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Smelling cancer!

Posted by trixie1313 @trixie1313, Jan 26, 2019

Did anyone smell their cancer before diagnosis? For months I kept smelling a strong ammonia-type smell and would have prickly heat waking me in the middle of the night as well as my breast swelling. I'd ask family members if they could smell anything on me and they did not. I drank more water, changed my eating habits, but nothing stopped it. After my first lumpectomy, most of the smell had gone. After the second lumpectomy/partial mastectomy, it was completely gone. Now, 2 1/2 months post-surgery, I am starting to smell that smell again and getting quite concerned that maybe cancer is coming back somewhere. I have 9 more radiation treatments to go and finished my TC chemo in October, but was chemo resistant.

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trixie1313 | @trixie1313 | Aug 30 4:49pm
In reply to @kiwirenee "So I’m about to have a mammogram biopsy and ultrasound this week after finding a large..." + (show)
Profile picture for kiwirenee @kiwirenee

So I’m about to have a mammogram biopsy and ultrasound this week after finding a large lump in my breast and the reason why I went looking for this as a few months ago I could smell a different smell coming from my chest . At the time I thought it was some sort of different bacteria creating a different kind of a smell. I am like you in terms of having a very sensitive nose. I know I can smell things that other people can’t exactly like the gas leak that I smelt in a friends place when they’ve come out and done testing and cannot detect it exactly the same as you!! I’ll find out my results hopefully in the next 10 days. Let’s see if my sensitive nose is picked anything up.

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@kiwirenee
Be calm and go in and get that testing done! Be sure to let the tech know about the smell - although they probably won't believe you! If anything shows up, you'll next have an ultrasound or they will schedule you for that. My breast was itchy, swollen larger, and I would wake up at night with a prickly sensation as well. When I pointed larger breast, I was told by my regular doctor that that's normal - again, be persistent...this is you who we are talking about and you are very important! Let me know how it goes...I'm rooting for you.

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myoga | @myoga | Aug 30 10:04pm

@trixie123
Glad you’re back. I feel happy to hear from veterans of this forum. You have experience and the voice of reason to calm newbie like me! Thank you!

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briarrose | @briarrose | Aug 31 12:05pm

By chance, I came back to the "smelling" cancer posts.
I hope you are well, trixie1313...you presented this question back in January 2019.
It's official...you CAN smell cancer.

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anatomary | @anatomary | Aug 31 12:15pm
In reply to @kiwirenee "So I’m about to have a mammogram biopsy and ultrasound this week after finding a large..." + (show)
Profile picture for kiwirenee @kiwirenee

So I’m about to have a mammogram biopsy and ultrasound this week after finding a large lump in my breast and the reason why I went looking for this as a few months ago I could smell a different smell coming from my chest . At the time I thought it was some sort of different bacteria creating a different kind of a smell. I am like you in terms of having a very sensitive nose. I know I can smell things that other people can’t exactly like the gas leak that I smelt in a friends place when they’ve come out and done testing and cannot detect it exactly the same as you!! I’ll find out my results hopefully in the next 10 days. Let’s see if my sensitive nose is picked anything up.

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I look forward to it. I had written that my dog would sniff my right under arm all the time, and I wondered if she could smell cancer in my right breast. Since my DMX on July 9th she occasionally will sniff my right under arm... and as time has gone by since the mastectomy, she sniffs it less and less - and in all instances not with the same sort of intensity. I mentioned this to my lymphedema specialist and she thought it was interesting... and does believe that some dogs can smell cancer. I'm going to follow up with my local branch of paws with the cause and see if there's a formal way to test your animal and offer mine as a service animal. It would be great if we could create a study to test this phenomenon; I believe in data driven science and it would be way cool to substantiate any claims. Who knows maybe someone could come up with a chemical litmus test if we understood what odor, aka chemical or molecular signature, a canine was picking up on? Or maybe the molecule would be linked to what we could find in a simple blood test, etc....

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penny21 | @penny21 | Aug 31 12:35pm
In reply to @trixie1313 "After the first lumpectomy, I told my oncologist about that and he had said that in..." + (show)
Profile picture for trixie1313 @trixie1313

After the first lumpectomy, I told my oncologist about that and he had said that in all his years he had heard of 3 patients that their dogs alerted them to this, but I was the first person! I'll be seeing him after radiation and shall also be seeing an organization (TheSecondOpinion) who are a group of specialists that me meet with accepted patients after reviewing their medical records. I've always had a sensitive snifter, in fact smelled electrical wires arcing in wall when no one knew that and could smell a gas leak for over a year where the plumber came out twice in the year and finally found a hairline crack in the gas line under the house. Strange, but true!

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Based on the history of your keen sense of smell, I would not ignore it. I had heard of cancer sniffing/detecting dogs with their keen sense of smell. You are just a human with an extra gift! I hope it can help speed things along to nip things in the bud, rather than having to wait.

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jlgc | @jlgc | Sep 1 5:53pm

Can you describe the smell and where on your body did it come from? Urine, Skin other?

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briarrose | @briarrose | Sep 2 7:10am
In reply to @myoga "@trixie123 Glad you’re back. I feel happy to hear from veterans of this forum. You have..." + (show)
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@trixie123
Glad you’re back. I feel happy to hear from veterans of this forum. You have experience and the voice of reason to calm newbie like me! Thank you!

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Yes, so glad you are back on the forum trixie123!
I truly believe in cancer-detecting dogs with their keen sense of smell.
They should be utilized in cancer research and smell detection.

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janelle62 | @janelle62 | 6 days ago

I don't know if I should be relieved or not. For the past couple of months 1 armpit smells like a teenage boy after a day of football. It seems like no matter how hard I scrub it comes right back. Coincidentally it's the same side that a lump was found in my breast. I'm having a 2nd mammogram in 2 weeks.

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kensiejames | @kensiejames | 6 days ago

Thanks for sharing!
I am a breast cancer survivor of 20 years . I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, ER positive, I had 2 lymph nodes involved. I had a lumpectomy, chemo and radiation. I recently noticed a bad oder in my armpit, almost like a rotten smell. It is not strong enough for others to smell, but I can tell that it’s different. It comes and goes. I am going to speak to my oncologist about it. I had my annual mammogram, and everything was normal but I am concerned about that oder.

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janelle62 | @janelle62 | 5 days ago
In reply to @kensiejames "Thanks for sharing! I am a breast cancer survivor of 20 years . I was diagnosed..." + (show)
Profile picture for kensiejames @kensiejames

Thanks for sharing!
I am a breast cancer survivor of 20 years . I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, ER positive, I had 2 lymph nodes involved. I had a lumpectomy, chemo and radiation. I recently noticed a bad oder in my armpit, almost like a rotten smell. It is not strong enough for others to smell, but I can tell that it’s different. It comes and goes. I am going to speak to my oncologist about it. I had my annual mammogram, and everything was normal but I am concerned about that oder.

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I pray that it's nothing. It's alarming to have these changes with your body.

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