Hi everyone. First post here. But been reading a lot! Found a hard pea size lump a few months ago and just convinced myself it was nothing. List a lot of weight recently (deliberately) so thought maybe that was the reason I could feel something that had probably been there ages. Anyway decided to see the doctor a couple of weeks ago who didn’t think it was anything to worry about but referred me to the breast clinic anyway. I had a cyst about a year ago between my breasts which was removed so I wasn’t really concerned that this new one would be anything to worry about. Went to the clinic a week ago who did a mammogram, ultrasound and then biopsy on two areas … the hard lump I had found and also under my arm where the doctor said there was an enlarged gland (not good?). The next MDT is next Monday and I have been given an appointment to see the consultant on Wednesday. I’m up and down with how I’m feeling. When I had the biopsy I was on my own at the clinic as honestly hadn’t given too much thought to it. When I got home from that appointment I felt like the world had ended. Went to bed for the afternoon and just couldn’t function. Mind going into overdrive. A week on and I’m feeling more like myself but still up and down and can’t stop thinking about “what if” etc. Hence it’s 5 am and I’ve been awake for an hour just stressing. My appointment with the consultant is at 4 pm on Wednesday and I’m even thinking that it must be bad news because why else would I have an appointment late in the day? Also trying to interpret the language in my letter which says:
• Clinical examination: Bilateral palpable implant, pea-sized nodule in the medial left
breast
Mammogram & US scan:
Mammogram: Bilateral sub-glandular implants. The overlying breast tissue is mild to moderately dense. In the left lower inner quadrant there is an ill-defined superficial 12 mm mass, new since the previous screening mammograms from 21/12/2023, indeterminate.
No other abnormality.
Ultrasound: The palpable and mammographic abnormality in the leftlower inner quadrant is an irregular 11 x 9 x 8 mm hypoechoic stiff mass with ill-defined echogenic periphery, extending up to but not appearing to involve the overlying ski. Core biopsy performed
Impression:
Suspicious lesion - biopsy pending.
Plan:
Await biopsy result and follow up.
Any advice please? I am climbing the walls just waiting and another week may as well be another year as just feels impossible to wait that long.
So grateful to have found this forum. And thank you to anyone who manages to read all of my drivel!
Xx
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I’m sorry you’re in this position and I totally get the worry and stress of waiting for results.
Don’t read anything into the appointment being at 4pm. Some appointments are earlier, some later. The timing has no link to good or bad news.
I’m not a medical professional so can’t really comment on the info you’ve got apart from it sounds like what you already know – there’s a potentially suspicious lump and they’ve done a biopsy to investigate.
Can you plan some small nice things to keep yourself busy until your appointment? Seeing friends, hobbies, watching a funny film, walking in nature, cooking a nice meal, whatever you like to do. I know it’s super hard and everything seems worse at 4am.
I’ve just been diagnosed last week and now waiting to have an MRI so they can investigate further. On the advice of some very kind people here, I’m trying to take it one day (sometimes one hour) at a time. Uncertainty is the absolute worst.
I wish you luck. Keep posting if it helps xx
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Hi @skippy3, welcome to the forum, you are amongst friends here.
Practically everyone who has contributed to the forum will say that the worst part of the whole process is the one you’re in. Waiting for the initial results of tests and biopsies, something which has hit you completely out of the blue, is very hard. First thing to say is, more biopsies come back benign than they do positive for cancer however, it is probably best to prepare yourself for a positive diagnosis so that can prepare yourself and think through the questions you will want to ask. My diagnosis was just over three years ago, a recall from a routine mammogram, and as the radiologist was trying to get the biopsy, I said “my mother had a lump and it turned to be a blocked milk duct, maybe this is the same”. “Oh no” came the breezy reply “I can tell it is cancer but the biopsy will tell us what kind”. In some ways, the two and a bit weeks I had to wait after that seemed easier because I had a kind of certainty. It is the not knowing that “kills” you. I agree with @beachfox, the best way to deal with this is to distract yourself in the interim. It seems impossible to survive the wait with sanity in tact now but it WILL soon pass, you will discover if it is breast cancer and, if it is, what histology they think it has. Along with information about type, you will get an estimated grade (and possibly stage although that is rarer these days). You will also be given a treatment plan and that’s when the mind can turn away from blind panic and focus on the positive action of treatment - when that happens, many people feel a lot more positive and in control, I hope that’s your experience.
