Swolen breast

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Survivor73
Survivor73 Member Posts: 135
edited October 2022 in Breast Cancer #1
Hello All. I finished rads back in May this year...in the past couple of weeks I noticed that my breast (that had the rads) is bigger than the other, and it is sore to touch...it is also sore under my arm...I have read that it may be like lymphadema but in the breast not the arm...I saw my GP, but he said to monitor and see if it's worse in a week or not...I don't think he knows what it is...I did the research after seeing him, so I'll go back this week and get a referal to someone that can help me...

Any suggestions for this? I've read massage can help...and there are compression type garments that can be worn...any idea where I would get these??

Thanks in advance...take care all,
S73

Comments

  • mamolady
    mamolady Member Posts: 796 Member
    #2
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    S73,
    I would check with your
    S73,
    I would check with your oncologist or radiation oncologist first. If they think it might be LE, than see a specialist. They can refer you to a physical therapist that specializes in lymph edema.

    Cindy
  • MAJW
    MAJW Member Posts: 2,510 Member
    #3
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    mamolady said:

    S73,
    I would check with your
    S73,
    I would check with your oncologist or radiation oncologist first. If they think it might be LE, than see a specialist. They can refer you to a physical therapist that specializes in lymph edema.

    Cindy

    See....
    Your oncologist....if your breast is swollen and sore to touch, something isn't right...even your surgeon might be a good option....I do NOT want to scare you but that's what my breast that had the lumpectomy and rads started doing 15 months after I had completed rads and chemo....get it checked....better safe than sorry..

    Wishing you the best,
    Hugs, Nancy
  • deeb111
    deeb111 Member Posts: 141 Member
    #4
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    Hello sorry to hear of
    Hello sorry to hear of your pain I also experience the same thing was told inflammation finished rads july 21 2011 and it just down right hurts sometimes worse than others so i was told part of the healing not sure i believe that but any way for you i would say continue to bug docs until they give you definite answer not a guess this is your life and you want to be as safe as you can and know what you can to help yourself hope you feel better

    dee
  • dbhadra
    dbhadra Member Posts: 344 Member
    #5
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    deeb111 said:

    Hello sorry to hear of
    Hello sorry to hear of your pain I also experience the same thing was told inflammation finished rads july 21 2011 and it just down right hurts sometimes worse than others so i was told part of the healing not sure i believe that but any way for you i would say continue to bug docs until they give you definite answer not a guess this is your life and you want to be as safe as you can and know what you can to help yourself hope you feel better

    dee

    get it evaluated
    seems like too long for the inflammation to stay...

    Laura
  • VickiSam
    VickiSam Member Posts: 9,079 Member
    #6
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    dbhadra said:

    get it evaluated
    seems like too long for the inflammation to stay...

    Laura

    Worried about you .. Please see if you can
    get in to see your Oncologist.. You and your health are far too important to WAIT.

    Strength, Courage and Hope.

    Vicki Sam
  • Rague
    Rague Member Posts: 3,653 Member
    #7
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    Lymphedema can be anywhere
    Lymphedema is not just in the arm - it can be anywhere that the lymph system has been comprimised. Obviously hand, arm and chest, singlely or in multiple areas, can be effected with BC surgery but for others legs, feet, ankles, knees, body can all be effect by edema caused by lymph systems issues - not the same as edema caused by heart issues.

    Be sure that your PC rules out all possibility of something medical other than the possiblity of LE. Once that's ruled out - ask for a referral to a CERTIFIED Lymphedemologist.

    There are compression garments for the body as there are for the hand, arm, leg, foot. They have be to measured for and come in different compression levels - different bodies are different. (For myself, I deal with fairly severe LE, low compression works best for me - high makes it much worse.)There are massage techniques for lymph drainage and there are machines (a bit expensive) that are designed to do the manual LE drainage massage for you (love my FlexiTouch).

    Get checked out! If you are dealing with LE the sooner you get help with it the better - it will not get better on it's own.

