I had my surgery at the end Of March ( WLE and SNB - the blue dye was used to locate the sentinel nodes ) , started on Tamoxifen in May and had 3 weeks of rads in June . About 6 weeks ago I noticed a small yellow crust on the nipple and a little bit to the side of the nipple of the breast treated. As I was at my Gps later that week ( problems with spotting and the Tam ) I mentioned it to her.She looked and said she didn’t know what it was and cutting a long story short I was referred back to the breast clinic on the fast track system. I saw the consultant there about 3 weeks ago . He wasn’t concerned. He had a look and feel and said he thought it looked fine but he didn’t do an ultrasound and I didn’t have a mammo. He said the breast could take up to 2 years to recover from the treatment and I suppose the impression I had was that the crusting in his opinion was liklely to be part of that. This week I had an even smaller amount of the same thing. I don’t feel I can go to the Gp again at this stage. I was planning to leave it and monitor it over the next weeks but I wondered if anyone has experienced the same ?
Hi walkabout…you are absolutely right to monitor and seek advice again if you are not happy. Would like to offer you my personal experience in case it is of some help…Finished rads end of August 2012 and consultant radiologist told me at follow up appt in October that RT carries on working for up to a year! My RT was across the bottom of my breast (including my nipple)…skin broke underneath really badly and took ages to heal. After about 5 months I noticed a crustiness around my nipple and wondered if I hadn’t been showering properly lol…I was advised at mammo in Jan that the radiated skin would feel leathery for up to 2/3 years, that symptoms sometimes carried on longer, and could return much later!! The crusty nipple was simply the radiated skin peeling away, scabbing and revealing new, softer skin underneath. She showed me the contrast on screen between both breasts which was interesting and astounding…skin thickening and breast tissue so different looking!! This crustiness happened once or twice more over a couple of months, and nothing since. Saw my surgeon in October who said that my breast had been particularly affected (no reason why…some did, some didn’t) but that all was healing well. As I said at the start, if you’re not happy after monitoring do get it checked out again…so important for professional reassurance. Take care, M
I suggest you phone your breast care nurse. They are the experts and they see loads & that is what they are there for so no need to feel you ‘are bothering them’.
Hi Walkabout,
I had the same treatments as you and my rads finished 4 weeks ago. I too had crusty nipple for about 3 weeks. I kept plastering on the aqueous cream morning and evening and really think it helped it clear up more quickly and made the nipple feel more comfortable. I had a patch of greyish skin near my scar as well which I thought may be permanent but it’s improving. Just waiting for my blue dye mark to go now, will probably miss it when it eventually does!
You mustn’t worry about going back to the GP though if there’s no improvement or you are worried. I don’t like troubling my GP but remember we’ve had cancer, it’s no small thing and there’s going to be the odd thing now and then.
Take care and it’s nice to meet someone on here that’s had the same treatment plan. x