Please be assured that the outlook for a huge percentage of women diagnosed with BC is massively positive. The constant development of new treatments means that the outlook for most of us getting through it and out the other side is much, MUCH higher than not. Breast cancer in the main isn’t really the Big C any more as survival statistics are so impressive. But that probably won’t sink in right now, so just keep posting here with thoughts, questions, rants or whatever you need to express. We’ve got you.
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Gosh that is awful the radiologist broke the news in such a breezy offhand way. Although I can understand what you say about that making the wait for results easier in a way as you already knew it was cancer.
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It’s difficult to look back as it all seems so long ago but it didn’t particularly upset me at the time. The whole thing was surreal as I had had the 3 year mammogram as usual and straight away went to stay with friends in the countryside. Two weeks later, we were sitting in their garden when I got a call from the hospital checking if I was attending the appointment next day. What appointment? The mammogram. I had that two weeks ago! Yes, but something was found that needs investigating, will you attend? 
Straight back in the car back to London where I found the appointment letter on the mat. So literally 24 hours later, after being none the wiser, having a chat, with friends 100 miles away, I was being told I had breast cancer. As I said previously, it made things easier in a way. I have always been something of an ostrich who sticks their head in the sand-of-practicality and assumes everything will work out. There are a number of women on the forum who have been given much the same news at biopsy because the scanning technology is so sophisticated these days. I think most medical professionals are sensitive enough to phrase it differently if they suspect the individual won’t react well to such a blunt statement - most, not all!
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Your response really got to me. Thank you so much. And so sorry that you were treated like that - what an awful bedside manner your radiologist had. Strangely over the last couple of days I’ve actually felt more detached from it all, resigning myself to bad news on Wednesday. Just need to get there now. Also got a lovely holiday which we’re supposed to be going on, mid September, and worried about not being able to go on that now as doubt I would get a refund 
xx
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Completely agree with you about keeping busy. I kind of forget about it sometimes and then BAM it comes back with a vengeance and I just feel sick all over again. I’ve got loads of things coming up over the next few weeks and because I’m such -arrange a control freak I just can’t stand the not knowing whether I will have to rearrange anything. I hope your MRI results are favourable. Gosh this is horrible isn’t it? xx
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That’s why I think it’s bad news - I know that the radiologist “knew” from looking at the scan. I would rather he had been honest/open with me, rather than using the word “suspicious”. That’s what is hard to deal with. The consultant too - when she read what was on her screen after I had had the biopsy, I know she knew. Oh well.
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It’s like living a weird parallel life isn’t it. On one hand, there’s no point cancelling or rearranging plans when you don’t yet know what will be happening treatment-wise, or when.
On the other, it feels strange and even disingenuous to continue making plans for the next few weeks when you don’t yet know what will be happening treatment wise.
I had a call earlier with one of my clients about a current project. At the end he said “I’ve got another project for you in September” and I thought, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it because I might be having surgery then. But then again, I might not. So I just said, “sounds great, looking forward to it!”
We’ll figure it all out, one step at a time.
Hope you have some nice weekend plans to occupy you. I’m having a quiet night in watching a film and tomorrow I’m going to paint a cabinet for my living room. Need to keep busy!
Take care xx
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Please let us know how you get on at the appointment on Wednesday @skippy3. I hope you have someone to take with you to the results appointment, preferably someone who can jot down the salient points because it will be impossible for you personally to take it all in at the time. You could ask if you could record the meeting on your phone, if you’re adept with that technology - some agree, some don’t. You’ll get the contact details of your nurse-specialist at the appointment so, if you get home wishing you had asked something specific, you will be able to call her to get some answers whenever you like. Make a list of questions as they occur to you before the meeting, such as “is it possible I’ll be able to go on holiday in September?” and everything else that is important to you. I wish you the very best for Wednesday.
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Thank you. I will. My husband is coming with me. I will ask him to record it. Sending much love to all in here xx
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My diagnosis was 12 years ago and I still remember the unreal world while waiting for biopsy results. I also had a holiday booked which I had to cancel but I managed to get it refunded through my travel insurance. Hopefully you would be able to do the same should it be necessary - and even better would be if you don’t need to because all is ok. Do keep us posted how you get on and good luck!
