StrollerDerby Playdate: Team WhyMommy

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 11:10:00 GMT

Team WhyMommy is a group of bloggers who are committed to educating other bloggers about the perils and frequent misdiagnosis of Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer are sometimes misdiagnosed as mastitis in nursing mothers, and can include any unusual changes breast changes such as redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm. Bloggers who have joined Team WhyMommy include:

Read about it and join the team.

Parents Learn their IBCs: The Power of Team WhyMommy

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 20:14:00 GMT

The Internet can be a place of education and activism and the proliferation of parent bloggers joining forces for Team WhyMommy is case in point. WhyMommy at the Toddler Planet blog has turned her personal diagnosis into an opportunity to educate people about the rare and often misdiagnosed Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Because it turns out you don't have to have a lump to have breast cancer and that nursing moms are particularly susceptible to misdiagnosis given the breast changes that occur during breastfeeding.

According to WhyMommy, "Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years."

Symptoms to watch for include:

any unusual breast changes
redness,
rapid increase in size of one breast,
persistent itching of breast or nipple,
thickening of breast tissue,
stabbing pain,
soreness,
swelling under the arm

If you have any of these symptoms, call your OB/Gyn today.

Strollerderby : inflammatory breast cancer

StrollerDerby Playdate: Team WhyMommy

Parents Learn their IBCs: The Power of Team WhyMommy