Infection/Cancer?

runt1964

Hi,

I'm not sure where to begin.  About two months ago I started having a burning sharp pain in my left armpit that travels down toward my elbow and across my breast down toward my nipple.  The pain started to increase but it isn't a constant pain it comes and goes, at times I feel fine but when it hits it hits hard.  I have changed my soaps and deodorant and even gone without wearing any deodorant at all. One day it was so bad I decided to call my doctor, she wasn't sure what it was and thought she felt a pea size something, she said she couldn't tell if it was a lump or a bone but did an X-ray and said she saw something wasn't sure, she showed my husband and I the X-ray it's a very faint flame like "thing" she prescribed me gabapentin for possible nuerothopy and ordered a diagnostic Mammo and ultra sound.  The mammogram was normal as was the one I had in October, the doctor that did the ultra sound said she couldn't see anything and said it was a pulled muscle and should talk to my doctor about a vitamin E regimen.  My dI for called me the next day asked how I was (Friday) I said I was hurting and she said when the ultra sound was done it was not done in the correct area. She said she would call me Monday. Saturday I had a crusty discharge from my left nipple. Monday I called her office and explained the heavy feeling in my breast and discharge and pain, it's not warm to touch and when I get the pain it feels like I have a baseball under my arm even though it doesn't look swollen, She prescribed an antibiotic and tramadol. I went for another ultra sound on Tuesday they found two swollen lymph nodes, I'm not sure what size they are or if they look normal, however she is sending me to a breast/oncologist and I have an appointment next Wednesday. To say I'm not a little scared would be a lie. I don't know what to expect now or maybe I'm just over thinking. 

runt1964

I am a 51 year old female who

I am a 51 year old female who started menopause two years ago, at least I think, myonly symptoms are hot flashes/night sweats, at night only. 

KillTheCancer

It's really hard to say, they

It's really hard to say, they really should do a core biopsy on your swollen lymph nodes.  I had a similar issue, started on my right side, after a couple of months the left side started swelling. 

After a couple more months I had a biopsy done on both sides.  The right had cancer, the left was just reactive.  

 

runt1964

KillTheCancer said:

It's really hard to say, they

It's really hard to say, they really should do a core biopsy on your swollen lymph nodes.  I had a similar issue, started on my right side, after a couple of months the left side started swelling. 

After a couple more months I had a biopsy done on both sides.  The right had cancer, the left was just reactive.  

 

Killthecancer, thank you for

Killthecancer, thank you for your reply. I'm sorry you had to go through this, I hope you're doing better. Any guidance is appreciated.

Wildtulip

I don't have any insight for

I don't have any insight for you, as I did not have pain with my cancer. I do think it's good you have an appointment with an oncologist, as it appears your doctor is not comfortable with your symptoms and wants input from a specialist. The oncologist will go over your testing, talk with you, exam you and possibly order more tests. It sucks you have to wait till Wednesday! Just breath and take things one step at a time.

 

runt1964

Wildtulip said:

I don't have any insight for

I don't have any insight for you, as I did not have pain with my cancer. I do think it's good you have an appointment with an oncologist, as it appears your doctor is not comfortable with your symptoms and wants input from a specialist. The oncologist will go over your testing, talk with you, exam you and possibly order more tests. It sucks you have to wait till Wednesday! Just breath and take things one step at a time.

 

Thanks Wildtulip

Thanks for your reply.  The first ultrasound I had done, which was done wrong, the doctor who did it said if it were something serious like some kind of cancer I would have no pain. My GP said for the most part that's true but things aren't always text book. She said my symptoms are complex and wants another opinion

I'm sorry you have to go through what  are dealing with. I hope you're getting better. 

RozHopkins

I would have a very thorough

I would have a very thorough investigation.  Have you had results yet?  Nipple discharge is not normal, has it inverted at all and do you have any pluckering of breast skin?  Yes, people do have pain, some have none, some just feel something is wrong.  You can get itching, a sore feeling, a heavy feeling, aching.  If indeed just an infection that would be good news, tell us what happens.

Wildtulip

runt1964 said:

Thanks Wildtulip

Thanks for your reply.  The first ultrasound I had done, which was done wrong, the doctor who did it said if it were something serious like some kind of cancer I would have no pain. My GP said for the most part that's true but things aren't always text book. She said my symptoms are complex and wants another opinion

I'm sorry you have to go through what  are dealing with. I hope you're getting better. 

