Hello everyone ! A few may know me on here and a few may do remember me. I came onto this side in March of this year as a mother of a young daughter(28), whom just has been diagnosed with Grade 3 TNBC. Last Saturday she also had her results back from the faulty gene test and was unfortunately tested positive for BRCA1. As there is a lot of breast and other cancer on my fathers side, its possible that all this mess stems from that side. I definitely will take the gen test, so our son ,my husband and one of his brothers also, as sadly there runs cancer also in the family, even if it isnt that severe. Luckily my doctor made a referral for me to get my gene tested.
Unfortunately i have my own worries now… as it is not as straight forward, i have hesitated up till now to think , what to do is best…
Since a few weeks( definitely over a month) i have this strange feeling in my left armpit and in the middle of my chestbone area( around where the breasts are connected) the best to describe the sensation is, very similar when someone has a bad cold/ flue and the armpit area is sore. The same goes for the chest bone area. I do quite regular check my breasts for anything unnormal and still( thankfully) cant feel anything NEW BUT if i try to find the specific areas and i manage to locate them it hurts/ feels uncomfortable when i press down on it. The area by the armpit is more difficult to explain. It is outside of the direct armpit area and also right on the outside/edgefrom my lower left breast. So i checked today when my last breast screening was and it was in October 2023. So my next one is due this October. I contacted my doctor today( i had to give her the update on our daughters faulty gene results) and raised my concern - as we all know “RATHER SOONER THAN TOO LATE/ LATER”… but she diud say, if i have a lump aso in my breast she books me in earlier( referral) . My question is, should i be worried… demand even without any lumps IN my breast but SOMETHING there on those areas as described?! I dont want to over react and flag something up which is ok BUT i always have and do take these things seriously… there’s also a feeling… THAT feeling… whhere i do think/ feel… i dont like this…it doesn’t feel right but you can’t make entire sense of it… im not freaking out- such jet but i can definite feel a concern steadily rising. How i say…we all know how important it is to get on to it asap… but when is the right time ? Even more so, if i cant feel any lump in my breasts ? Also should i may ask for a ultrasound instead of a mammography?!
I probably should add, that im 53 (in 2011 i had a very large ovary cyst + the right ovary removed- where the cyst was attached to. The results came back as borderline but thankfully all the after checks always came back as clear and thankfully i had never any other issues)
Any advise, shared similar experiences, or opinion is as always very much appreciated! 
Also much love out to everyone on here… stay strong and dont give up fighting
T
Hi there,
Sorry to read that you have all these worries, especially regarding your daughter’s diagnosis and results of the gene testing. Such a difficult time for your family so it’s understandable you feel very anxious, highlighting worries about your own health.
Don’t wait until October when your next mammogram is scheduled. You can’t be worrying until then. I had something very similar with pain and soreness in my sternum area and it was costochondritis and cleared up on its own after taking ibuprofen.
Wishing you and your family all the best.
Frances
hello frances ! thank you so very much, for reaching out last night and sharing your personal experiance and opinion with me !! you are right, it is very full on and the BRCA1 result has added awhole new worry on top of our daughters dealing with her breast cancer.
can i ask, how this costochondritis was diagnosed ? because im wondering, if i should ask my doctor for an ultrasound. or a mammography ? as the areas in question are more outside of my breast. dealing with my doctor is a bit of a nighmare itself- which does not help really.
so right now im sitting here now in front of my LT, concidering what im going to write for her… to avoid a for and backwards mail scenario…
thank you so much again, frances, for writing to me and your well wishes- so very much appreciated !!
returning the same back to you and your family too… whatever your story is, please stay strong, take good care of yourself, your body and mind and stay strong- FIGHT !
t
Hi templar-1310,
Well, I’m always up late as
The Letrozole has plaid havoc with my sleeping patterns…. Onwards though!
I know my breast care nurse always said to me if you get any niggles that don’t respond to a few days of normal painkillers then it might be worth getting checked out. Like you, I worried about any symptoms in my chest area after BC. It’s natural and understandable to be anxious. Try a few days of ibuprofen and if it isn’t any better then that’s the time to have a chat with your GP. If it is costochondrosis then it should ease with the anti inflammatory.
None of us want to be backwards and forwards to the GP all the time so a few days seeing how you go will do no harm. Obviously if you’re still worried then go straight back. If you are really struggling with anxiety do get some help with counselling. Talking therapy can help enormously, even over the phone. You have a lot on your plate!
Wishing you all the best x
frances55, hello again 
great to hear back from you ! thank you also, for giving the inside in what you did and what came of it- THANK YOU !
i think the painkiller route, is a good idea and could give more re assurance, if it really only was an infection - hence swelling around the lymp nodes , or (hopefully NOT) more…
but i also did write back to my doctor and did say, that i want this checked out… either via mammogram or ultrasound… or whatever she thinks is the right form… i also did call one of these incredible nurses here on the side and she did say to definitely have it checked. even more so because of the breast cancer history in the family and the BRCA1 result from our daughter… so yes, will be interesting
im sorry to hear, that your medication is causing you sleeping issues (i totally can feel for you… in that crap place myself) sleep is so very important and having that disturbed or worse, fully interrupted is bad news, it has such an knockon effect of so many things and the normal day to day… another beast let loose on top of the other beast- the C- one - you are probably dealing with also…
have you find a way, to keep the sleeping issue under controle a little ?! normally i would say now what i find helpful BUT i also know, that so often all those things which sometimes DO help are all just not happening at night time, when you are simly so so very tired, but you cant find rest, able to fall asleep. i genuinly do feel for you !
if you ever see me online here- like you- late at night, please do feel free to let hear from you ! 
hope, that the med issue will become less trouble for you with time.
stay strong, frances55 !
and thank you again, for your note !
T