I have started this topic on behalf of new user kelly
Kind Regards
Katie
hi, for the past few months i wake every morning to check the lump in my breast.i was refered to the breast clinic about 8 months ago where i had a fna.i was told the lump was a fibroadenoma and was nothing to worry about.a few months months after that i returned to my gp still concerned about the lump.he tried to reassure me but when he told me the fna came back c1 which i thought meant inadequate cell sample i left thinking what if the hospital got it wrong.ive been contemplating going back,my breast is very tender where the lump is & up to my armpit.the hospital told me they wouldn’t remove the lump but not even for my piece of mind.am i just being paranoid or has any one one alse found themselves in my situation.i am 30 yrs old with 2 young children and can’t think of anything else but this horrible lump.please help x
Please go back to your GP and ask for an urgent referral back to your breast clinic. Sadly misakes and misdiagnoses do sometimes occur. You have every right to insist on another referral.
I have posted this reply on behalf of new user Kelly
Kind regards
Katie
thank you for your reply.i know the sensible thing is to go back but what if i’m told the same thing as last time.whatever the lump is i just want it out my body.it doesn’t seem right having this lump whether its benign or not.i find myself checking the lump constantly throughout the day.the breast nurse at the clinic said tenderness in the breast sometimes occurs with age,when she looked at my DOB she said it often starts at age 30 which was what i was at the time.prior to the lump i never had tender breasts apart from the time of the month and that wasn’t tenderness it was more tingling nipples.the fna came back as inadequate cell sample so why wouldn’t they have done a core biopsy.my experience at the clinic wasn’t really a good one.everyone was very nice but i fely i was on a conveyor belt if that makes sense.sorry for rambling xxx
Do you think you are being paranoid or do you have a gut feeling? I always follow gut feeling. If you feel its paranoia thats understandable when the condition you are experience is not going away.
I strongly support JaneRA view that you should go back to your GP and ask for a referral back to the breast clinic. There is no reason for this not to be done. If the GP says he/she doesn’t think you need to go back ignore them and say its your body and you want reassurance.
I don’t want to scare you but don’t let weeks and months go by worrying, hopefully unnecessarily but as Jane says mistakes are occasionally made.
I can’t really say much more than the others about this, only i know what it is like to have terrible worry like you do which prevents you getting on with day to day living. I know i would go to my GP and ask for a second opinion at another breast unit in another hospital, then if two units say definitely nothing to worry about then i would believe it.
I saw my own GP on Friday as i am not happy with my breast unit and he says i can have a referral to any breast unit in our trust i do not have to stay with my own. You could perhaps go to another unit and then when everything turns out OK go back to your own.
I only know Katie that you will continue to worry until you are completely reassured. I really do wish you all the very best and hope you get the reassurance you need very soon.
hi, i have finally made an appointment to see my gp.i will ask if i can be refered to a different hospital.what will happen there?will they know ive previously had an fna and it came back c-1?will my gp tell them or will i have to.will they say they’re not prepared to do any more tests?can i insist.sorry about all the questions. kelly x
I have posted on behalf of new user Kelly
Kind regards
Katie
hi, i have finally made an appointment to see my gp.i will ask if i can be refered to a different hospital.what will happen there?will they know ive previously had an fna and it came back c-1?will my gp tell them or will i have to.will they say they’re not prepared to do any more tests?can i insist.sorry about all the questions. kelly x
In women who have a palpable lump breast cancer is diagnosed by the Triple Assessment.
the Triple Assessment consists of three things:
Clinical Examination - the consultant examines both breast and checks for lumps and any asymmetry.
Imaging - this involves either mammography or ultrasound. (Ultrasound tends to be carried out in younger women or in women with dense breast tissue.)
Histology - cells are taken from the lump by either fine needle aspiration or core biopsy and sent to a pathologist for examination.
The Triple Assessment is evidence-based best clinical practice as made clear in the NICE guidelines (covers England and Wales), the SIGN guidelines (covers Scotland) and the British Association of Surgical Oncology BASO guidelines. These guidelines are clinically and legally robust -doctors have been found guilty of professional misconduct and clinical negligence for not following the guidelines - and so not completing the Triple Assessment is a serious issue.
As you say c1 means inadequate sample. Without an adequate sample The Triple Assessment has not been completed and breast cancer cannot be ruled out.
Just let me reinforce what everyone else has said. Please go back to your GP and insist on an urgent referral with an appointment within the next two weeks. Take a friend/relative/partner with you for moral support. You are quite right to raise the issue.
I need to say to you at this point that the chances are that you don’t have breast cancer but you need to have all this checked out. I cannot say this strongly enough.
I also need to say that even if you haven’t got breast cancer you will not have wasted people’s time. What you will have had is a ‘near miss’. This is an official term for when incidents happen where harm could have been caused but didn’t. If this is the case please insist that the near miss incident of not repeating the FNA after an inadequate sample is recorded and details sent off to the National Patients Safety Agency, the body that collates statistics on mistakes and shares lessons learned.
