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Upon diagnosis from needle biopsy I was just told it was a general b/c Stage 2B. After mastectomy however, I was told it was IDC per the pathology report. Then I went to my surgeon and she visually diagnosed me with Inflammatory Breast Cancer also. I am stage 3b with lymph nodes.. 9 out of 15. It being Inflammatory raised it up a whole class from 2B to 3B. They tried to shrink the tumor first, but it didnt shrink after 3 mos, so another 3 mos of chemo was ordered. Then surgery, followed by 6… read more
@A MyBCTeam Member
I was told that it was Inflammatory just by sight. My oncologist told me that when I met with him the first time and he did an exam. Mine wasn't red, only pink. He did say that some women's get very red. And he did tell me that it being inflammatory raises the stage. I believe it's kind of rare. That sucks about your oncologist not doing a physical exam. Mine did one every time I saw him until I started radiation. Then he was concerned about whether I was burning or not. I love my oncologist - he's been great, along with his NA and all his girls who gave/give me chemo and now Herceptin.
@A MyBCTeam Member I was originally diagnosed with IDC grade 1 but no stage given at the time of diagnoses. I was scheduled for a mastectomy 2 weeks later but because of my slight knowledge about IBC I encouraged my breast surgeon to do a punch biopsy.. They did the biopsy and found the IBC. I started chemo, then mastectomy and then radiation. My final diagnoses was stage3c IBC with IDC her2 neu positive. I finished my herceptin ( for her2neu) January of this year. Although it is recommended those diagnosed with IBC should wait for reconstruction at least 2 years out I chose not to. I had diep 4 months after I finished radiation
I had a punch biopsy but it didn't reveal inflammatory cancer.. Surgeon caught it visually and said she would have to remove skin too..it's right under the skin where you can't see it.. epidermis I think.
@A MyBCTeam Member you are correct, herceptin is for those that are her2+++
As for how IBC is diagnosed yes it is mostly by physical examination however a punch biopsy can help confirm it because they can see little cancerous bubbles with in the skin that is not visualized by the naked eye. Sadly even with a punch biopsy, unless they biopsy the right spot the IBC can still be missed through the punch biopsy. with IBC only a small area might test positive. I had a quarter size pink spot and then a small area of irritation that I thought was caused from tape from a previous biopsy. The surgeon thankfully tested both areas. The pink spot didn't show IBC but the irritated area from the tape confirmed IBC.
I am HR2 negative..is that why I wasn't given herceptin? @A MyBCTeam Member anybody know?
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