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Radiologist told me “oh, it is a breast cancer” in a tone you’d expect to be told “you’ve just sprained your ankle” if you were at A&E - I had asked if she was worried about that part when she went over 1 area more than others. I filled up & she patted my shoulder & said, “now, now, 1 step at a time” She didn’t even look me in the eye / kept staring at her screen. An everyday thing for her so she’s obviously forgotten it’s life changing for others. Very little further comment whilst doing breast biopsies either. Told there was swelling underarm too so 3 biopsies there.
Enlarged gland under arm confirmed to be unrelated after biopsies (& horrendous 3wk wait for results) and again after removal of lymph nodes for testing.
Surgeon told me it was “good news” & “only stage 1” as if I should celebrate- yes, the better of many diagnosis’ it could have been but cancer is scary whatever stage.
Some have lost all compassion/ empathy as they deal with cancer everyday.
I escaped chemo & a year clear now but still disgusted at the nonchalant way the radiologist & surgeon told me about cancer.
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I’m so sorry @hiker50, what a horrible experience you had. It does seem to be becoming more common that things get blurted out at this stage. The radiologist who did my biopsy was cross because she couldn’t find the tumour despite seeing it on the screen and at one stage said loudly “where IS the bloody thing,”. I, having been a lawyer, constantly search for clues and causal links (it’s the bane of my life) so immediately thought “aha, it must be small, that is good” so was encouraged. She was behind me as the tumour was upper, outer quadrant of the right breast, meanwhile, around the front of me was a nurse, who was holding my hands, who said very kindly “don’t worry, we are going to fix this”. I suspect that my face was giving away much more than I realised. By the end, I had retreated mentally to a place where anything said sounded like it was coming from a long way away. That was all three years ago now and I am over the shock and stress of it all - except I am about to go for my third annual mammo on Monday so it does bring it all back at this time of the year. I spoke to two oncologists after surgery, one was fairly empathetic but still blunt, the other was an unpleasant piece of work. I have pondered why so many don’t have a good bedside manner and have concluded that to give such desperate news to frightened people day in and day out must damage their own mental health so they become so matter-of-fact as a protection. I wish you continued good health and a cancer-free life.
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Good luck for your appointment today @skippy3 . Will be thinking of you. What have you got planned to keep yourself busy before the appointment? X
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Hey I don’t know if I can add anything that’s not already been said but I get the waiting, feeling like you’ve been sucked into an alternate universe… Dr Google will drive you mad & down ever expanding rabbit holes. If you need info try trusted sites like BCN, Macmillan…
Appointment will be made by admin, timings honestly irrelevant… It might be the clinic is an afternoon clinic / you got next free appointment.
Please try & fill your time / distract your noggin. Get outside, walk, run, cycle, garden, whatever works for you. Make plans to see friends… The Helpline here is brilliant… I had some difficult news on a Friday before a Bank Holiday & half term. I was besides myself. Rang BCN on the Saturday morning, just being able to talk to someone professional who understood was hugely helpful even & filled the BH with ‘doing’… It was a very long 2weeks but I got through it & I’m not noticeably any more bonkers than I was before… Hugs. Breathe.
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I’m working (from home) today till about 3 pm. Not being very effective tbh but at least it’s keeping me occupied. Feel strangely calm and resigned to whatever it is actually. Just relieved the “day” is here. Thank you for your support. Really is appreciated x
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And can I ask what your outcome was please? And how are you x
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I had intermediate grade DCIS found on a screening mammogram (not palpable). I don’t want to go into details but the first unit I was under was awful and i went to a different unit in a different health authority. I had a few hiccups with unusual results, needed two operations which all took longer than perhaps it otherwise would have done but I’m out the other side… I didn’t tell many people initially. It felt very private but the cracks were showing and I found myself with a network of amazing friends… Get all the support you can and don’t bottle it up…
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I hear you. I’m glad you’re out the other side and all good. That gives me lots of encouragement. I am likewise very private about things like this and can’t imagine telling people as I just don’t want the pity. Don’t know if that makes sense xx
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