Newbie - Have been sent for a scan via GP

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Hi girls and guys,

I’m female and 22 years old.

For a few days now I’ve had pains in my left breast. Its almost like bruising and sharp stabbing pains, especially when I lift the breast. GP felt around the area and other breast and looked at them both together and then hit me with the fact that he’s going to refer me on for a “second opinion”. So very scared and worried now and no idea what to do next. Severe hypochondriac anyway so convinced I have breast cancer.
No idea how long i’ll be waiting for consultation either.

Hope you can give me some advice.

Thanks
GirlAfraid23

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A few things for you.

Well done on taking your concerns to your GP. There are times for sticking your head in the sand, and when you find something abnormal is NOT the time. This way you can get past the worrying and find out what’s going on, if anything.

Did your GP mention the word “urgent”? It is a requirement that urgent referrals are seen within two weeks, but you may get an appointment even sooner than that. Don’t fret if you get an appointment for a couple of days’ time, that’s just good service! The worrying is horrible so having an appointment in a couple of days (it does happen) means your worry time is cut short.

Most conditions that are sent to the breast clinic are NOT cancer. I’ve heard 8 or 9 out of 10 are not cancer. Keep that figure in your head.

A good place to look for info, if you’re the sort of person who needs that, is the Publications section of this site, specifically the first section. Don’t google indiscriminately, you’ll scare yourself silly. There’s lots of nonsense out there, much of it intended to get scared people to part with their money, so if you have to, stick to reputable sites, such as this one, Macmillan, Cancer Research, and avoid single-issue sites.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SILLY QUESTION. None of us knew anything about BC before we were diagnosed (with one or two exceptions) so we’ve all started from knowing nothing. If something’s worrying you, ask. Either here, or at the docs when you get there.

Give the Helpline a ring, they are fab. Even if you end up blubbing, it’s good to have a human voice who knows what you’re on about to talk to.

Please come back and tell us how you get on, and keep posting as much or as little as you like. Use the forums if you find them helpful.

Others will be along soon to say hello.

If browsing this site, remember that a lot of people post when they have difficulties and don’t post when things are fine, so the forums could give a skewed picture. That’s the nature of forums.

Good luck

CM
x

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Thanks for your reply. Just want to know if cancer in a 22 year old is all that common? Plus does the pain I’m describing sound like cancer? Oh and he said he’s not putting it through as urgent. So could be up to 3 weeks :cry: don’t know how to cope

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Hello
there’s nothing useful I can add to CM’s brilliant response, except to say that there are lots of us to support you and to reiterate that there is no such thing as a silly question, and there’s nothing silly about being worried (but remember CM’s comment about the vast majority of breast issues NOT being bc)
I wish you well, take care
monica

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hi, sorry to hear your news. even if you are one of the 9 out of 10 whoes lump is benign, its still a worrying time for anyone.

if it were me i would ring the surgery up and find out if its an urgent referal or not. Urgent referals take two weeks. but just because it has been flagged as urgent does not mean its serious, some doctors flag all breast changes as urgent. this will give you some idea of how long it will take.

see if you can find out where you have been refered to and what sort of clinic it is. If its a one stop clinic that means you will be there for hours but at least all the things that need checking will be done on the same day and by the time you leave you will know if its benign, cancer or needs more investigating to find out.

no matter how often you are told 9 out of 10 referals turn out to be ok it is only natural to wonder–what if i am number 10?? and that is what makes it all scarey, the not knowing.

I am a number 10 just had my little lump taken out, hoping that I need no more treatment and this time next week when i get my final results will be saying goodbye to all the fabulous people on this site that have answered my stupid questions and helped me keep sane whilst i waited for the first appointment, waited for next set of results, waited for op etc.

So well done for going to the doc and getting the process started, and well done for finding this site. It realy will help you get through each stage.

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Just a little bit more infor,ation has haven’t given you all much to go on.

As I say I’m 22 years old. Just turned 22 this month actually. I have no family history of breast cancer at all. A couple of days ago now I lifted my left breast up into my bra and felt a shooting sharp pain come from underneath and through the nipple area. It was very painful. I let it go for a day but I kept noticing the pain and thought I may aswell get it checked out (severe health anxiety sufferer btw). He was a new GP and slightly informal so that worried me from the start. He looked at my breasts and felt both of them, saying that I had “lumpy breast tissue” in both of them but more on the left. He said he could feel a kind of “grapes” sensation in the upper quarter or something. Then he said that its his procedure to send anyone with slight lumps for a scan. Of course right away I started panicking and began to cry right there in the surgery. He told me that it was just a precaution and I should just get it checked out. Apparentley I have no lumps under my armpit and no discolouration of the breast skin or nipple, I also have no nipple discharge. Despite that I am driving myself crazy with worry, he put it down as non-urgent so said it may not even be until after my holiday on 19th-26th July :frowning: How can I enjoy a holiday with this hanging over my head? I’ve even taken drastic measures and have contacted my local private clinic in order to pay at least £500 to get it checked. At this moment in time I’m not having any rational thought and that would be most of my savings gone…
Just want some reassurance from you nice ladies although I know you cant give me much when you don’t know for sure. The waiting is the hardest :frowning:

