the surgery. Does anyone else have this?

So I am 2 years post, had a follow-up MRI in May. I was a smaller breasted woman, and the lumpectomy was pretty easy overall. I've gained about 30 pounds after it all. But a few days ago, after I pulled on my daily tank-top (it's super hot where I live)-it's looks kind of mutilated. The surgery cut around my nipple, and it now kind of looks like it's inverting. I'm not too worried(MRI w/in 2 months), but I feel super upset.

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping to hear from anyone who has had a difficult pathology case or whose diagnosis changed after an expert second opinion. I'm not looking for reassurance or to dispute my diagnosis but I genuinely want to know if anyone has experienced something similar.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 31 after finding a palpable lump. My course since then has been unusual, and I'm struggling to reconcile all of the findings.

About 7 months ago, I found a palpable mass in my left breast.

• Ultrasound showed a 0.55 cm hypoechoic mass. The radiologist thought it was probably fat necrosis from a prior breast surgery but recommended biopsy because it was indeterminate.
• The biopsy removed 6 cores, after which the palpable mass became noticeably smaller and I developed a large hematoma (MRI later measured approximately 2 cm of biopsy-site change).
• Pathology showed invasive ductal carcinoma with micropapillary features, ER 100%, PR 99%, HER2 0.

About one month later I underwent my first bilateral mastectomy which showed

• Approximately 1 cm "hemorrhagic area" and no morphology description.
• 1 stain (p63) was performed. No additional stains
• It did mentioned invasive ductal carcinoma and copy-pasted the biopsy report but gave no additional description
• 2 positive margins (positive anterior-superior and medial margins)
• Negative lymph node involvement with 2 stains

I was surprised because the original lesion had only measured 0.55 cm before biopsy and a substantial portion had already been removed. How did the mass more that double in size and have such a vague "hemorrhagic area" and only 1 stain (p63) performed.

Within hours after surgery I could still feel a palpable lump in exactly the same location. I brought this up to my surgeon multiple times. Despite the positive margins, he did not recommend re-excision and instead referred me for radiation.

Because I was only 31, I sought a second opinion before going into radiation of my left chest.

At the new hospital, I loved my new surgeon who actually listened. My new surgeon repeated an ultrasound, which demonstrated a 0.4 cm hypoechoic mass and significant residual breast tissue after the mastectomy

My case was presented at the tumor board, and the recommendation was unanimous to perform a completion mastectomy/re-excision because of the amount of residual tissue and the persistent mass.

The second pathology showed:

• fat necrosis
• giant cell reaction
• inflammatory infiltrate
• granulomatous tissue
• Additional 72g of breast tissue (first surgery only removed 52% of all breast tissue)

Additional levels were cut and multiples stains were performed, and no residual cancer cells were identified.

Because of the discrepancy between the surgeries, I started reviewing my records and discovered that when my biopsy was sent for outside consultation, a completely different accession number was referenced. This prompted me to have independent DNA identity testing performed through another university hospital.

The DNA testing confirmed that the biopsy tissue does belong to me, so a complete specimen swap appears unlikely.

One thing I still don't understand is that while the biopsy slides have been reviewed by multiple institutions, the ER/PR/HER2 slides were apparently never forwarded despite multiple requests from multiple doctors.

I'm not suggesting anyone here can diagnose my case, but I'm trying to understand how this cascade of weird discrepancies fit together.

Some of the questions that keep coming up are:

• How does a 0.55 cm lesion (after six biopsy cores) become a 1 cm "hemorrhagic area" with two positive margins?
• How can a persistent palpable lesion in the same location ultimately show only fat necrosis and inflammatory change after completion surgery?
• Has anyone had an expert pathology review substantially revise the interpretation of a biopsy or mastectomy?
• Has anyone had difficulty reconciling pathology findings across multiple surgeries?

I know breast pathology can be challenging, and I'm not looking for validation that my diagnosis was wrong. I'm simply trying to understand whether anyone has experienced a similarly confusing course or had an expert second opinion provide clarity.

If anyone has any recommendation on receiving a second opinion pathology just for clarity or "peace of mind" to shed light on the cascade, I would greatly appreciate it!