One last piece of advice, if

One last piece of advice, if you have a phone that can record, I suggest you record your appointment on Wednesday. You will likely get a lot of information, and this way you can refer back to it later. When I went to my first appointment with my oncologist I made sure my phone was fully charged and after I was roomed I started recording. I just had my phone sitting on top of my purse, and for the most part it picked the conversation up fine. I'm sure if I would have asked, the Dr would have been fine with the recording, but knowing it was just for me, I didn't bother.

I finished treatment a couple of months ago, and I'm getting stonger each day.

I'll be thinking of you..do let us know how you are doing.

runt1964

RozHopkins said:

I would have a very thorough

I would have a very thorough investigation.  Have you had results yet?  Nipple discharge is not normal, has it inverted at all and do you have any pluckering of breast skin?  Yes, people do have pain, some have none, some just feel something is wrong.  You can get itching, a sore feeling, a heavy feeling, aching.  If indeed just an infection that would be good news, tell us what happens.

Breast doctor on Wednesday

The only thing I know for sure is I have two swollen lymph nodes in my left armpit. I haven't had any discharge in a week and what I did have was a crust coverage over my nipple that was whitish. I have pain that comes and goes, most of the time I feel fine  a little nipple sorenes and the pain I get when it comes it is a burning sharp pain that it feels like my armpit  being ripped open and even though it doesn't look swollen it feels like I have a baseball under my arm. I have been  few days left on the antibiotic, has it helped maybe a little.  The gabapentin wasnt helping much because i never know when I'll have the pain it could be 15 minutes to hours inbetween and  didn't like how I felt while taking it. So until Wednesday......oh and thank you! 

VickiSam

runt1964 said:

Breast doctor on Wednesday

The only thing I know for sure is I have two swollen lymph nodes in my left armpit. I haven't had any discharge in a week and what I did have was a crust coverage over my nipple that was whitish. I have pain that comes and goes, most of the time I feel fine  a little nipple sorenes and the pain I get when it comes it is a burning sharp pain that it feels like my armpit  being ripped open and even though it doesn't look swollen it feels like I have a baseball under my arm. I have been  few days left on the antibiotic, has it helped maybe a little.  The gabapentin wasnt helping much because i never know when I'll have the pain it could be 15 minutes to hours inbetween and  didn't like how I felt while taking it. So until Wednesday......oh and thank you! 

Checking in on you!!!!!

we are here for you -- best of luck to you on Wednesday..  We will be there in spirit and suppor.

Strength, Courage and HOPE for a Cure.

Vicki Sam

runt1964

VickiSam said:

Checking in on you!!!!!

we are here for you -- best of luck to you on Wednesday..  We will be there in spirit and suppor.

Strength, Courage and HOPE for a Cure.

Vicki Sam

A little nervous

Thanks  Vicki, 

im a little nervous, Im so uncertain in what to expect.  I think im driving myself silently crazy, my mind is always going and searching for things that i could say that's it, they just need to give me different medication to clear some kind of infection. 

runt1964

Wildtulip said:

One last piece of advice, if

One last piece of advice, if you have a phone that can record, I suggest you record your appointment on Wednesday. You will likely get a lot of information, and this way you can refer back to it later. When I went to my first appointment with my oncologist I made sure my phone was fully charged and after I was roomed I started recording. I just had my phone sitting on top of my purse, and for the most part it picked the conversation up fine. I'm sure if I would have asked, the Dr would have been fine with the recording, but knowing it was just for me, I didn't bother.

I finished treatment a couple of months ago, and I'm getting stonger each day.

I'll be thinking of you..do let us know how you are doing.

Good idea

Thanks for the advise, my husband travels for work so he is unable to go with me today. 