    Susan
  • natly15
    natly15 Member Posts: 1,941
    #8
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    By all means check with your
    By all means check with your doctors. I have the same issue, My oncology surgeon and medical oncologist diagnosed me with lymphedema in that breast. I have an appointment with a lymphedema therapist to start treatment. Please let us know what your doctors say.
  • robang13
    robang13 Member Posts: 333
    #9
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    I had it 4 months after!!
    Is your breast warm or hot to the touch? Do you feel sick at all? 4 months after rads my breast looked swollen. Then it started to get warm to the touch. My rads onc put me on bacterial antibiotics. I had a bacterial infection inside my breast caused by a weakened immune system. It took 10 days to start to feel better. My breast is now not swollen and I can't believe the difference in size!! Never realized just how swollen it was and for the length of time it was. So go find out before you wind up with what I had and get sick: )

    Angela
  • Survivor73
    Survivor73 Member Posts: 135
    #10
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    robang13 said:

    I had it 4 months after!!
    Is your breast warm or hot to the touch? Do you feel sick at all? 4 months after rads my breast looked swollen. Then it started to get warm to the touch. My rads onc put me on bacterial antibiotics. I had a bacterial infection inside my breast caused by a weakened immune system. It took 10 days to start to feel better. My breast is now not swollen and I can't believe the difference in size!! Never realized just how swollen it was and for the length of time it was. So go find out before you wind up with what I had and get sick: )

    Angela

    Went to Dr's today
    So, the Dr looked at my breast today and he thinks it's an infection...so I'm on antibiotics...I will also contact my onco tomorrow to see if I can get him to check it as well...just to be safe.

    Dr said if it doesn't start to clear up in a couple of days, then to go to emerge and get iv drugs...yup, just where I want to spend the long weekend...lol

    Hopefully these pills will work and that's all it is...

    Thanks for your comments, S73
  • robang13
    robang13 Member Posts: 333
    #11
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    Survivor73 said:

    Went to Dr's today
    So, the Dr looked at my breast today and he thinks it's an infection...so I'm on antibiotics...I will also contact my onco tomorrow to see if I can get him to check it as well...just to be safe.

    Dr said if it doesn't start to clear up in a couple of days, then to go to emerge and get iv drugs...yup, just where I want to spend the long weekend...lol

    Hopefully these pills will work and that's all it is...

    Thanks for your comments, S73

    It took more than a couple
    It took more than a couple of days for mine to clear up. My doctor said the same thing to me that if it didn't clear up I would need IV drugs. If you don't mind, what did he put you on? I was on mine for 14 days 4 times a day. Once the infection went away my breast looked almost half the size. That's how much it was swollen!

    Angela
  • Survivor73
    Survivor73 Member Posts: 135
    #12
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    robang13 said:

    It took more than a couple
    It took more than a couple of days for mine to clear up. My doctor said the same thing to me that if it didn't clear up I would need IV drugs. If you don't mind, what did he put you on? I was on mine for 14 days 4 times a day. Once the infection went away my breast looked almost half the size. That's how much it was swollen!

    Angela

    I don't mind
    Hi Angela. I am alergic to amoxicilan, so he gave me cipro. I take it 2 x per day for 10 days...

    So far, I have noticed more pain in the breast than last week...no change on the size yet.

    I am planning on going up north with my family on Friday - my son has a hockey tournament so I'm hoping I don't have to get the iv drugs...

    I will see my onc on Friday morn and let him decide.

    Does anyone know how long you have to stay in the hospital if I need iv drugs?

    Thx, S73
  • robang13
    robang13 Member Posts: 333
    #13
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    Survivor73 said:

    I don't mind
    Hi Angela. I am alergic to amoxicilan, so he gave me cipro. I take it 2 x per day for 10 days...

    So far, I have noticed more pain in the breast than last week...no change on the size yet.

    I am planning on going up north with my family on Friday - my son has a hockey tournament so I'm hoping I don't have to get the iv drugs...

    I will see my onc on Friday morn and let him decide.

    Does anyone know how long you have to stay in the hospital if I need iv drugs?

