Just wanted to share a positive story as I’ve been going out of my mind with worry the last few weeks and found forums like this one so helpful in terms of people with similar symptoms waiting on scans/results, but it’s often hard to know if people then went on to have a positive outcome or not.
37-year-old female here. My symptoms were a persistently itchy/prickly/stabbing feeling in my left breast (inside it not on the skin) and breast pain for 8 weeks. My breasts are very lumpy in general, and I’ve had several cysts removed/identified by the breast clinic following referrals, so I wasn’t overly worried initially.
The left one is larger than the right and always has been. However, when I went to the GP, she immediately said she could feel a hard, rocky lump, and she was also worried about the asymmetry. She actually said she was concerned it was cancer, and filled in the 2ww form and ticked the box to say it was discrete, hard lump + fixation + skin tethering which sent me into overdrive because previously GPs have been very quick to say my lumps were soft, moveable, and most likely a cyst/fibroadenoma but better to be safe than sorry.
Obviously, Dr Google then convinced me it was cancer. In fact, any itching and a lump without a rash always seems to lead to a cancer diagnosis when googling/reading on forums.
Google also implied most benign breast issues were usually cyclical or impacting both breasts.
I unfortunately had to wait almost a month for the breast clinic appointment which did nothing for my anxiety. So more googling, more panicking. I could feel the lump and although it didn’t feel really hard or rocky to me it definitely didn’t feel like any of my previous cysts. It felt almost like a piece of coral deep in my breast.
Fast forward to today and the breast clinic could not have been more reassuring from the second I arrived. The Dr was not concerned at all during the physical exam and said my breasts felt normal for someone of my age, but said I should have the ultrasound to be on the safe side. She said pain/itching/prickly feelings were all normal and happen on one side as often as both.
The ultrasound confirmed the lump was actually a cluster of cysts, the biggest being 6mm but because they’re all together it feels like one big irregular lump.
I’m so relieved but just wanted to share my experience in the hopes that it might put someone else’s mind at ease that even when the GP seems very concerned, Dr Google has convinced you it’s the worst news and the wait is very scary, the outcome can be a positive one.