DCS and tumor (cancer)

[pheel]

Hi medical folks,

Here is my wife's story with breast cancer and how we found out about it. Some will say the connection between scuba and the diagnosis of her cancer is anecdotal but it is a welcome anecdote.

Last week of April she went to Turk and Caicos with one of her friend.
On Sunday she did 2 deep dives (96' and 94').
The next day she started having some pain in her left breast but couldn't find any event that could have triggered it.
On Tuesday she went back for another 2 tank dive (101' and 83').
The pain remained for the rest of the week. When she came back the Friday I was shock to see how swollen her breast was, reminded me when she was breast feeding a few years ago. (she is 37)

By the time she got an appointement with her doctor (few days after) everything was back to normal. Long story short, her doctor, the radiologist and the surgeon that did the biopsy all tought it was a fibroadenoma, until they had the biopsy results that confirm cancer. She is now recovering from the surgery and look forward to resume diving next year.

I can't help but think that the tumor reacted differently to nitrogen compare to other tissues and ended up getting bent. We talked a lot about it and she had no symptoms before her vacation nor after except for a period of 7-8 days following diving.

Have you seen similar cases before?

Thanks

pheel

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

It's more likely that the tumor was impinging on the circulation and impaired the nitrogen elimination in her breast tissue. Glad it was caught! Best wishes to her for a full and speedy recovery.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[pheel]

It's more likely that the tumor was impinging on the circulation and impaired the nitrogen elimination in her breast tissue. Glad it was caught! Best wishes to her for a full and speedy recovery.

Best regards,
DDM

Thanks DDM for your reply

 

[CNYMAD]

All my best to a quick recovery! My experience with breast cancer is different. I was always in pain except when diving - perhaps the underwater pressure relieved whatever was causing the pain?

 

[TSandM]

It's also the case that DCS can present itself in adipose tissue, which is what the breast is primarily made of. I've also heard that lymphatic DCS can present in the breast. At any rate, it sounds quite lucky that your wife had symptoms in her breast that led to it being investigated, and the cancer being found.

 

[pheel]

Very lucky since she didn't have any symptoms except for those she had post diving. At some point she considered canceling the the appointment to the doctor because everything went back to normal after a few days.

She has always dived with me and was anxious to dive with a group of strangers. Her friend that traveled with her is not a diver. Long story short, she wasn't sure at all about diving that week. Glad she did.

 

[Manneca]

Glad that it was found. While there has been so much information about breast cancer and the rate of discovering early breast cancer has increased, the number of deaths from breast cancer has not decreased. So, she is very, very lucky that she was diagnosed early. I hope that she has a good recovery.

 

[iamrushman]

thanks for sharing such an interesting personal experience....godspeed with your wife's recovery....

 

[pheel]

Glad that it was found. While there has been so much information about breast cancer and the rate of discovering early breast cancer has increased, the number of deaths from breast cancer has not decreased. So, she is very, very lucky that she was diagnosed early. I hope that she has a good recovery.

From what I read, survival rate is better than it was (80-85%) but there are overall more and more cases and it seems to hit younger women.