Hi, I am 44 years old and am new to this forum, hoping I can get some advice, last week I visited my GP who has fast tracked me to the breast clinic, I was just wondering if anyone had had similar experience to me and whether their outcome was good. A few years ago I lost over 5 stone through slimming world, my breasts sagged and lost their elasticity, not long after I noticed my right nipple started to invert intermittently, I visited my gp in June 2013 but she wasn’t overly concerned, I always check myself as have a paternal aunt who had breast cancer and is now terminal, the past few months I have noticed the nipple is almost always inverted although occasionally looks normal, I put a little of the weight back on so my breasts filled out again but the inverted nipple is no different, I visited my gp last Tuesday and she said I also had a thickening in that area, I had never heard of thickening before and have always just checked for lumps, it shook me up when she said she would refer me, I have no breast tenderness, sometimes have stabbing pains in the left breast, my right breast does feel heavier and is bigger than the left although I am aware that can be normal, my right breast just doesn’t feel right, of course I googled thickening and have terrified myself thinking it is going to be the worst outcome, thank goodness I have found this forum, my appointment is next Tuesday the 22nd and can’t come quick enough, my referral has said no breast tenderness and no well defined area, not sure of the meaning of it but presume she means the thickening is not well defined, I know I can’t get a definitive answer until I have been checked out but I am worried out of my mind, it’s with it being the thickening and inverted nipple that I am fearing the worse, sorry for the long post but has anyone had similar and i thank you in advance x
Sorry to hear of your worries, my path to breast cancer was not really the same as I was recalled from a routine mammogram, but all I can say to reassure you is that once you get there they are very quick and very thorough in checking everything out. You will probably have a mammogram and an ultrasound which I think they will probably look at straight away then if they do see anything you might have to have a biopsy which they also usually do straight away but if that is the case you do have to wait about a week for the results of that and I’m afraid the waiting is the worst bit so try to keep busy!
I hope that your results are good, but if they are not, then s
keep using this forum as everyone is really supportive! A year on my surgery and reconstruction is finished and I just take tamoxifen daily and am otherwise back to full fitness . I took inspiration from the seven or eight people I knew who had recovered from breast cancer and are still fine 8, 10 and even 16 years later and they really supported me through the difficult times! Good luck, I hope you find nothing seriously wrong! Xx
Thank you Kiki2 for your reassuring reply, I am so pleased to hear you are more of less back at full fitness, guess its a long road to full recovery, its good to hear success stories. I guess I am worried because changes could have been occurring for a long while as I wouldn’t have been aware thickening could be a sign of bc especially after having the inverted nipple checked out and told it was nothing 2.5 years ago, I am keeping everything crossed but at the same time if my appointment doesn’t go the way I want it to I know I will deal with it, thank you again for taking the time to reply and I wish you well on your continued recovery x