I am new to this site and found it a couple of weeks ago. I’ve decided to join coz it seems like a good idea to talk to other women going thru the same things (and i’m slowly going loopy!!)
I found my lump in the top part of my right breast about 6 or 7 wks ago- waited for my period to finish and as it was still there went to my GP. He referred me and 3 wks later go for initial assesment at hospital. He said thinks it’s nothing, maybe a cyst but to come back in 2 wks for mammogram etc.
Well went yesterday, told my two teenage boys i was working late!!! ( i’m a single mum). They did mammogram (not nearly as bad as i thought), he said they’d found nothing on that so did ultrasound, again nothing on that, so went straight to core biopsy. Doc said it’s just to see if theres anything wrong, but theres definatley not a cyst, they didn’t even try FNA.
So can anyone advise me on what they think? If theres not a cyst, but a definate hard lump do you think it must be cancer? I get results nxt thusday or friday.
I probably sound really silly coz some of you are actually going thru treatment etc and i don’t even know if i have BC. Wish they told me more and i’d asked more but neva mind.
Glad i found this site as i havn’t told anyone (apart from my bosses) and a friend (whos ill at mo off work) but noone i can talk to, and isn’t the waiting awfull?!
Thanx for listening- hope someone can shed some light on this for me.
thanx.
Hi Doogie -
It must be hell going through this as a single parent. i am not a medic so would hate to speculate on your diagnosis. It does sound as thought they are concerned if they are going straight on to a biopsy. I was diagnosed about 2 years ago so have been through the mill so speak. Fortunately my doc did not hedge around an was straight with me from the start - and told me to prpare for the worst. Oddly that was easier to deal with.
I hope things do work out for you - use this site as much as you need. i have found it an enormous source of support. My only advice (something I was told) do not look too far ahead - you can cause yourself a lot of worry for nothing.
Take care - post your results, good news is always welcome.
Best wishes - Jacqui
Hi Jacqui
Thanx so much for your reply!! I can understand where you said when you know what your dealing with it’s easier to deal with in a way. I’m strangely looking forward to Thursday or Friday to find out! Sounds bizzar but the wait is hard isn’t it. I keep thinking 2 myself i can’t see anything different perhaps will be ok, but then it’s definatley still there! Also by the side of the lump is getting sore (but not the biopsy site).
If it is bad news then i’m thinking i hope i can keep it secret until afta xmas so the boys aren’t worrying. But as you rightly said not to look to far forward. Feel a bit of a fraud! Heres you going thru it. How are things for u now?
I really appreciate your reply. i have day off 2morrow so i think i’ll clean all day!! With the music on!
Is it ok to just join in these conversations on here?
Again thanx- i will post results- thanx for your positivity. x
Take care of yourself too!! x
hi- i got my results and i’m ok!! Just have to go in to see if they want to remove the lump or not. I’m so relieved!
Thankyou Jacqui for talking to me-it meant the world.
Hope you’re ok
Best wishes x
Hi- back again-
Over the phone they said my results were clear, which they were. At my appointment on Friday the doc said theres a chance the biopsy needle could have missed the lump. He said he could do another one but it would pose the same problem. So he asked if i would feel better if the lump was removed, obviously i said yes. He said it is probably a benign breast condition but it’s one solid lump so would i feel better if removed?
So i’m having it removed on the 14th Janruary, the next available appointment. He said then if it’s clear thats ok and if it’s not they’d call me for more tests.
My concern is- or it may be me being totally paranoid- it sounds as if he’s still concerned to me. Everything has come back clear, he did another physical exam while i was there, and said he wasn’t persuading me to have lumpectomy- he said i could leave it a while and see if it goes away first- but it’s not a cyst and it’s showed no signs of going since October.
Is there anyone who could give their opinion please?? Thanx.
I was told my lump was definitely benign but as I was over forty when it appeared they said it was best to have it taken out, but it took ages to get an appointment. It turned out to be cancer
so I’d say better safe than sorry
Mole
Hi there, I agree with Mole. They told me for 3 years my ‘lump’ wasn’t anything each year. Clear on Mamo,scan and biopsy, I got so stressed I asked for it to be removed, turned out to be cancer. I always recommend ‘take it out’, then your mind is at rest and it can’t turn into anything bad. Good luck whatever you decide. xxx
Thanx Mole- i know ure right-
i’m just trying to make sense of everything the Doc has said, but i suppose they gotta cover their backs as well.
Just feel uneasy - how long was it till you got results? Had you had mammogram and ultrasound? and biopsy first? Sorry for all the questions!!!
I’m just 40 by the way with 2 lads 16 and 17.
Thanx how r u now?
