Recurring abscesses, worried about breast cancer

[mollyfin]

I keep getting what look like skin infections for the last two months or so, mainly on my left breast, though I had one pop on the right. They occur on the front and sides; never in the same place twice. They're small and extremely painful if pressed. Occasionally one will drain pus but usually they end up just going from small red lumps to bigger red lumps with peeling skin to purple indentations in my skin. I've seen a dermatologist a couple of times but so far not much has helped. I made the mistake of trying to squeeze some of them, which led to a blood clot forming in one and much bruising and swelling. (I seem to bruise/bleed more easily these days as well, but I had blood tests done in the summer when I kept waking up with petechiae covering my arm, and everything was normal then.) I can't feel any lumps below the surface, but my boobs are giant and very dense, so that may not mean much.

Beyond that, I get winded and tired very easily, which I'd been attributing to a more sedentary than usual lifestyle/weight gain post-lockdown.

I've heard that recurrent breast abscesses can point to certain breast cancers or systemic malignancies like leukemia and lymphoma, so I'm a bit concerned that I can't seem to get rid of these.

Ever since my GP retired at the beginning of this year, my anxiety has gotten a lot worse. I really don't care for the replacement I'm seeing but I have limited options, especially now, when doctor-hopping seems like an especially bad idea.

 

[bigjetplane6]

Oh, well that scares me because i always grow a boil in between my breasts (Gross I know) and it’s always on the same spot.

 

[mollyfin]

If it's between you're probably fine - though if it recurs in the same spot there's a thing they can do to kill it off/stop it growing back. I think there's like some kind of sac left behind when cysts grow and they allow it to reoccur, but removing it can stop regrowth? I don't know, a friend was texting me about it when I was having an abscess lanced and was like MAKE SURE THEY DO THAT! But I wasn't in the best place to be retaining information, since the lidocaine didn't work and I was just trying to not say every cuss word in the book. So I could be wrong/missing some details.