I was diagnosed with breast cancer in August and had surgery (lumpectomy) on my left breast for a tumour together with an area of DCIS nearly 3 weeks ago. I’m hormone receptor positive, HER2 negative and the sentinel node biopsy was negative (so it doesn’t appear to have spread to my lymph nodes). I am waiting for the surgery biopsy reports to come back before seeing the consultant and finding out more about the staging of the cancer and next treatment. From everything said to me so far I was hoping the cancer was localised but in recent weeks a suspicious slightly raised lesion- like mark has appeared on the skin on my left side rib area. I have also had problems with discomfort/pain around my left rib area for several months (which the GP has failed to diagnose) - it feels more like soft or internal/muscle tissue problems than bones. I am very concerned that the symptoms on my left side and the skin lesion may be symptoms of secondaries as they’re in the area of the tumour. Does anyone have experience/advice about breast cancer skin secondaries when the lymph nodes are negative? I will discuss this with the consultant of course but I am very worried, finding the wait difficult and the consultant only seems interested in my lymph nodes. I recognise that spread is usually through the lymph nodes but could there be cancer spread by other means?
Many thanks in advance for any thoughts - I am very glad to have found you all!
Hi JoBeth sorry to hear of your diagnosis and your subsequent concerns. Have you considered getting in touch with one of the experts at Macmillan tip have a chat about your questions? You can call them or pop a question in the “ask a nurse” section. I've popped the links here for you. Best wishes
