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On January 31, 2007 the distinctive twinkle in Molly Ivins’ blue eyes flickered and faded when she finally succumbed to inflammatory breast cancer.
Ivins sparred with the more deadly form of breast cancer for eight years. Against recurrences in both 2003 and 2005, Ivins was able to fend off her adversary. But inflammatory breast cancer proved too formidable a foe, even for the quick-witted Ivins and in the end it felled our beloved friend.
Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare but aggressive form of breast cancer responsible for anywhere from 1% to 6% of all breast cancers. According to researchers from the Mayo Clinic, inflammatory breast cancer strikes women at an average age of 59 (slightly younger than the average age for other forms of breast cancer) and is slightly more prevalent in African American women than white women. It develops rapidly, making the affected breast red or to appear bruised, swollen and tender and spreads to adjacent lymph nodes just as quickly. Unlike the more common form of breast cancer, distinct masses are typically absent and the breast is often quite painful (pain is usually absent in the more common “mass” form of breast cancer). The dimpled “peau d’orange” (skin of an orange) appearance of the breast causes many clinicians to diagnose an infection rather than breast cancer. However, diagnostic studies such as mammography, nuclear medicine scans and biopsy definitively diagnose the deadly disease. Until very recently, the prognosis for women diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer was grim at best but new advances in treatment are allowing women afflicted with inflammatory breast cancer a fighting chance at survival.
Lore Senseney has been battling inflammatory breast cancer since May 2006 and so far, with the help of her surgeons and oncologists, seems to have the upper hand.
“It was just before Mother’s Day and I saw one of those ads telling women to look at their breasts. So before I got into the shower, I took a look. I was surprised to notice that my right breast was larger than the left. When I touched it, it really hurt – right around the nipple. I didn’t want to alarm anyone, so I had Mother’s Day with my family (and didn’t share with them my suspicions) and saw my internist a week later. He told me that it was most likely an inflammation; but just to be sure, he gave me a slip to go and have a mammogram. I tried to schedule my mammogram right away, but was told that I had to wait three weeks for an appointment. By then, I was scared and told the scheduler, ‘I may have a cancer and I want to have my mammogram sooner!’”
“I had my mammogram on June 6th and immediately after, the technician called for the doctor. He told me, ‘I am seeing something that I don’t like and I want to do a biopsy. I think it’s a cancer but I want to be sure.’
“He did the biopsy right then and there and a man with a microscope came and looked at the sample immediately. Although the samples were sent out for a full examination, they both agreed that I likely had inflammatory breast cancer. Two days later I met with an oncologist, a radiologist and a surgeon who confirmed the diagnosis. The news hit me like a hammer.”
So began a yearlong battle between Senseney and inflammatory breast cancer. She’s endured several rounds of chemotherapy – before surgery to shrink the tumor and after her mastectomy to eradicate any remaining cancer post-operatively. Her life became a series of hospital visits for chemotherapy and then for radiation therapy. She had her last chemotherapy treatment on December 26, 2006.
Senseney admits that she’s not the same. She gained a considerable amount of weight from the steroids she took along with chemotherapy. She tires easily and her finger tips are numb and feel like there are little beads within them. She’s lost a lot of manual dexterity, often drops things and has considerable difficulty doing her favorite thing – needlepoint. But she fights on. She developed lymphedema (swelling) in her right arm immediately after her mastectomy that resolved following treatment. However, the edema returned in January of 2008 and now seems permanent. She struggles with additional fluid in her body and most specifically has difficulty breathing. Yet she presses on. Most recently, she’s been encouraged by news reports that state it’s okay for breast cancer survivors with lymphedema to do strength training with weights.
“I’ve gotten so weak and have been unable to do so many things that I like to do like garden. I have some hand weights and I’m going to pull them out of my closet and get going,” says Sensensey. “At 74, I don’t know how long I have, but I am alive. I have much to live and be thankful for.”
Sensensey says that she would not have made it through this battle without the support and prayers of her family and friends.
“My daughter Charlotte was with me every step of the way. Whatever I needed she got for me. She’s also a massage therapist, so every time she came to visit, she gave me a massage. It was just wonderful.”
“I also have the most wonderful friends. When they learned that I had the cancer, they all set about praying for me. I swear that I had every type of denomination calling on God on my behalf. And as a result of their prayers, I felt as though someone really was holding me in their hands through all of this. I have been blessed more than I can say.”
Senseney is very willing to share her story to make other women aware of inflammatory breast cancer. She is quick to tell women:
“Look at your breasts. If you see something funny, get a mammogram. If you have pain or feel lumps, it may be cancer and you have to get checked. Look, five years ago, I may have died from inflammatory breast cancer. But with these new treatments, for now, I’m a survivor.”
Signs and Symptoms of Inflammatory Breast Cancer
• Rapid change in the appearance of one breast, over the course of days or weeks
• Thickness, heaviness or visible enlargement of one breast
• Discoloration, giving the breast a red, purple, pink or bruised appearance
• Unusual warmth of the affected breast
• Dimpling or ridges on the skin of the affected breast, similar to an orange peel
• Itching
• Tenderness, pain or aching
• Enlarged lymph nodes under the arm, above the collarbone or below the collarbone
• Flattening or turning inward of the nipple
• Swollen or crusted skin on the nipple
• Change in color of the skin around the nipple (areola)