Hello
I am new and this is my 1st post. I just need to vent off my worries really. Im not asking for answers but advice and or guidance would be good. for the last 6 months i have been having discharge from one breast which was assumed hormonal as it happens after menstration and before ovulation. Anyway it is acually the other breast that a lump has been found. my nipple seems to sink in on one side and has grown from a c to a dd cup in months. I also have a dimpling of the sking in this area too.
I have been sent a urgent referral to see the breast centre tomorrow but the last 5 days have been awful. I have been tested for thyroid and hormonal changes both are normal. I just dont understand what is happening. One breast with a lump the other with discharge??
Also i have started to have unusual menstral bleeding and have been booked in for a transvaginal scan in a month. Also feeling constant menstral cramps around ovary/hip.
On top of all this i had a heart abation procedure last june due to svt and this now has also come back.
I really dont know what to think…is it all linked??
I have no family history of breat cancer.
I would be grateful for any advice anyone may beable to give me.
Hello there - so sorry you have so much going on. I don’t think I can give any really useful advice but just to say I found it easier when I had a medical team to work with who could rule things in and out - the only really decent bit about how many of us get breast cancer is that the teams know so much about diagnosis and when to say something is clearly not cancer…with a bit of grey area in the middle of course! Hope someone else can help you, best wishes Nicola
If and I mean if, your worst fears are founded you need to remember that breast cancer prognosis has really improved over the last five years. I am just getting over chemo having had a double mastectomy. Before I was diagnosed all I remember was hearing about the sad cases of women who couldn’t beat the disease but since diagnosis I have been made aware by friends and colleagues of the very, very large numbers of women who have beaten it, many still here and healthy after 20 sometimes 30 years since treatment.
Just take one step at a time and listen carefully to what is said when you get all these test results. Also take another pair of ears with you so that you can check that you heard things correctly.
best of luck
jane
Hi
Of course you’re worried. Seeing your body change, having loads of tests, having the word ‘Cancer’ hanging over your head is totally and utterly terrifying. The uncertainty is terrifying.
Unfortunately, until you know what’s what, it’s really difficult to stay focused and positive. All of us on here have experienced this in some form and everyone will tell you it’s the worst part.
Obviously something isn’t right but you’ve done the right thing and had it looked at. Once they tell you what it is - be it good or bad you WILL FEEL BETTER, because you will know what you’re dealing with. You will find a strength you didn’t know you had and you will deal with it.
There’s nothing i can say that will reassure you (wish i could) but know that this thing - whatever it turns out to be - is both treatable and do-able.
Keep posting, this forum has really helped me, DON’T Google - you’ll have everything under the Sun, and let us know how you get on.
best of luck x
Hi
I hope your appointment tomorrow gives you answers, then you will know what you are dealing with. I am waiting for my appointment next week, and am imagining all sorts. It maybe all your different symptoms are unrelated, but I can understand how it must seem. I was questioning whether the asthma diagnosis I had last year was linked in some way - daft I know but when your mind is so frantic anything is plausible. keep asking questions - I have been here 2 days now and am knocked out by how lovely and supportive it is.
Sonja
Well done for getting through the last five days - we all know how truly dreadful the waiting is.
Tomorrow’s visit to the clinic will be the first step in you finding out some answers, so you might want to read the leaflets in the Publications section of this site (click Home at the top left and you’ll find Publications on the main page). Look at the leaflets for “Worried” and “what happens at a breast clinic”, they should help you to feel better about what’s going to happen when you get there. You may be given a mammogram (undignified, uncomfortable but bearable) and and ultrasound, a bit like when you’re pregnant just on your boobs. If they want to take a closer look they may want to do a Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) or take a core biopsy. FNA looks pretty alarming as the needle is very long, but it’s extremely fine and very sharp so it doesn’t hurt as much as a wasp sting - considerably less actually. If they want to do a core biopsy the needle’s a bit thicker so you should be offered a local anaesthetic. I found it less uncomfortable than dental anaesthetic, and then the biopsy itself didn’t hurt a bit. When I had it, my boob was a bit sore for a couple of days afterwards - paracetamol took care of that - and the bruising was pretty spectacular, but all manageable.
If they do have to do biopsies, you may be in for another wait. That’ll be horrible as well, but use the forums to let off steam, share your worries, ask questions and generally get support. We’ve ALL been there, and the waiting sucks. Good luck for tomorrow, please come back and let us know how you get on.
The helpline (number at top of page) is also really good, so give them a ring too, they’re lovely and it’s good to hear an uninvolved voice at the end of the phone.
Thank You all so much for your comments…I already feel a little less worried, well sort of. Its just nice to be able to know im not alone and there are people I can ask for advice.
Google is evil…It gives you way too much info and as much as you dont want to look and fret you do and analyze every little thing.
I think because I have so many symptoms of things I have…especially with the menstral bleeding and things too and then of course the 2 breast both with different things.
has anyone else experienced these things and could it all be related…I just dont know. I feel that it is and linked with my hormones or something.
The SVT (Supraventricular tachycardia) is just bad luck really that it seems to have returned…just means more trips to oxford.
Again Thank You all so much for your comments and for this site really as it answers so many of things.
Simone x
Also forgot to mention i have severe psoriosis and just by chance i was looking at a psoriosis article and it mentioned something about a link with psoriosis and cancer?? again stupid google but you cant help thinking its all linked.
I can’t comment on your symptoms as mine were different (thickening, heaviness and finally distorted).
Re: psoriosis linked to cancer - that’s Googling for you!
According to other sources on google the following are also linked to BC: being slim before menopause, being over weight after menopause, being of a ‘certain age’, eating dairy, being tall, alcohol, falling over, having kids late, not breast feeding, eating fatty food, having it in your family history, having no kids…
And sometimes, just sometimes it’s just bad luck.
Try to avoid Google at the mo. It’s really good once you know what you want to research but not so great when you don’t know what you’re dealing with and so desperately looking to fill in the gaps.
x
Hi
Just thought I would let you know how i got on at my appointment.
I had a scan only…could find no specific lump although i have alot of grandular tissue in the breast. consultant examination agreed my left breast was alot bigger than right and also that i had a new very prominent vein running through the breast and nipple. He also was pressing under my arms and lying on side was even worse. I wasnt even aware there was a pain there until he pressd on it. Anyway he has asked me to come back in 8 weeks but I am really confused. He said it could be hormone related but that test was normal. I gave him my giant list of other symptoms relating to abnormal bleeding constipation weight gain severe pms, we need to wait for my transvaginal scan to see what is happening.
Im quite dissapointed, I have no answers. He kept saying umm like no this is not right…gave me a leaflet about breast pain??? I dont have breast pain until he started pushing under my arm! and told me to take evening primrose oil??
What is this painful underarm swelling…only painful when pressed and near my collarbone.
I feel the doctor just wanted me out was unwilling and rushing to answer any question which I didnt really get an answer to.
He basically said about nipple dischage in other breast its normal in lots of women yet he gave me the leaflet and that said report any dicharge???
Very confusing
Hi
Go back if you’re not happy.
What scan was it? Mammograms don’t show up certain cancers, but an ultra sound is v efficient.
You shouldn’t have left feeling confused the idea is for them to reassure you and make you feel that you are being taken seriously. I’m wondering if the doc would be as blase about a discharge coming out of his bits with no apparent reason!
This is not the time to worry about being a nuisance, this is the time to worry about yourself.