Hi Aimee
The BCC leaflet you’ve been pointed at will probably have most of the answers you’re looking for.
They will probably have a feel of the problem and may well do a mammogram, which is undignified and uncomfortable but no worse than a cervical smear really. They will also be likely to do an ultrasound on the whole breast (not just the lump you’ve found) to see what they find. That usually includes the armpit area too, so don’t be alarmed if they go all over the place and not just on the lump you found.
If they think it’s a cyst they may do a Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) which uses a long and rather scary looking needle but it’s extremely thin so it looks much worse than it feels. It’s a LOT less painful than a wasp sting or a local anaesthetic you’d get at the dentist. This is done while using the ultrasound so they can see what they’re doing. If they can drain fluid out of it they may send a bit of it off to be checked but most likely they’ll just chuck it down the sink!
If it’s not a fluid-filled cyst don’t worry, there are lots of ther things ig could be that are harmless so it is still very likely to be nothing to worry about, but they may want to do a core biopsy just to be sure. The needle for this is much thicker so they’ll give you plenty of local anaesthetic to numb the area, and the anaesthetic is the most painful bit, but again it’s less painful than having anaesthetic at the dentist. If they do a core biopsy they’ll probably make a little cut in your breast and insert the needle into the area to be tested, then they press a button and you’ll hear a sound like a stapler! But don’t worry, you shouldn’t feel anything because of the anaesthetic. They might need to take several samples. They might also take a still picture from the ultrasound, which is sent off with the samples. They will put a couple of steristrips over the small cut and then a sterile dressing, and this heals up completely and on me left no sign of a scar.
When I was there I also asked them to take a very good look at the other breast just to make sure and they were very happy to do so, to put my mind at rest.
All of this is just a list of possibles. Don’t worry if you don’t have all of these, or have other checks.
The waiting for the appointment, and then if necessary the waiting for results, is really horrible and we all know that because we’ve all been there, but you can be assured by some of the statistics, that the younger you are, the less likelihood that it’s anything to worry about, and also around 9 out of 10 lumps referred to breast clinics turn out to be harmless conditions that are NOT cancer.
Let us know how you get on, we like good news!