How to Avoid the Dangers of Paget s Disease of The Breast
Posted by admin on April 17, 2010
Many of you will have heard of Pagets Disease which is a serious bone disease but many of you will not have heard of Pagets Disease of the breast so I am hoping that the ladies out there reading this article will take notice of the content because t
Many of you will have heard of Pagets Disease which is a serious bone disease but many of you will not have heard of Pagets Disease of the breast so I am hoping that the ladies out there reading this article will take notice of the content because they could come in touch with this disease at some time in their life
What Is Pagets Disease Of The Breast
It is an eczema type change in the skin of the nipple and most women that develop it will have an underlying breast cancer
Pagets Disease occurs in about 1 or 2 of women that have breast cancer it appears firstly as a scaly red rash affecting the nipple and the areola It can be very sore may bleed and it will not go away
The disease can be difficult to diagnose because it can be very similar to other skin problems like eczema or dermatitis but this disease usually affects the nipple first then spreads to the areola whereas the other skin problems usually start in the surrounding areas first before spreading to the nipple
I have been asked to include the following in this article it is taken from an actual case where the person with the disease wanted this message passed on by you to all the ladies in your life Mothers Daughters Sisters Aunts and Friends
A lady developed a rash on her breast similar to that of young mothers who are nursing Because her mammogram had been clear the doctor treated her with antibiotics for infections
After two treatments it continued to get worse her doctor sent her for another mammogram and this time it showed a mass
A biopsy found a fast growing malignancy Chemotherapy was started in order to shrink the growth then mastectomy then a full round of Chemotherapy followed by radiation treatment
After about 9 months of intense treatment she was given a clean bill of health She had one year of living each day to its fullest Then the cancer returned to the liver area She took four treatments and decided that she wanted quality of life not the after effects of Chemotherapy
She had 5 great months and she planned each detail of the final days
After just a few days of needing morphine she slipped away saying she had done what God had sent her into the world to do
PLEASE be alert to any thing that is not normal
Her message is shown below
Pagets Disease This is a rare form of breast cancer and is on the outside of the breast on the nipple and areola It appeared as a rash which later became 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 the doctor for that Sometimes it itched and was sore but other than that it didnt bother me
It was just ugly and a nuisance and could not be cleared up with all the creams prescribed by my doctor and dermatologist for the dermatitis on my eyes just prior to this outbreak
They seemed a little concerned Mine started out as a single red pimple on the areola One of the biggest problems with Pagets disease of the nipple is that the symptoms appear to be harmless It is frequently thought to be a skin inflammation or infection leading to unfortunate delays in detection and care
What are the symptoms The symptoms include
A persistent redness oozing and crusting of your nipple causing it to itch and burn As I stated mine did not itch or burn much and had no oozing I was aware of but it did have a crust along the outer edge on one side
A sore on your nipple that will not heal Mine was on the areola area with a whitish thick looking area in center of nipple
Usually only one nipple is affected How is it diagnosed Your doctor will do a physical exam and should suggest having a mammogram of both breasts done immediately
Even though the redness oozing and crusting closely resembles dermatitis 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
This message should be taken seriously and passed on to as many of your relatives and friends as possible it could save someones life
My breast cancer has spread and metastasized to my bones after receiving mega doses of chemotherapy twenty eight treatments of radiation and taking Tamaxofin
If this had been diagnosed as breast cancer in the beginning perhaps it would not have spread
TO ALL READERS This is sad as women are not aware of Pagets disease
As we all know early diagnosis is so important with all kinds of diseases so if you are in any doubt about any medical problem for goodness sake make an appointment to see a Physician soon as possible
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