Hi
I found mine whilst in the shower. I had been a regular checker for quite some time. The celebrity shock value made me a regular checker. i.e Kylie, jade goody ect… Anyway for a couple of weeks I felt a dragging sensation in the lower side of my right breast. Just though I’d over stretched or something. Anyway on examination I noticed what felt like thickened tissue and a jagged feeling along the top of it. Initially I didn’t think much of it cuz i had an area of thickened tissue on the top of my breast. But I checked again a couple of days later and just felt that something wasn’t right and decided to get it checked out. So here I am nearly 3 months later having being diagnosed with grade 2 ductal carcinoma insitu, had a wide excision removing a 4 cm tumour, 9 lymph nodes removed, a further 1 cm margin of tissue removed. I have started chemo. I am having 3 FEC and 4 tax. Herceptin, tamoxifen and radiotherapy after chemo. So a whirlwind few months. I do have to say that after talking to many of my girlfriends that most of them don’t check themselves and are under the impression that any cancerous lump would be like a pea shape/size. To be honest life before cancer too had given me the impression that anything dodgy would be a round lump. Whether this impression is from media or from magazines or whatever I am not sure. If it is then maybe things need to change
I found my lump while lying in bed one morning. My breasts are quite lumpy anyway and I had had a mammogram some years before (it was all clear) but this lump was different. I called my doctors and got an appointment on the Monday morning. By Wednesday i had received an appointment at the breast clinic for the following Wednesday. That was this week so my diagnosis is new and I have to wait until next week for the plan of action.
My mum has had breast cancer. Hers was detected on a routine mammogram which she wasn’t originally going to attend! Thank god she did as hers was in her milk ducts so may not have been detected otherwise. She was in her 60’s then and is all clear now and still with us aged 78.
Bump
hi im new on here. i first felt my lump while laying in bed i just rested my hand between my boobs and felt a pea like lump on my left breast on the edge of my clevage.i was 7 wks pregnant at the time so just thought it was something to do with that. went to docs to be sure and she said “why are you here” made me feel bit silly so just left not concerned. 3 wks later after feeling it everyday i knew it had got bigger now like a baked bean so went back to another doc who still didnt think it was anything to worry about but sent me to breast unit anyway. and thank god he did as a wk later after first biopsy i was told i had breast cancer and they found another 2 lumps that i hadnt even felt. very scary time but all worked out now. some docs are rubbish and dont think breast cancer accurs in young women. how wrong they are. hope they are brought up to speed soon.xx
Hi piggy, thanks for posting your story. There are a few ladies who are pregnant and undergoing Chemo at the moment. Just wondered if you had spotted their threads? Hope things are ok for you
vickie
Hi all
I just wanted to let you know about some of the younger women’s services we have available at the moment, here are links to the telephone support group and also dates for the yw forums for 2010/2011 in case you haven’t come across them:
breastcancercare.org.uk/forum/new-younger-womenʹs-forum-dates-2010-2011-t25534.html
Best wishes
Lucy
hi vickie
havent been back on for awhile. but ive now seen forum for pregnancy it is getting more common sadly.im good thank you xx
hi had thickening of tissue in left breast from age 32 , went to breast clinic four times over 4 yrs to be told just thickening of the tissue and to come back for regular check ups from age 40 as bc in family. in april 2010 age 37 when back again as pain in lump and under arm and nipple started to sink in at one side.i,ve got grade 2 invasive cancer . i had wle in may and they took 5 lymph nodes out which are all positive. just had 4th fec of 6 then will have all lymph nodes out followed by 6 radio and hormone injections ovaries removed and 7yrs of tomoxifen.i now know 90% of bc starts as thickening and i wish i’d had the lump out before it changed to cancer. i just hopr the treatment works and look forward to next yr and going on holiday with my husband and three children after 11mths of treatment are over.
I was 45 when I found my lump. Referred by doctor for mammogram and ultrasound, followed by biopsy. Result was a 2.2cm lump containing 4mm of ductal (grade 3) and the rest was lobular (grade 2). 6 x fec, radiotherapy and tamoxifen. Will be having my third FEC on the 16th September. No family history of bc although father had bowel cancer 5 years ago from which he has now recovered. Started having panic attacks about 21/2 to 3 years ago (always around the time of my period) and wonder whether they are related to the bc.
