Know the symptoms for Inflammatory Breast Disease (there are no lumps)...

Good morning, my fancy little cherubs~

Today I read again about Inflammatory Breast Disease and decided it was important for all women - and some men - to be reminded that ANY CHANGE IN BREAST TISSUE MUST BE EVALUATED!

If you thought there was only one kind of breast cancer, think again. Cancer is one of a hundred diseases, and the various types of cancer that affect the breast tissue are different. The symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer are very different:

"The interesting thing is most women have never heard about IBC and most physicians heard about it in med school but never have seen a case," says Dr. Gralow.

Nancy and Marilyn's doctors told them they had bug bites on their breasts and prescribed antibiotics. By the time Marilyn was diagnosed, she was stage 4 and the cancer was everywhere.

"I never dealt with stages of cancer, I didn't know there wasn't a stage 5," says a dumfounded Bradfield.

Know The Symptoms

Andi was just 16 when she died from IBC. She was too embarrassed to tell her mother her breast looked funny. It was slightly enlarged and her nipple was inverted -classic IBC symptoms.

Other symptoms include: rapid increase in breast size, redness, skin hot to the touch, persistent itching, an orange peel texture to the breast and thickening of breast tissue.

"It's important to understand your breast, no one knows your breasts better than you," advices Dr. Gralow.

"It doesn't happen very often so there isn't as much awareness about it," says Lynn Hagerman, Executive Director of the Susan G. Komen Foundation's Puget Sound Affiliate. IBC accounts for about 6% of all invasive breast cancer cases.

Lynn Hagerman runs the local chapter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. With their pink ribbons and messaging heard nationwide, they are the undisputed leader in breast cancer awareness.

Source: http://www.komotv.com/ibc/

Please check your own body, but also pass this around. IBC can affect even teenage women, so mothers need to tell their daughters about it. Of course, it is rare, but if even one young woman is diagnosed early, there is hope for her.

Clark County Diva