I am having a really hard night tonight as I saw a breast surgeon today and the uncertainty of what she said has left me deeply confused and scared. The first thing she asked me to do is to avoid looking at sites besides this one and one other reputable Australian cancer site.
Last week I saw her the day before I started chemo and she indicated she was a bit worried about the appearance my breast, but she thought that what she was seeing might just be irritation from the biopsy. Today there was a student doctor in and she was showing her that my skin on the right breast had some dimpling around the nipple and she was expressing concern about me possibly showing signs of inflammatory breast cancer. I know that the GP who referred me for the first mammogram and ultrasound noted on the referral "no peau d'orange", and the other breast surgeon I saw did not say anything about it, but now this doctor is talking about me having this sign (I'm not sure, as I think that nipple was always a tiny bit inverted and had a few tiny dimples).
So I have gone from having a clear sense that I know what the cancer is and that it is diminishing with this chemo to having to entertain that maybe I (also/instead?) have IBC. I definitely have a noticeable lump and I definitely have HER2+ locally advanced multifocal breast cancer with lymph involvement but I didn't know that I could possibly also have IBC. Fat chance of me not googling it either after she mentioned the inflammatory word!
I know it is sensible to stay calm and not get carried away on a stress train but this has really upset me. I think I will try to obtain a second opinion asap, or I will ring the woman (retired specialist) who calmed me down last tine I got myself into a fear spin first thing in the morning. I'm supposed to be at the look good feel good workshop, but don't think I will be feeling too good until I get some kind of clarity on what this means for me and my treatment.