I found mine while putting my little boy in the bath. As my breast was sore I didnt think for one minute that it would be BC. At that point I could feel a pea like lump and soreness around it. As my little boy was under 2 and I was 36 I thought it would probably be block milk ducts. After waiting a few days I thought I’d better make a doctors appt to check it all out. My appt was with a locum doctor as my regular doctor was on holiday and I must admit the experience was not good as he didnt explain anything,and i even had to request some one to be present while he examined me.
However once I had been refered to to the consultant they did a mamogram and biopsy all in the same appointment. The consultant even told me there and then that there was a high probability that it was cancer. Although I was shell shocked I have nothing but praise for my consultant and his team for their professionalism and care. I only wish my initial appointment could of been the same.
hi, i found mine while washing my hair in the bath, some shampoo fell onto my left breast i went to wipe it off with the back of my left hand and thought i felt a lump so i checked again with my right hand but could’nt feel anything but using the back of my left hand again i could feel it so i think it must have been the position of my
arm which revealed the lump, after mammogram,biopsy and ultrasound all negative it was firstly diagonosed as an enlarged lymph gland which the breast surgeon removed and it turned out to be a grade 3 her2+ tumour and i had 6 chemo 25 rads and 18 herceptin… Mizzy xxx
bump
Hi Everyone
I found my lump by knocking a fly off my boob, which sounds kinda weird and still makes me smile but strangley enough my lump can’t be found when laying flat or pressing against my breast.
Hi all,
I’ve self-checked my breasts since my mum died in 1994. For the past ten years I’ve been pretty good at maintaining checks every 3-4 weeks and have had a number of lumps investigated as a result. It was only this latest one I found on 13th February this year that turned out to be invasive ductal cancer though (I had had a mammogram a year before that came up clear) - if I hadn’t checked myself and gone to the doctor’s I’d probably be dead now!
Mia
Mine started with a mild, dull, pain around and below my left shoulder when I was about 19. I was a bit worried but thought BC was extremely unlikely at that age so left it. It didn’t go away but in my twenties I told myself that if it was anything sinister I would have had more symptoms by then. I was completely unaware of the fact that one could have DCIS for some time before the cancer would become invasive, and also didn’t really understand well that thickening or pain could be a symptom. I just got used to the mild discomfort and the way that one side of my body felt different from the other. I think I mentioned it to doctors once or twice in my twenties, but it wasn’t picked up on. In my mid thirties I specifically asked a doctor to check my breasts as I had become more aware and worried about it; she didn’t spot anything and told me it was just muscular and I should put some ibuprofen gel on the area. She was saying what I wanted to hear and I believed her. Finally a year after that I started to get nipple discharge, went straight to the doctor (a different one) who thought she could feel some thickening and referred me to the breast clinic. Even then they said that the GP had done well to feel it as it wasn’t that obvious. Nothing showed up on the mammo or the ultrasound and a biopsy was inconclusive. I had to wait nearly a month for a lumpectomy and was finally diagnosed with a big (10cm) area of DCIS and several small multifocal IDC 2 weeks after that. They didn’t get clear margins so I had a mastectomy 2 weeks later. It still wasn’t treated that seriously. I was initially told I didn’t need any further treatment and not referred to the oncologist for another 3 months, and didn’t start (optional) chemo for another 2 after that. Anyway, after going through that, radiotherapy and hormonal treatment and through the trauma of endometrial cancer probably caused by tamoxifen, seven and a half years later I was diagnosed with bone mets from the BC and now have an ongoing mistrust of doctors and especially of my own judgement.
