is it possible for the time to be accurate on postings? its British Summer Time now 11.07 am
Thanks Wendle
I know this is not where I should be but I wanted to put in a post tonight and I haven’t a clue what to do - getting very frustrated! I used to post regularly on the last site. Everything seemed so much easier.
Thanks
Jeannie
I would be interested to hear from anyone whose breast cancer was picked up on a mammogram and is very small in size. I have been told that if a lump is less than 1cm it is unlikely to show up on a mammogram. I would like to know if this is true. Also, does an ultrasound show up smaller lumps than a mammogram? I would like to hear what others have to say on this.
Many thanks.
Jeannie
Jeannie, mine was 15mm which was considered small for me to have even found it in my general lumpy breasts but when i had mammo they knew right away it looked suspicious even before I got biopsy results so was prepared for the worst.
Sandra x
Thanks Sandra. That was quick! My understanding of what you are saying is that at 15mm it was seen clearly on a mammogram. I wonder if that would still be the case in the lump was under 10mm.
Thanks again.
Jeannie
I’ve heard that it’s quite hard for a mamo to pick them up when they’re small - I had a routine mamo in Feb 08 that was clear, and 11 months later the lump was 1.2cm - it was almost certainly there when I had the mamo, but too small. When I saw the mamo it looked quite vague to me, not a lot different from some other white clumps - but on the ultrasound it was absolutely clear, dark and with quite sharp edges.
The BCN said you often can’t feel it until it’s nearly 2cm, and if you have large or lumpy breasts it can be even harder. I’m not very large and not at all lumpy, and I couldn’t feel it at all - not even when they’d drawn a cross over it! If it hadn’t been that one of my lymph nodes swelled up enormous, I’d still be sitting here none the wiser that I was nurturing a time-bomb.
Hi Jeannie
I don’t know the size of mine - it was actually an area of DCIS - but I’m guessing “small”. It showed up on the first mammo I had (screening) as the tiny pinprick dots of calcification. No one in the clinic could feel a lump, and nothing could be seen on ultrasound.
Don’t know what all that means - other than, I suppose, there might not be a definative “This size shows up / That size doesn’t” answer?
I think it comes down to the fact that BC has so many different sub classifications, that no one programme of events fits all. Which, I have to say, isn’t something I was aware of before joining this club!
Don’t know whether this helps, Jeannie!
Lizzie XX
My lump was 10mm in the largest dimension, but one side was 7mm. It was picked up through my first routine screening mammogram too and when I was shown the image i could clearly see the area. The ultrasound was even clearer. The actual lump was surrounded by an area of DCIS of up to an additional 3mm and the calcifications showed on the mammogram image.
The lump was difficult/impossible to feel when I was lying down but once I knew where it was I could feel it when sitting or standing.
Eliza xx
Hi Jeanie
My lump was only 11mm and picked up by routine mammogram, likewise my friends was only 7mm. We both had ultrasounds as well and then had to have wires inserted when the lumps were removed. This is to pinpoint it for the surgeon. No-one could feel our lumps not even the surgeon as they were very far in. I am (was) big busted but my friend was only A cup so it does not seem to matter what size you are either.
hope this helps Best wishes Wendy
just happened upon this thread by accident but thought i’d share my experience. Doesnt age factor into how lumps are picked up and the density of breast tissue? At 35 i was on the cusp of ultrasound/mammogram being the most effective so they did both. It seemed that they were able to pick up something on ultrasound but was inconclusive so also did mammogram. Looking back now i think the nurses were pretty certain at this point that it was cancer before even the biopsy. I was one of the ‘lucky’ ones with the positioning of my lump it was quite near the surface near my armpit - it felt massive and you could even see it poking out! I had recently lost weight on my boobs so maybe this had something to do with it as it turns out it was only 11mm. They also picked up some DCIS during WLE which nobody had mentioned previously so i assume this had not shown up on mammogram/ultrasound, it must have been small as they managed to get it all within the margins.
I never really checked my breast before and it was only as i was shaving my armpit that i noticed…it scares me to think how long it would have gone unnoticed had it been elsewhere in the breast.
pixie