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Dear Maggie,
I was diagnosed in May 2000 with two different types of cancer one being infiltrating ductal carcinoma and the other DCIS and I had 4 lymphnodes out of 19 postive.I was 47 at the time. I don't really know what they do to detect this type of breast cancer,you should probably ask your Dr. I am sure that he could tell you. My older sister had the same type also.I will keep you and your sister and family in my prayers. Let us know and we are here for you both.
God Bless
Debbie

Hi, Maggie!!
Good for your sister's doctor!!! I am now 42 years old (41 at the time my symptoms began). In October/November of 2000, I had the same symptoms your sister has. The only difference (I think) being that I had just had a baby in September, 2000 (she was 4 weeks early). At my 6 week check-up after delivery, I had a hard lump in my left breast. My OB (and I) thought that I just had a clogged milk duct...since the baby was more sleepy and less interested in eating. If I knew then what I ultimately found out, I probably would have been more insistant with my OB to check to see if anything was wrong. It took until late January, 2001, for it to be found as cancer. Even so, I am confident that I did everything in the proper order and know that nothing really could have been done to change things.
That being said, I will tell you of what was done in finding my cancer. Once my baby refused to nurse off of that breast and it had been a few weeks and the breast still seemed full, I went back to my OB to have it checked further. He ordered an ultrasound ASAP. The ultrasould showed what was determined to be a cyst and I was told to see a surgeon to have it drained. I had it drained (he took out about 60cc of fluid). The fluid was tested....no cancer. We were relieved. However, the "pocket" filled up again. I had it drained, again, about a week later (this time about 25cc was removed). This time, the surgeon put on a tight ace wrap (similar to what they use after a mastectomy) to try to keep the cavity compressed so that it would not fill up again. It didn't work, of course! :-) The next step was to surgically insert a drain that had a negative pressure bulb attached. The fluid was once again tested....still no cancer. So everything seemed consistent with the cyst diagnosis that we were given. When the amount of fluid draining was the same after about 5 days, they sent me for another ultrasound. This time it showed a lot of "angry" tissue in the area that was once a big "black" (or fluid filled) area. It was decided that the only way to get rid of this problem was to go in and surgically remove the cyst. The decision was made to do this as out-patient surgery. The cavity was larger than thought, so they packed the wound with gauze and kept me in the hospital on strong IV antibiotics. We were told before the initial surgery that it could be cancer, but the surgeon felt that was a very remote possibiity. Boy, was he ever wrong!!! Don't get me wrong.....I do not blame anyone for this. I believe that it was just the way that things were supposed to happen. Anyway, the cyst removal was on a Monday, we found out the next night that it was cancer, I had a CT scan on Wedensday to see if it had spread anywhere else, and I had a modified radical mastectomy on Friday. Almost a year ago, now. My mastectomy was on January 26, 2001. I started chemo on February 13, 2001, and finished my last chemo on September 24, 2001. I have had 4 rounds of A/C chemo, 30 radiation treatments, and 4 rounds of Taxol chemo. I am now playing the waiting game. So far, so good.
I think that I have gone on long enough. So sorry to be so wordy, but I feel that it is VERY important for your sister to stay on top of this and have any and all tests that can be done. My mother still thinks that I should have had a biopsy earlier in the game. Perhaps that is true, but in my case I don't know if that would have been of any help.
Please feel free to e-mail me at anytime if you need to talk or ask questions. I would be honored to be of help. Of course, it goes without saying that both you and your sister and your families are in my thoughts and prayers. You are so young to have to be going through this. May I suggest that you put your faith and trust in God and let Him carry you through this rough spot.
Hugs to you and your sister. May God be with you both and shelter you in His love.

Blessings and hugs.......Wendy