Hi all, I found mine on the first day of my holiday at my son’s in Canada! I was in the shower and had lifted my arm to wash under it then swept my hand across the top of my breast… How had I missed it before? I had had a previous scare and am a regular mammogrammer!! I was horrified. Well it is here now and I have been diagnosed so far as malignant, 3cms and primary but go to the hospital on thursday for definitive results of the biopsy and then the programme of ‘events’. Looking forward to next summer when I emerge as a healed butterfly!
bump
Hi all,
I am 36 and was diagnosed in April this year. I found the lump myself on self-examination, and went to my GP at the next available appt a few days later. I regularly self-examine, however had been a bit less regular the few months prior to finding my lump due to my dad having been very unwell and then also undergoing cancer treatment. My GP was absolutely brilliant and referred me by fax that day to the breast clinic, and the breast clinic nurse rang me a couple of hours later to give me an appointment for a week later. My GP said while it felt mobile and would hopefully most likely be benign, especially in view of my age etc, it still warranted to be checked within the two-week referral system. I don’t know if he was influenced by my getting a bit upset during the appt as my best friend died of metastatic breast cancer 15 months previously, and my aunt was diagnosed with liver mets last year, but I do believe he had decided to refer me anyway.
I am so grateful to my GP, as unfortunately it was breast cancer. The surgeon who first examined me said she wasn’t too concerned however I had a mammo and then USS with 6 biopsies; from the lump I had found and an enlarged lymph node on that side, but also two areas on the other breast. After the first mammo the radiologist asked for further mammo views prior to my USS, and for this mammo there were 2 radiographers staring intently at the screen instead of just the one previously which made me obviously more concerned. I was devastated to be told after mammo and USS that they were 99% sure it was breast cancer, and confirmed from biopsy results the following week.
I’d had a bad feeling that the possible diagnosis may not be good, and had been searching the internet prior to my appt (as most do I guess) and had concerns about some characteristics of my lump. I am also a nurse, though not in oncology, so have some knowledge but still hoped that I would not be one of the 1 in 9, especially as it is supposedly more unusual in younger women and yet I personally know two younger ladies. Anyone who knew about my lump kept telling me it would “probably be nothing” in view of my age and the stats and my having had a benign lump 8 years ago, so I still hoped that it may be the case, unfortunately as we all know breast cancer doesn’t discriminate. Breast cancer diagnosis is equally devastating at any age, but Tors, I do agree that there does appear to be a relatively common misconception about and amongst younger women. My immediate group of friends obviously have a heightened awareness due to our friend and now me, however many people outside of this group express surprise and shock when they hear of my diagnosis at my age and lots of these women admit they do not self-examine, so increased awareness is really needed. Furthermore, two GPs I have seen since diagnosis have expressed their shock and surprise at my age and diagnosis, and my friend’s primary diagnosis was sadly delayed due to her GP not referring her until a number of months and visits after she first attended her GP. So I am eternally grateful to my own first GP.
I have had a Mx (no recon yet) and am just coming to the end of chemo. I have had brilliant care from my GP and my oncology team, for which I am so thankful, but am so saddened to read and know of others who have had to deal with the situation of delayed or misdiagnosis.
How interesting. I’d had shooting pains in my right breast for a few years, exactly where I found a lump earlier this year. GP fantastic, referred me straight away, tests and results the same week, surgery a week later. I was 45, no family history. Idc, one node affected, chemo at the moment and radio and tamox next
I wonder now, especially after reading these threads, if the pain was the firsts symptom? The GP I saw at that time suggested a high dose of Evening Primrose (which someone told me promotes bc!!)
Or maybe it was simply hormonal breast pain…
X
Rusty
Hi
I found mine in my right breast whilst showering, having had a mamogramme a few weeks before, and my letter saying everything was normal, just a week later I found my lump.
Although,within a week I saw my doctor and she referred me to the Mermaid Centre (our cancer hospital) and after another mamogramme they could see a faint mark, they did a byopsy there and then and within a few hours diagnosed with stage II cancer.
After a needle biopsy the next day it came back as invasive ductul carcinoma stage III, I was due to have a mastectomy, but another surgeon thought he could do a lumpectomy and lymph nodes, followed by another operation to remove more lymph nodes under my right arm as the cancer had moved into them.
It all hapened so fast didn’t have time to think…but no pain.
xSarniex
I carn’t believe how fast the lump seemed to grow, one minute it was’nt there the next it was - although the mamagrammes are very good, its still good to check yourself regularly. I seemed to get all my treatment arranged very quicly.