Hi,
I’m 29 and have a 3 year old son. When I was 22 I had a cyst in one of my breasts once and I was wasn’t worried as it was obviously a cyst (it was red and close to the surface and it drained easily).
Almost 2 years ago I noticed a big lump in my right breast and went straight to my GP. She felt it and said I have lumpy breasts generally and the bits in my right breast were fibrodemas. I was totally reassured by this - the lumpy sections move around and they feel like lots of little lumps sort of joined together. She did say to keep an eye on it though.
Since then I always check my breasts when I’m in the bath and about a month ago I noticed the lumpy bits felt more firm and noticeable but not enough to worry me. Then, about 3 weeks ago I felt a new lump on the right side where there wasn’t one before. It’s close down by my ribs (so much that I thought maybe I was feeling my rib at first) and I think it feels quite different from the others. It doesn’t move around so freely and it’s a lot firmer. If I press my fingers along my rib until I reach that point I can feel a definite sort of ‘hump’ when I get to that bit. It’s not really lump shaped either, it’s more like a short stripe going down into my nipple(about the size of a penny but a different shape).
So, I went to see a locum GP as mine was away. She said that my left breast is not lumpy at all, just the right one and that the new bit felt like normal tissue to her (but it doesn’t to me!). I have recently been trying to get pregnant again and she said the lump would be normal if I turned out to be pregnant. I hoped I was pregnant this month, but as I got my period a few days ago I know I’m not now. The locum told me to come back in 3 weeks/ 1 month if it didn’t go and said I would be sent for a mammogram.
Although it’s only been just over 2 weeks, I’m going back to the GP today as I’m so worried! Also, I feel I have to put off trying for a baby until I get it checked, so I don’t want to wait too long. In addition I’ve got my final Uni. exams coming up in May and I’m so distracted I can’t revise or do my work.
So, I looked at a breast cancer forum on another site and I saw that some people have fibrodemas biopsied. Can anyone tell me if this is normal? Should I insist that they do this even if the new lump is considered a fibrodema? I saw that a woman had written saying that breast cancer is more likely to develop in a fibrodema and people should always have them removed. This really scared me! Now I’m worrying that I should have had the original lumps investigated and that they may have had cancer in them after all.
Also, is it normal to have a lumpy breast but only on one side? There’s nothing at all on my left one. It’s totally soft. I feel like the lump I can feel is somehow ‘different’ to the other ones and I have a bad feeling about it but because of my age (and I have no family history of breast cancer) I don’t know if I can insist on having it investigated more.
I know I’ll have to ask the doctor later today (a different female locum!) but I just wondered what my rights are if she tells me it’s nothing to worry about. I don’t want to over-react but I just keep poking at it all the time and every time I do it seems bigger! It appeared at least 3 weeks before my last period so I don’t think it’s hormonal.
Thank you for reading this,
Rosie xxxx