Gilberto_Farthing

The only thing which I can

The only thing which I can tell you is - "It may possible that cancer may have started the fight, but we know you can/will finish it.”

runt1964

More test

Sooo.....I  have to have a mamo of my right breast since that wasn't done the last time and it's been over three months since my routine one was done and an MRI "if my insurance covers it" last time I had one done on my head they didn't pay a penny, that was a year ago and I'm still paying on it. The swollen lymph nodes are 1.2 cm was told to try primrose and vitamin E and if the insurance company denies the MRI we will talk about other options. Maybe just reactive lymph nodes but don't know what of.

jessiesmom1

runt1964 said:

More test

Sooo.....I  have to have a mamo of my right breast since that wasn't done the last time and it's been over three months since my routine one was done and an MRI "if my insurance covers it" last time I had one done on my head they didn't pay a penny, that was a year ago and I'm still paying on it. The swollen lymph nodes are 1.2 cm was told to try primrose and vitamin E and if the insurance company denies the MRI we will talk about other options. Maybe just reactive lymph nodes but don't know what of.

Swollen Lymph Nodes

I can only speak from my personal experience and I realize each individual's experience is different. In late 2009 I noticed the lymph nodes in my right armpit were swollen and they hurt. Within a couple weeks they increased in size and hurt more. My ob/gyn ordered a mammogram as I was due for one anyway. It also showed nothing but the radiologist that viewed the images said the lumps were outside the field of vision of the mammography machine. Next it was on to a diagnostic ultrasound. That was "suspicious" so a biopsy was ordered. The pathology report showed that I had Triple Negative Breast Cancer. I never had any lumps/masses/tumors in the breast tissue itself. Apparently that happens in about 5% of all breast cancer patients. I had a right mastectomy followed by 16 rounds of chemo. It was Stage IIa-Grade 3. Personally I can't imagine that anything rubbed on the skin (such as primrose oil or Vitamin E) is going to reduce swelling in the lymph nodes. If it is an infection then antibiotics would be necessary. If it is cancer then an oncologist can advise you how to proceed.

I wish you the very best of luck. Let us know how things go.

IRENE

runt1964

jessiesmom1 said:

Swollen Lymph Nodes

I can only speak from my personal experience and I realize each individual's experience is different. In late 2009 I noticed the lymph nodes in my right armpit were swollen and they hurt. Within a couple weeks they increased in size and hurt more. My ob/gyn ordered a mammogram as I was due for one anyway. It also showed nothing but the radiologist that viewed the images said the lumps were outside the field of vision of the mammography machine. Next it was on to a diagnostic ultrasound. That was "suspicious" so a biopsy was ordered. The pathology report showed that I had Triple Negative Breast Cancer. I never had any lumps/masses/tumors in the breast tissue itself. Apparently that happens in about 5% of all breast cancer patients. I had a right mastectomy followed by 16 rounds of chemo. It was Stage IIa-Grade 3. Personally I can't imagine that anything rubbed on the skin (such as primrose oil or Vitamin E) is going to reduce swelling in the lymph nodes. If it is an infection then antibiotics would be necessary. If it is cancer then an oncologist can advise you how to proceed.

I wish you the very best of luck. Let us know how things go.

IRENE

You can't see them

Hi Irene,

Thank you for sharing and I'm so sorry to hear you have had to go through this.  You can't see mine with the naked eye and when you feel it, it's like "I think I feel something" they were found on an ultra sound. When I get the pain it feels like I have a baseball under my arm but yet it doesn't appear to be swollen. Last night was tough with the pain I was unable to sleep on my left side and I'm a left side sleeper and the pain is sharp and burns, if anyone has ever had a tattoo it's like times 100 that and the meds don't help the pain is random and i can be just sitting not using that arm so it's not caused by movement, so that makes me think not a muscle problem like someone told me, I could be wrong but I seriously doubt it. I didn't ask why the primrose, I know I should have

runt1964

MRI was denied

My insurance denied the MRI, biopsy scheduled for Monday. 

camul

runt1964 said:

MRI was denied

My insurance denied the MRI, biopsy scheduled for Monday. 

I m sorry to hear that,

But not at all surprised.  When I was initially diagnosed in 2003, my insurance denied a bi-lateral mastectomy, and even with stage iv, there are things such as Herceptin which was denied, all trials, and genetics testing, although they surprised me when they approved BRCA testing.  Had they approved Genome testing, they could have saved 2 1/2 years of chemo as my oncologist who was one of the researchers at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda MD for advanced breast cancer, and is now heading up trials at the cancer Institute here said, my cancer responds to hormone blockers but rarely to chemo.  (I changed oncologists 2 1/2 years ago when mine said it was time for hospice and I disagreed.  Now I have a different Oncologist who has worked with the last one as my insurance did not cover at the cancer institute).  

