I have found myself reading over and over google (which is not great) and found this forum so would like some advice from people who know best
I recently found a small lump in my right breast and was referred to the hospital breast clinic last week, where I had mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy , I then saw a surgeon at the end who said my lump was worrying and to be prepared , from which I burst into tears - as I went there fully expecting to be told I had a cyst , they gave me a letter with an appointment to go back for results this Thursday , I was called back 2 days after original appt for them to do another mammogram at the biopsy site , this took some time and then discovered why, turns out they had found another lump which they biopsied also
Has anyone had a similar experience where they know at the time before biopsy results that it is cancer ? I keep telling myself to keep busy but the closer this appointment is getting I am getting more worried x
Hi hevski - I have two tumours in my left breast , I was told at my first biopsy that they were more or less positive it was a cancer , I was then called back for a biopsy on another area of concern that that was positive as well so very similar to you. I am a little further on than you in that I am going in for a lumpectomy next Tuesday . The waiting is hard , everyone says the same but you will feel better once you have a plan in place.
My advice is to trust the professionals , they have your best interests at heart, use the breast care nurse assigned to you, they are worth their weight in gold . Cry if needed , it releases the stress, I have cried every day …. Don’t google , much of what you read will be out of date and everyone’s cancer is unique to them. I made that mistake and it caused tremendous and unnecessary stress. Sending you hugs x
Thank you so much I feel like I’m going a bit crazy at the moment - last week a week didn’t seem long to wait and now feels like a lifetime ago and yes I keep giving into tears I just feel so anxious
I hope all goes well for you and sorry you are going through this xx
Hi Hevski75,
I’m sorry you are having this experience. The breast surgeon looks at mammograms daily so they usually have a good idea if the lump is breast cancer before receiving the biopsy results. Breast cancer is a generic term and all our breast cancers have different variants and treatment plan depends on those variables. Presently the medical team will be collecting as much information as they can before you receive your treatment plan. The good news is that treatments for breast cancer has improved so much and prognosis is so much better. Don’t look at Google as much of the information is gathered from treatments women received 10-15 years ago therefore out of date even if the study is recent as the data is retrospective.
Take someone with you as although I was expecting the surgeon to tell me I had breast cancer I didn’t hear a word she said. She was wearing a mask and all I remember was seeing pity in her eyes (are that was my perception). I was diagnosed a year ago and this period that you are in, is really hard. It does get better. Try and keep busy, breast cancer isn’t a death sentence. You will get through this.
Hi just read your story. Back in mid July I went for routine screening no symptoms and was called into the area screening clinic for a follow up a week aftet the original Mamogram. At this appointment it was very much like your own, apart from I was told there was another suspicious lump in the same breast and the Radiologist would discuss after he looked at the Mamogram, twenty minutes later I was given the news before any biopsy that I had breast cancer in the upper breast and outer, a biospy would only confirm the type. It was a shock and quite unreal. After the biospy I was shown into a room with the breast care nurse soecialist who explained the findings were textbook. I did have to go back two later for official confirmation. These two weeks were a blur of disbelief and worry. At this appointment I found out the type, size and hormone receptor.
Six months down Ive had surgery, having chemotherapy, awaiting radiotherapy due to the lymph nodes showing cancer. I can honestly say I have been treated with care and compassion from day one. Good luck and this site is great for knowledge and sounding off without and judgement. All the best.
Thank you for your message
And totally feel similar in how I’m feeling - sorry you have gone through all this but glad your experience can help others
2 more days and I will know for sure - time is just dragging and I feel all over the place
Hoping once I know and have a plan in place I might feel better
Appreciate all your replies xx
Yes, I had a painful lump but none of the more common symptoms, so I thought it was a cyst. My GP referred me to the local breast unit. I was that confident it was a cyst that I went on my own, telling my other half it was a routine mammogram. After my scans & sample taken, I walked into the consultants and could tell by her face it was cancer before she said a word. Of course, she couldn’t say it was before it was analysed, but said it looked very suspicious. Then I had to fess up to my hubby and break the news. I hope yours isn’t but many of us find the waiting the worst to cope with emotionally, once I knew I was what happens next, which I was told at the following appt.
Yes the waiting is definitely the worst - even when they took the biopsy I was confident I would just go home and hear from them by letter not expecting to be told to be prepared
But I guess the emotions are high as just really want to know what I am dealing with - thank you for your message xx
I hate when they do that. I know a lot of radiologists think they’re doing us a favor but that no man’s land they put us is when they tell us they think it is cancer sucks. Anyway, it happened to me, too. I hate even more that she was right. I wanted to complain but it’s neither here nor there now. Anyway I found this site right afterwards when I was feeling so horrifically and one of the things I was told that I found great comfort in is that you don’t have breast cancer until a pathologist confirms breast cancer. So that’s what I’ll repeat to you. You don’t have breast cancer right now. If you want to take the time to research the hospital you’ll go to if it comes out positive, then do. I did and that was helpful since all I had to do was pull up the number to call and I had an appointment 48 hours after finding out. But don’t give yourself breast cancer yet. Radiologists are wrong and you read about it all the time. Nothing is certain until you find out the results so don’t go there yet in your head.
And quite honestly, even if they’re right, it won’t be as bad as you fear. I will say though that being told they thought it was cancer without being told anything else about it was so unnerving that my actual diagnosis day was a good day. At least I knew something for sure finally. Anyway only two more days and you can start putting this behind you one way or another and we’ll be here either way.
Hi @hevski75, I’m sorry you are going through this experience, but would say you have come to the right place in this forum for support. I’m 14 months from where you are right now, diagnosed in late 2022. Do try to stay off google as there will be a lot of out-of-date information out there, in addition to the fact that there are so many different types of BC & treatments even if it does end up being confirmed when the pathology results are in.
