Pat_S

My sister had breast cancer two years ago. It was a self contained tumor, and she had a mastectomy followed by oral medication. My mother survived breast cancer, so we felt positive about the outcome.

In August, my sister started noticing changes in her other breast. She described it as appearing as a rash. I didn't know until today that she also noticed that the breast was getting larger.

She had a mammogram and biopsy at that time, neither of which showed any cause for concern. However, her breast continued to change. In December, her dog jumped up and hit her on that breast. It really changed colors after that, prompting her to go back to the doctor for another biopsy. Well, this one was positive. She had a mastectomy right before Christmas and got the pathology report yesterday. They had removed nineteen lymph nodes and all nineteen were affected.

I don't know if this is good news, but she has several good friends and co-workers who are fighting the same battle right now with inflammatory breast cancer (one had a double mastectomy followed by chemo and radiation two years ago). It seems like an epidemic, but at least they have each other for support and information.

Here are my questions:

(1) Are her two incidents of breast cancer completely unrelated?

(2) How could August's biopsy not find any trace of this, when she had obvious symptoms?

This is really scary for all of us. Not only are we worried about her, but of the four daughters, three have at least had a biopsy or lump removed (most were benign).

There was no known pattern of breast cancer in our family until my mother was diagnosed, but menopause and hormone replacement may be the key...???

Pat