    Thx, S73

    S73
    cipro doesn't work too
    S73
    cipro doesn't work too well. I was on it for 30 days after my surgery before it felt better!! It also upset my stomach and made my bones ache! My breast didn't feel better until almost 2 weeks after I started the meds.

    I am allergic to amoxicilan too. This time around I was given cephalexin 500mg, 4 times a day. It's a cousin to penicillin. I tolerated it very well.No stomach problems. In fact, I didn't even notice I was on it. My breast felt better after being on it for 2 days. I was supposed to take it for 14 days but stopped after 12.

    Discuss it with your onc. See if he thinks a different med is better for you. You should be feeling better by now. I was told that if I needed iv drugs he would give them to me in his office. Here is a link you may want to read: http://www.emedicinehealth.com/breast_infection/page8_em.htm
    http://www.cellutitis.org/breastcellutitis.html

    I hope you feel better quickly! I know how painful it is since I had it twice already. Please update as you go.

    Angela
  • Survivor73
    Survivor73 Member Posts: 135
    #14
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    robang13 said:

    S73
    cipro doesn't work too
    S73
    cipro doesn't work too well. I was on it for 30 days after my surgery before it felt better!! It also upset my stomach and made my bones ache! My breast didn't feel better until almost 2 weeks after I started the meds.

    I am allergic to amoxicilan too. This time around I was given cephalexin 500mg, 4 times a day. It's a cousin to penicillin. I tolerated it very well.No stomach problems. In fact, I didn't even notice I was on it. My breast felt better after being on it for 2 days. I was supposed to take it for 14 days but stopped after 12.

    Discuss it with your onc. See if he thinks a different med is better for you. You should be feeling better by now. I was told that if I needed iv drugs he would give them to me in his office. Here is a link you may want to read: http://www.emedicinehealth.com/breast_infection/page8_em.htm
    http://www.cellutitis.org/breastcellutitis.html

    I hope you feel better quickly! I know how painful it is since I had it twice already. Please update as you go.

    Angela

    still not gone
    Hi Angela. I am getting better, but it's still not gone completely...it's still swolen, but it's no longer noticable to anyone but me...it's not as painful, but still a little..so maybe it's going away slowly...my onco wants me to see my surgeon since this is the second infection....and I'm due for my yearly mammo anyway and they have my past films at the hosp where my surgeon is....so I have an appt next Monday (a week tomrrow) I got a squeeze in appt...

    Anyway, thanks for the info...take care,

    S73
  • robang13
    robang13 Member Posts: 333
    #15
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    Survivor73 said:

    still not gone
    Hi Angela. I am getting better, but it's still not gone completely...it's still swolen, but it's no longer noticable to anyone but me...it's not as painful, but still a little..so maybe it's going away slowly...my onco wants me to see my surgeon since this is the second infection....and I'm due for my yearly mammo anyway and they have my past films at the hosp where my surgeon is....so I have an appt next Monday (a week tomrrow) I got a squeeze in appt...

    Anyway, thanks for the info...take care,

    S73

    Glad it's getting better. If
    Glad it's getting better. If it's not 100% by the time you finish your meds make sure to tell the doctor because if you don't go on them longer it will come back. Mine did, that's why I was on them for 30 days!! I hope you feel better. Keep in touch and let me know how it goes.

    angela
  • Tam22
    Tam22 Member Posts: 1 *
    #16
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    Hello I am new here my name is Tammy and I just had lumpectomy surgery on September 26 just recently my right breast had 2 cancerous they were 5.5 apart from one another the dr said I am stage 1 during surgery one of the mass was a little different from what the mammogram and ultrasound was supposed to be. I have had my breast drained twice since the last Friday and the other Friday little over a week ago this Thursday I have to go back to drain it again..

    my question is how many times does it take to get most of it out cause seriously when my oncologist surgeon was draining the fluid out and I just wondering within 2 or 3 days my breast starts to feel like itching and burn as you touch it… kinda wondering how long will this last…

    Wednesday, I will see my medical oncologist for hormones therapy and praying so hard that I don’t need chemo the ûrapy will get cat scan on October 25th… this is what I know for now…


    Thanks and Blessings,

    Tammy

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