Just wanted to add my experience and suggest you get the lump removed.
I had a fibrodeonema (sp?) under my left nipple which was diagnosed by core biopsy as being C2 (benign). Three and a half years later I noticed further changes in the lump which had begun to affect the skin and went back. I had grade 1 invasive ductal carcinoma and whilst the doctors state that they did not misdiagnose me three and a half years earlier and that the cancer was under the fibrodeonema strangely on my path report there was no mention of a fibrodeonema at all let alone on top of the tumour!?! I don’t know if fibrodeonemas can change characteristics and become cancerous (from the little I have read the general consensus is no but someone else might know better) and if they can had I had it removed it wouldn’t have become cancerous and got to my lymph nodes, or if the pathologist just didn’t bother to write it down because it was benign (though I somehow doubt it) and only addressed the cancer underneath the fibrodeonema!
I have chosen not to investigate whether they got it wrong or whether the fibrodeonema changed cos it wont change where I am and, since I have had a critical illness payout due to the cancer from a policy that came with my new employment post the fibrodeonema, don’t want to risk losing that money for the sake of taking on the NHS to get answers or, unlikely, money.
ANY lump I now found I would insist on being removed.
xxx
Thankyou for your advice and comments- they’re much appreciated. From what you said Ostrich, it’s making me think- my doc hasn’t mentioned what the lump could be at all- he said he could have missed it at biopsy. Never mentioned fibrodeonema or anything. He said something about benign breast conditions but that mine was just one hard lump. That doesn’t tell me much!!
Anyway as i have to wait 5 wks to get rid of it, i’m gonna try to think, whateva happens happens but am hoping it’s nothing.
Your story is awfull!! Makes you think do they know how it affects your life!! I don’t blame you for not risking taking it further, but it don’t make you any less angry i bet!!
Do you reckon my doc might have missed the lump as he didn’t quote anything like- C2 bengn. I don’t know could go mad thinking about it i spose.
Anyway thanx Thanx bigfatmumma! i’m going to get rid of it- whateva will be will be.
Best wishes to you all xxxx
I found my lump on 14 June 2003. I visited my doctor on 16 June 2003. I was referred to my local general hospital on 3 July 2003. I had fine needle aspirations on that day followed by an ultrasound the next evening, then mammograms on 7 July. The fnas were inconclusive C3, the ultrasound showed three lumps one of which was a cyst and one of which was solid. The mammograms were clear. When I had a core biopsy the following week I waited until 18 August for the results which I was told were definitely benign. The earliest appt I could get to discuss surgery was early September, the consultant went sick so I asked to be transferred to another hospital. I went there in early October, had the lump out on 10 November 2003 and was told it was cancer on 5 December 2003. I had a further operation on 18 Dec, a wound infection by 24 Dec and spent christmas in hospital being pumped with antibiotics seven times a day. From finding the lump to definitely not having cancer was 2 months to having my cancer diagnosis was a period of six months in total. I wouldn’t recommend it!
I had low grade cancer, with focal DCIS and lost a quarter of my breast. Some definitely benign lump - ha ha. Don’t believe all the medical profession say. I was also told by my surgeon that I would have no change to the contour of my breast after surgery. A load of rot, he denied saying it but I produced notes of the consultation written by my brother in which he recorded what he said.
Mole
Sorry if I am hijacking your thread Doogle but I have spoken with Mole re this before and it always stirs something in me!
Unfortunately for me it took me 3 and a half years to go back because I accepted that the lump (which was solid as a fibrodonema is supposed to be and moveable according to the docs (not to me)) was nothing to worry. C2 was the grade from the FNA so I suppose they were right in what they said however IF they can change and someone had told me they COULD change I would have wanted it out then and then perhaps I wouldn’t have had to go through a mastectomy and reconstruction with a gaping wound 11 weeks on and chemo therapy and an involved lymph node (thank goodness it was grade 1 and areas of DCIS and not grade 3!!)
At least it seems your surgeon is accepting that they may have not got the lump in the core biopsy and that is something you should be grateful for and if I were back in time with the perspective I have now I would have had it removed - even given its location under my nipple! Hindsight is a wonderful thing!
I have always wondered as my initial core biospy 3 and a half years ago was not guided by ultrasound and as it was under the nipple and the doc shot me in the side of the boob there was always a voice in the teeniest back of my mind that wondered - how do they know if they got the core biopsy from the lump if they couldn’t see? Thankfully (!) the core biopsy I had this year was ultra-sound guided and resulted in my diagnosis of BC.