Chemo is so expensive, had they done Genome, it would have cost 10k upfront, but that was only the cost of one chemo treatment!

Hoping for the best.

 

runt1964

camul said:

I m sorry to hear that,

But not at all surprised.  When I was initially diagnosed in 2003, my insurance denied a bi-lateral mastectomy, and even with stage iv, there are things such as Herceptin which was denied, all trials, and genetics testing, although they surprised me when they approved BRCA testing.  Had they approved Genome testing, they could have saved 2 1/2 years of chemo as my oncologist who was one of the researchers at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda MD for advanced breast cancer, and is now heading up trials at the cancer Institute here said, my cancer responds to hormone blockers but rarely to chemo.  (I changed oncologists 2 1/2 years ago when mine said it was time for hospice and I disagreed.  Now I have a different Oncologist who has worked with the last one as my insurance did not cover at the cancer institute).  

Chemo is so expensive, had they done Genome, it would have cost 10k upfront, but that was only the cost of one chemo treatment!

Hoping for the best.

 

Oh goodness!

i do "kind of" understand denials for certain test but when it  comes to treatmento it should be covered with no questions. I hope you are doing better.  I did have a biopsy done on 2/1/16 after a whirl wind of confusion.  The doctor at the breast imaging center wasnt going to do it and ended up calling my Breast/Oncologist she said its to be done to rule out the worst, the doctor  did it said "I'm sure it's nothing but swollen lymph nodes but if you want it done Ill go ahead to give you a piece of mind, but you know worrying can make things going on in your body worse then they are" I'm not imagining this pain I have, and when  hurts it hurts a lot. He really made me feel like crap For feeling like crap.

camul

runt1964 said:

Oh goodness!

i do "kind of" understand denials for certain test but when it  comes to treatmento it should be covered with no questions. I hope you are doing better.  I did have a biopsy done on 2/1/16 after a whirl wind of confusion.  The doctor at the breast imaging center wasnt going to do it and ended up calling my Breast/Oncologist she said its to be done to rule out the worst, the doctor  did it said "I'm sure it's nothing but swollen lymph nodes but if you want it done Ill go ahead to give you a piece of mind, but you know worrying can make things going on in your body worse then they are" I'm not imagining this pain I have, and when  hurts it hurts a lot. He really made me feel like crap For feeling like crap.

I know the feeling.

I went in for a sore chest said to doctor it is what I imagined a heart attack to feel like.  So I think to humor me, he ordered a CT scan of my chest.  Came home from test to a phone call from doctor on call. To get to the hospital. It was a blood clot that had shot off 3 pulmonary embolisms.  Spent a week in the hospital.  Funny thing g is the only times I had said anything, there was an issue.  

 

We know our bodies better than most when you go thru so much and know when something is not right.  Go with your gut feelings and if it is nothing, that is a bonus.  Never let them feel like they are doing you a favor.  Too many other good doctors will to listen and help.

runt1964

camul said:

I know the feeling.

I went in for a sore chest said to doctor it is what I imagined a heart attack to feel like.  So I think to humor me, he ordered a CT scan of my chest.  Came home from test to a phone call from doctor on call. To get to the hospital. It was a blood clot that had shot off 3 pulmonary embolisms.  Spent a week in the hospital.  Funny thing g is the only times I had said anything, there was an issue.  

 

We know our bodies better than most when you go thru so much and know when something is not right.  Go with your gut feelings and if it is nothing, that is a bonus.  Never let them feel like they are doing you a favor.  Too many other good doctors will to listen and help.

Yikes!

Good thing your doctor listen and took precaution. A year ago I had a TIA was told they couldnt explain why but four months prior I was getting terrible headaches that would only happen when I was asleep had MRI with contrast done but nothing was seen tried everything possible to prevent them so between nightsweats and the headches I was getting a few hours sleep at night. Then one day at work I started slurring and stuttering and off balance. So yes when I get a pain that can't be explained makes me nervous. i do get headaches but not like they were and not as often.