Pregnant Woman Diagnosed With a Clogged Milk Duct, but It Was Cancer.

• Lindsey Gritton said she was misdiagnosed with a blocked milk duct when she was 34 weeks pregnant.
• After ordering an ultrasound, Gritton said she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
• She said she wanted other young women to know the importance of advocating for themselves.

Lindsey Gritton said she was 34 weeks pregnant with her second daughter in April when she started feeling a burning sensation under her right armpit and outside of her right breast. She said the burns came and went, but they lasted for about a week. Shortly after, the 29-year-old woman found a lump the size of a small marble on the outside right side of her breast, she said.

gritton said It looked like a lump She had a blocked duct in her first pregnancy and this was a little different as she was unable to clear the blockage on her own and was in constant pain. but her OB/GYN told her it was most likely caused by a blocked milk duct. mastitis, inflammation of the breast tissue. Doctors prescribed antibiotics, but Gritton was still skeptical.

Gritton recalled a doctor saying:

“And I knew what a clogged duct looked like,” Gritton said. “And in the back of my head, I knew it wasn’t.”

Gritton insisted on having an ultrasound, even though doctors told her she was too young to have cancer. I had to continue.

When Gritton went to see the doctor a few days later, he looked in the sonographer’s face and said, something was wrong.

“She kept going through it with her little wand, she kept looking at the screen. ” she said.

She said the ultrasound results indicated cancer was likely, and a biopsy a week later confirmed it was invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast. She said doctors told her the cancer had likely spread because of the size of the tumor. But they couldn’t know for sure until Gritton had her PET scan, which was impossible while she was pregnant because of the radioactive tracer used in the scan. may expose the fetus to radiation.

Gritton’s pregnancy was induced a week later, she said. after she gave birthshe said a PET scan confirmed she had stage 4 cancer that had spread to her liver.

Gritton has hope despite her diagnosis

Gritton said she has been on chemotherapy for four months and has treatments every three weeks. She feels lucky to live close to her husband’s family in Gainesville, Georgia, who look after her children from time to time.

Gritton said she hopes chemotherapy can eradicate most of her cancer. Her latest scan showed it was 80% gone.

defending herself saved her life

Gritton says she wants to show women the importance of advocating for themselves when they are concerned about their health.

“If I hadn’t defended myself, I don’t think I would be here today because from what they told me about my blood work and everything, my liver was already working. Because it didn’t.

Young women should be screened for breast cancer regularly, especially during pregnancy, she said.