Wow, thats really good information, I was never aware of those facts. I have never had problems with getting dx’d, probably because the triple assessment was carried out so well. I will retain this knowledge to pass on to other who I am bound to come accross.
thank you for your words of wisdom.everyone on this site seems to be experts on bc.my app with my gp is today at 4.will ask to be refered to a different clinic.if they perform another fna what will happen if it comes back c-1 again,will i still be left wandering.will they know i had one previously and ensure they get an adequate sample.
Hi Kelly,
Go back to your gp and ask to be referred to the one stop clinic, I did , and am glad as they tend to be cautious and will remove your lump, mine was benign but they removed it to make sure it did not change as some can and do.
Trust your own instinct, your gp really must refer you again, Super Sue advises on the C1 and when you read my
post I am sure that will spur you on to keep going till they check you out thoroughly. Kelly I have everything crossed for you that this is nothing to worry about after the checks have been done. But I fully understand how worried you are now and that wont’ stop till you know for certain. It is appalling that your GP is giving you such a hard time over this. If it were the USA he would have referred you due to worry of you suing him!!!
I was suffering from depression and over about 8 weeks or so I got obsessed checking daily on what I thought was a harder area in my left breast, not a lump just a long area from the nipple going towards the armpit which felt different from what it used to, not very hard but not as soft as it used to be. Best mate and my partner could not feel it.
Went to GP and she could not feel it either however she referred me. Within 2 weeks I had mammo and 2 weeks after that saw my consultant who also could feel nothing but there were loads of calcifications on the mammo. That same day they did needle aspiration to breast and armpit, ultrasound and told me it was BC DCIS possibly invasive and I needed mastectomy they then did the core biopsy and in Nov had sentinel node op which was clear for the lymphs and 1 Dec had mastect and reconstruction which showed high grade DCIS in multiple areas with 2 areas of micro invasion so it would have become invasive actual lump was 44mm. My consultant was amazed that I had noticed it but I am 47 and have checked myself since my early 20’s we know our own bodies. I don’t need chemo, rads etc but if I had left it just 3 months more then I would have faced all of that and most likely mastect with no option for immediate recon.
Wishing you all the luck in the world.
luvnhugsCarolexxx
hi curlycat, am due to see my gp again this friday.when i saw him last week he said he’d examine me and refer me to a different breast clinic like i asked.how much information will the different breast clinic have about my previous visits to the breastclinic.don’t want to be fobbed off.would appreciate a thorough examination and if possible another fna. kelly x
Hope you get your clinic appointment soon. Supersue’s advice is sound…make sure you get the full triple assessment. Sorry I called you Katie earlier…that was the moderator who first posted on your behalf.
Good luck for Friday, be assertive with your GP and take somebody with you if possible, if he is still reluctant to refer you then you need to remind him of NICE or SIGN guidelines depending on where you live as SuperSue posts above. That should be enough to spur him on.
Remember Kelly, it is likely that your worries are unfounded (I hope so) but the worries you have will be having a profound effect on you which is reason enough to be put forward for the triple assessment.
Best of luck
luvnhugsCarolexxx
hi curlycat, really nervous about friday.i,m concerned that when my gp examines the lump he’ll change his mind about referring me.i’m a 30 yr old mom of 2 children 13 & 5 and if something is wrong i owe it to myself and my children to get it sorted asap.i think he thinks i’m being over anxious.i kept telling him about the fna result being c-1 and he even googled fna grading to check what c-1 meant.he said if it was cancer the lump would have grown considerably,is this true? thanks for listening x
Be strong and insist with your GP refers you. Concerns me to find that your GP had to google C1 to check what is means. There are different grades of cancer, I had high grade DCIS which they reckoned had only been there around 6 months and was 44mm when it was removed. Lower grade cancer grows more slowly so it is complete nonsense for him to tell you that it would have grown considerably if it was cancer.
You need to tell him you are seriously concerned and how this is affecting your mental health, don’t be offended by that term please, you are clearly very very worried about this and it may be affecting your daily functioning, cause poor sleep patterns, cuasing you to be distracted and may put you into depression. I really feel angry at your gp and hope that he sees sense and refers you. If he does not then I would seek a 2nd opinion from another doc and god forbid if triple assessment finds C then I would be back in giving that gp a piece of my mind as soon as I was well enough to do so. I take it your GP can feel the lump? Sue spoke of palpable lumps palpable means it can be felt. Remember tho that my GP and consultant could not feel my cancer but it showed up on mammo and all other tests.
Keep pushing to get fully checked. Best of luck to you and also good health, it is most probably nothing I really hope so but you need to get this sorted out for your peace of mind.
Hi Kelly, You go back to your GP and remind him he works for you, Ask, infact demand to be referred to your nearest one stop clinic. Makes me mad when I read posts where gp,s think we are all stupid about our own bodies, just because we don,t have a degree in medicine, bear in mind a GP is only a general practitioner, ( takes 2 yrs longer to train a vet )
Kelly, you have rights, you assert them, please. I know consider myself German cos I don,t allow myself to be patronised or dictated too by the medical fraternity,( or anyone, lol ) my outlook is, its my body its my responsibility to look after it and my GP is my employee. and so is anyone in the NHS.