Girls, I got this in an email from my
aunt. Sorry its long, but you should
really read it!!
New kind of breast
cancer--important!!!!!
Please forward to all of the women in your
lives. Mothers, daughters, sisters,
aunts, friends, etc.
In november, a rare kind of breast cancer
was found. A lady developed a rash on her
breast, similar to that of young mothers
who are nursing.
Because her mammogram had been clear, the
doctor treated her with antibiotics for
infections. After two rounds and it
continued to get worse, her doctor sent
her for another mammogram, and this time
it showed a mass.
A biopsy found a fast growing malignancy.
Chemo was started in order to shrink the
growth; then mastectomy; then a full round
of chemo; then radiation.
After about 9 months of intense treatment,
she was given a clean bill of health.
One year of living each day to its
fullest. Then the cancer returned to the
liver area. She took 4 treatments and
decided that she wanted quality of life,
not the after effects of chemo.
She had 5 great months and she planned
each detail of the final days. After
just a few days of needing morphine she
slipped away saying she had done what god
had sent her into the world to do and now
it was her time to go.
Please be alert to any thing that is not
normal.
Her message is shown below:
paget's disease: this is a rare form of
breast cancer, and is on the outside of
the breast, on the nipple and aureola.
It appeared as a rash, which later became
a lesion with a crusty outer edge. I
would not have ever suspected it to be
breast cancer but it was. My nipple
never seemed any different to me, but the
rash bothered me, so I went to the doctor
for that.
Sometimes, it itched and was sore, but
other than that it didn't bother me. It
was just ugly and a nuisance, and could
not be cleared up with all the creams
prescribed by my doctor and dermatologist
for the dermatitis on my eyes just prior
to this outbreak.
They seemed a little concerned. Mine
started out as a single red pimple on the
aureola. One of the biggest problems
with paget's disease of the nipple is that
the symptoms appear to be harmless. It
is frequently thought to be a skin
inflammation or infection, leading to
unfortunate delays in detection and
care.
What are the symptoms? The symptoms
include:
1. A persistent redness, oozing, and
crusting of your nipple causing it to itch
and burn. (as I stated, mine did not
itch or burn much, and had no oozing I was
aware of, but it did have a crust along
the outer edge on one side.)
2. A sore on your nipple that will not
heal. (mine was on the aureola area with
a whitish thick looking area in center of
nipple).
3. Usually only one nipple is affected.
How is it diagnosed? Your doctor will
do a physical exam and should suggest
having a mammogram of both breasts, done
immediately.
Even though the redness, oozing and
crusting closely resemble dermatitis
(inflammation of the skin), your doctor
should suspect cancer if the sore is only
on one breast. Your doctor should order
a biopsy of your sore to confirm what is
going on.
This message should be taken seriously and
passed on to as many of your relatives and
friends as possible; it could save
someone's life. My breast cancer has
spread and metastasized to my bones after
receiving mega doses of chemotherapy, 28
treatments of radiation and taking
tamaxofin. If this had been diagnosed as
breast cancer in the beginning, perhaps it
would not have spread.
To all readers: this is sad as women are
not aware of paget's disease. If, by
passing this around on the e-mail, we can
make others aware of it, and its potential
danger, we are helping women everywhere.
Please, if you can, take a moment to
forward this message to as many people as
possible, especially to your family and
friends. It only takes a moment, yet the
results could save a life.
|
Moira
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Nov 2004 Posts: 302 Location: somewhere where it rains a lot
