Metastic BC

[worrywart1031]

Thank you for this site. My Dr. is sending me for chest xray and ultrasound on ribs and upper right belly for rib an right side belly pain. Possible fractures on 3 ribs. Not sure how or when. Anyway, I am also getting another mam & us do to a cystic looking painful area w/ multiple dilated ducts. Follow up from 6 months ago. Dx was possible cyst with hemmorhage or debris. Is it possible that the 2 are related? Could I have cancer in my breast and right underneath the area in my ribs? Is it common for the initial diagnosis to be metastic bc. I am 35 and very nervous although my Dr. isn't so nervous about the mam & US, the test is not til February but the Xrays are for this week. The rib pain is getting progressively more frequent and is very specific to 3 areas just like the pain in my breast very specific. Could I have mets bc? Does bc usually spread to the same side in the ribs? Thank you for your thoughts. Nervous in NJ.

[CCF-RN,MSN-rf]

Dear worrywart1031:  If your breast workup from 6 months ago was benign, it is unlikely that you would have metastatic disease now.  Of course, until the testing is done, it is impossible to speculate on what these things could be.  In cases where breast cancer does metastasize, it is not usually specific in terms of sides of the body or specific locations.  It often seems fairly random.  When breast cancer spreads, it is common for breast cancer to spread to the bones, lungs, liver and brain - and there is no way to predict which organ.  Most of the time, when people have regular checkups and mammograms, they present with early breast cancer rather than cancer that has spread.

[xrayu2]

What was your staging diagnosis?