I have a 20 year old daughter (I am only 39!) who has been diagnosed with multiple fibrodenoemas and I daily wonder whether I should push her to get them removed or whether we should go down the genetic testing route (my mum and grandmother have/had no BC history) but I am caught between scaring her and scaring her… typing this as she is coming to look after me post my third FEC chemotherapy tomorrow I think I might at least suggest she look at having them removed.
Told you this raked up stuff for me but I’m glad I have thought about it again, even if it makes me angry.
Best of luck Doogle, I am truly hoping your lump is nothing as are 90%, xxxx
Hi Doogle, I had several core biopsies which came back ok, but the docs were not happy and eventually after the 3rd biopsy which was mammogram guided they found the malignancy. I was told that because the lump was hard, the biopsy needle was bouncing of it and just dragging out the healthy tissue. I am so glad they persisted. I then went on to have chemo and rads.
You are doing the right thing by having it removed, i send you my best wishes for a good result
Marge
You are all so kind with your advice , and so BRAVE with what u’ve been thru. I read these the other night but haven’t replied till now. When i read about your experiences i was so ANGRY!!! How can they justify leaving people to wait and wait like that for answers without going thru every possible avenue to get a true diagnosis the first time?
I was thinking ,well i was just thinking about it and getting cross.
My sister in law (who i knew at college too) and had been a great Auntie to my two buys died in 2000 from BC. She was 28 at the time and left my niece who was then nearly 3. She was able to have private treatment as my Brother had , i think BUPA with work.
Was wondering, is it all to do with money? Then i got more angry! How can it be possible with all the research and charities help to fight it, people are still left years without a full and definate diagnosis? Anyway thats the way it is i spose and nothing much can make it betta after the event . Unless things change.
I feel lucky i’m having the lump removed and have got a positive outlook now, i think it’ll be ok.
I work with a lady , same age as me who has been clear for nearly five years, i’ve just told her about my lump and she reckons if they were worried they would have had me in for removal a lot quicker, so feel a bit betta.
Gotta go- oldest son needs to chat about something!! Thanks Marg, Ostrich Molennium, i hope you r all ok at the min. You can hyjack my thread anytime!!! It’s great to talk and get advice- i think u’re all brill !!!
Xxxxxx
Good luck Doogle, make sure you let us know how you get on, xxx
Hi- everyone-
I hope you all all ok- it’s good to read these coz it makes you realise your’e not the only one ‘going mad’!
Had my lumpectomy last Wednesday. Went ok- still bit sore-feels a bit like a toothache!!! Arm also been on and off tingly/hurt at shoulder.
They gave me 2 weeks off work- and only a couple of weeks b4 the op the company i work for changed their sickness policy- so i don’t get paid for the 1st 3 days!! Oh god! Never mind can’t do anything about that.
Waiting for phone call.
Dr said they’d either phone and say alls ok or to go and see them. I’m trying very hard to keep positive but the last couple of days has been hard, just want the phone call. They said could be anytime in the nxt couple of weeks. Not as bad as for some people so i’m gratefull for that.
Keep thinking it can’t be anything or he wouldn’t have said i could leave it for a while to see if it goes away. At the hospital he said ‘any questions?’ and i asked him if i’d said to leave it for a while would he have then said to have it removed anyway? The answer was ’ we are taking it out to find out the exact nature of the lump, it was your decision’ Well, that shut me up.
So we wait don’t we. Thers loads of physical jobs i could be doing in the house but can’t coz don’t wanna make it worse again. Feel like a complete fraud. Don’t know whether to go back to work early, but as on feet for 8 hours and have to lift things etc not sure if good idea. I don’t know.
Anyway thanks to this site i have just unloaded my mood!!
Wishing you all well,
xxx
hi doogle - take care of yourself and sod the house!! The waiting is horrible - I’m due in next wed for lumpectomy and node sampling…mary x
Glad to hear your op went well Doogle, now just more waiting! Just think though, whatever it is its out now and you will soon be either returning to “normal” (whatever that is after a scare and surgery) or you will be put on a treatment plan should it prove to be the worst. It gets easier then as you are doing something rather than waiting for something to happen.
Don’t rush back to work, I know its not easy if you have financial pressures (I am lucky to have 100% sick pay for as long as I need it) but your body has been through a trauma and its all too easy to rush back and then regret it.
Hoping your results are good, xx
HI all can hardly believe how lucky i am, my results were good! i’m ok! feel washed out with relief and am so thankful. I want to say thankyou so much to all those who gave me much needed support and i hope you all get on ok and all my love and best wishes to everyone.
Thankyou so much xx
I’m gonna chill a bit now- you are all so kind! all the luck in the world to all of you. xx
Good luck Mary! and ostrich,Marg, Molennium xxx
doogle - am so made up for you - brilliant !! xx mary