Breast Cancer Awareness

[Guest guest]

I recieved this letter this morning and felt it needed to be passed on,

to the Lady that courageously wrote her testimony to warn us all of

what she has had to go through.

PAGET'S DISEASE OF THE NIPPLE

Is a rare form of breast cancer, and is on the outside of the breast,

on the nipple or areola, it appears as a rash which later becomes 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 my doctor's office for that.

Sometimes it itched and was sore but other than that it didn't really

bother me, was just ugly and a nuisance, and would not clear up with

all the creams given by doctor and dermatologist for the dermatitis on

my eyse that I had just had prior to this outbreak. Therefore I went

into the doctors office for further assistance.

They seemed a little concerned but did not warn me it could be

cancerous. Now I suspect there are not many women out there who know of

a lesion or rash on the nipple or areloa can be breast cancer.

What are the symptoms?

Mine started out as a single red pimple on the areola. One of the

biggest problems of Pagets disease of the niple is that the sypmptoms

appear to be harmless. It is frequently thought to be a skin

inflamation or infections, leading to unfortunate delays in detection

and care.

The symptoms include:

1- A persistant redness, oozing, and crusting of your nipple causing it

to itch and burn (as I stated mine did not itch much or burn, and no

oozing was I 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 areola

area with a witish thick ollkin area in the center of the niple)

3- Usually only one nipple is affected.

How is it diagnosed?

You doctor will do a physical exam, and should suggest having a

mammogram of both breasts done immediatly. Even though the redness,

oozing and crusting closely resemble drmatitis (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. They will take a sample of your breast tissue in that area

to test for cancer. If the cancer is only in the nipple and not in the

breast, your doctor may recommend just removing the nipple and

surrounding tissue or suggest radiation treatments. Had my doctor

caught mine right away, instead of flaking it off as dermatitis perhaps

they could of saved my breast and it wouldn't have gone to my lymph

nodes.

This message should be taken seriously and passed on to as many of your

friends as possible,it could save someone's life. My breast cancer has

spread and metastasized to my bones, this after recieveing mega doses

of chemotherapy, 28 treatments of radiation and taking tamaxofin. If

this had been diagnosed in the beginning as breast cancer and treated

right away perhaps it would not have spread......

I did try to spread the word through Rosie O'Donnell show on breast

cancer awareness but it failed to trigger enough importance to recieve

an announcement on her show last year. This is sad as we are not aware

of Paget's Disease. If by passing this around on the e-mail we can make

others aware of it and it's potential danger we are helping folks

everywhere.

(Sorry authors name unknown)

I wanted to share this with you because it scared me, what I saw was an

incident that happened to me right after Cristmas and about 2.5 months

before I got on Immunocal. My mother died of breast cancer, and I have

always tried to keep that in mind by making sure I have check ups.

Well right around Christmas I found I was having a problem with the

left breast on the niple and the areola area. I thought it was because

of the dry whether and I am getting older so my skin must be dryer. I

had the discharge and the crusty skin as well as the itching, the

itching was the worst. Again chalk it up to ignorance but I thought I

was doing all this because of dry air, and dry skin. I have never had

an experince sinse and I went for a breast check a couple of months ago

and was given a good checkup, passed with flying colors. I now wonder

what would have happened if I hadn't taken the Immunocal at this time.

After all everything this person says to fit the criteria I know I had

happen. And no I didn't go to the doctors I thought it would go away

and eventually it did.

Cheers

Debbie