My diagnosis experience was similar to yours in that I went in for a Breast Clinic appointment after being referred by my GP as a precautionary measure due to underarm tenderness. I thought it was a side effect of a medication I had started taking a few months before and nothing more. At the end of my One-Stop clinic appointment where a surgeon examined me but couldn’t see or feel anything suspicious, to saying let’s do a mammogram to be on the safe side, to having a mammogram, followed by ultrasound and then a biopsy on the opposite breast. I still remember what a surreal experience it was when I heard the words we are 99.#% sure it is BC, and was in a state of shock when I immediately asked the surgeon how he could be so certain without a biopsy result. I don’t even know how I formulated that question, as perhaps naively breast cancer wasn’t something I had even contemplated when I went into the clinic that day. His response was simply to say it was by years of experience looking at images.
I had a 2 & 1/2 week wait for the result, which I mostly spent busy doing things to distract myself, and didn’t really talk to anyone about it. Until you have that actual pathology result there is nothing to tell. So try to keep a hold of that thought until the results day arrives. I too had to go in for another biopsy after a subsequent MRI. Both times I kept myself busy and off google, I had a brief look at the cancer research UK website, but decided it was pointless looking at it without knowing what to look for.
When going for your results, do take someone with you and ask them to take a notebook to make any notes. I remember how difficult those early days were in not knowing the language or terms used. But I felt much better on results day where a treatment plan was being put together, than during that in-between limbo period where you don’t know anything. It was a bit like a weight had been lifted off me.
It’s natural to feel as you do closer to results day, but theres not long to go now. xx
So I got my results 2 days ago and I’m still struggling to process it - unfortunately they were right and I do have BC and I need to have a mastectomy and this part is the bit I am struggling most with
Is this normal ? I’m not even sure what feels normal any more , my life has changed so much in a week
Part of me is wishing I had never found the lump , which I know is stupid and everyone telling me just get it gone and yes I know they are right but none of this feels right
I’m just scared of the future xx
I’m so sorry you have received a breast cancer diagnosis there is no two ways about it, it’s absolutely horrible and very very difficult to process: your emotions run all over the place as your world has been turned upside down.
It doesn’t help that most breast cancer stories you hear outside of breast cancer world aren’t good, but please believe me when I say inside breast cancer world there are far more positive stories
It takes time to process but it does become less scary, try to take each stage and day at a time and you will get through it
There is lots of truly amazing support and help both here on the forums and in real life, don’t ever be afraid to ask for help
I’m sorry about your diagnosis hevski.
I was just the same as you when I found a lump last July. How was it even possible? My last routine mam was less than 2 years before.
Then listening to the surgeon telling me that due to the size and grade 3 multicentric tumours my only option was mastectomy. To be honest, I was thinking that anyway. I just wanted it out of me. I would give up a breast if it would save my life. I asked my partner if he would give up a testicle if it would save his life. He wouldn’t hesitate.
Everything was so surreal at the time. Telling friends and family was like I was talking about somebody else, not me.
Four months on from single mastectomy and half way through 6 rounds of chemo, with RT and AI after, I am thinking that I’m half way through a crappy year which I hope will give me another 20 good years.
I hope you don’t have to wait too long for your treatment plan x
I’m so sorry, Hev. I get the part of you wishing you hadn’t found the lump though. I’m still mad at the radiologist’s office that found mine. Not rational since they saved my life but nonetheless I drove by it today, shot it evil eyes, and wished the building would burn down And of course this doesn’t feel right. It’s not. Your whole life is different and will be different forever. And like anyone else, you hate that change and want to stop it. And that’s okay! Everything you’re feeling is valid and normal. But at the same time I will assure you that you do wrap your head around it and at some point soon you will stop feeling like an imposter in your own life. And you’ll get on with it because it has to be done.
As far as a mastectomy goes, I’m so sorry. For most women I know it’s horrendous as it should be since it’s an amputation and that’s traumatic. I will say though that I’ve had a double mastectomy, a delayed reconstruction and quite honestly, my figure is better than it was when I was diagnosed. I’m scarred of course but no one sees that except my husband and me and I don’t care all that much. Everyone who has some age on them gets scarred at some point anyway. But my new breasts look okay, so much so that I only had one surgery on them since symmetry was achieved the first time around and I look fine in a bathing suit. They actually look better in my eyes then my natural ones since they’re proportional to my body and because I got a diep I finally got a nice taunt belly again. Ended up spending some money on decent clothes this last year I feel so confident! So although this is not even remotely a “boob job” realize that PS has advanced so well that chances are great that you’ll at least look as good as you do now in clothes and maybe might even look better depending on what your perceived flaws are. For me, my double mastectomy and reconstruction ended up being my cherry on top of shit sundae. I wish the same for you!!!
I’ll be a 2 year survivor next week. When I had my mammogram and ultrasound, the Dr came in and said it looks like cancer and ordered a biopsy. Since I’m curious, I asked why it looks like cancer and he said because of the shape with micro calcifications, so I assumed he knew what he was talking about. After a mastectomy, I’ve had clean 6-month check-ups after that. The diagnosis didn’t really shock me since both my sister and mother had breast cancer.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with me - it reassures me when I read that you have been through a mastectomy …. Although sorry that you have had to go through all of this
You are all brave amazing ladies and I am grateful for your support and reading your stories
I am not sleeping well at all at the moment - I just lie here eyes wide open and then get angry that I can’t sleep I think I will speak to my doctor tomorrow
I think also a big fear for me is that it may have spread outside the breast - I must just be thinking the worst outcomes
I have a couple more meetings lined up in the next week and then they will book me in