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Hi GA,
firstly sorry you’re so worried, it’s not nice waiting but you’ve done the right thing in going to your GP. If it is bc it will be treated, but it’s unlikely to be. If your GP was seriously worried s/he would have referred you urgently.
Your chance of getting bc at your age is tiny in any case - about 1 in 1,500-2,000. When you see the stats that 1 in 8 women will get bc, that means a lifetime risk. So the vast majority of those women will be 70-90 years old on diagnosis, and most of those cancers are treatable. So try to stay calm and don’t do too much digging. Phone the helpline as they are fantastic and very knowledgeable.
Big hugs
xx

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Thanks for those kind words of advice and reassurance from everyone who has posted.

I’ve got a few more questions:

Firstly, if I ring the helpline, will it sound odd if I haven’t be diagnosed?

Secondly, Did you tell your friends and family straight away even before diagnosis?

I have told my parents because I live with them but due to being a health anxiety sufferer they don’t take me seriously any longer. I’m convinced that this is what my entire health anxiety has been built up to and I will eventually be diagnosed with BC. I am having completley irrational thoughts for example, running away, not going to the appointment because I’d rather live in ignorance and throwing myself in front of a train but I wont do the latter because I’m too much of a coward anyway. Plus I want to live a long and happy life but at the moment that thought seems very far away.
I have lost my appetite and I’m not sleeping. I even started crying at work today.

The last thing I want to add is that my mum has very lumpy breasts too and she was referred for a mammogram when she was 35 years old because of a lump bigger than mine. That turned out to be fibro-adenomas (sp?) and benign. Do you think it could be inherited? I really hope so :frowning: Sorry to go on like this. I’ve read alot of your posts and you’re all so brave and brilliant. I hope I can reach half of that if I am diagnosed.

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Dear GirlAfraid23

Please do ring the Helpline- it won’t seem odd that you haven’t been diagnosed at all. The Helpline is for everyone who has any concerns. The number is 0808 800 6000. They are open till 5.00pm

Very best wishes

Janet
BCC Facilitator

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gosh I wish i could come round and give you a hug. Do ring the helpline they are used to people coming on board even before they have been to their GP’s

first of all it realy does sound as if the doctor is being super cautious and sending you for a referal evan though he thinks its ok realy. If he had real doubts he would have given you an urgent referal.

second of all everyone will keep saying to and it is true, its only 1 in 10 of all lumps that turn out to be cancer, and in younger people its even smaller.

third of all, and someone might correct me on this, I do not think you first spot breast cancer because of pain, so any twinges or shooting pains or probably something else.

then there is who to tell. My test is this. Lets say they did find a benign lump but decided it had to come out and you had to go in for a litle operation. Is there anyone who when, they found out that you needed to go into hospital, would be upset that you had not told them as soon as you heard you needed more tests.

And the thing is, even if the worse comes to the worse and it is BC there are such a wide range of types, some can be treated quite quickly.

Now have you thought about your appointment at the clinic, who are you going to take with you??

In the meantime during this horrid time of waiting use the helpline, or come on this forum and ask all manner of questions, everyone is here to help, everyone remember what those first few weeks are.

It has kept me sane, sometimes just writint the problem down and hitting enter helps it seem smaller.

Big cyber hug

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Thank you for that post O&L
By some miracle, I have an appointment tomorrow, its private but I’m only paying £45.00 (a donation). Very very scared and very very worried. I really dont think i’ll be sleeping tonight. Or eating. Or in fact anything…They will tell me there and then after an ultrasound whether it is a cause for concern. I hope some kind of positive energy force is with me tomorrow. I’m not going to have time to take it all in if its something bad :frowning:

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Oh and nobody can come with me tomorrow…its too short notice. Therefore I hope its nothing bad or i’ll be alone :frowning:

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Hi, was wondering if you had your appointment yet? I hope so much that all is well.
I too am waiting for a scan,I felt a lumpyness in my left breast,more like a thickening and my gp said the she felt the same, she referred me for a scan ± mammogram,thats what I saw her write on the computer but I dont know what that means? I cant stop thinking about it and every day I’m willing the postman to bring me a letter so I can get it done,I’m so worried,mainly because I’ve read that not all cancers are spotted on a scan,what if its missed? In my head since Tuesday all i can think about are my young children,I know,I know but I can’t help it!