Referred to doctors with suspected breast cancer

I was just wondering if anyone has had an urgent referral to the hospital with suspected breast cancer and they haven’t had cancer?

If this has happened to you I’d love to hear some stories to understand how common it is/is’t

I’m 22 years old, I had a small fibroadenoma about 2 years ago and now it’s over 7X4X1cm so the doctor seems to be concerned and referred me to the hospital, my appointment is Friday 8th March - have they rushed me in?

Sorry to ask so many questions, I’m going to ring the nurses from this forum too :slightly_smiling_face:

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Hi K think you will find any breast problems they refer you to breast clinic whether benign or suspected cancer under 2 week referral nhs system , I had a friend recently similar to you turned out to be a cyst but it’s better be reassured .

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I agree with Charlotte. I think the referral time to breast clinics is ideally 2 weeks so I wouldn’t get too stressed about the time scale. Having said that it is much better to get checked out as soon as possible. xxx

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When i went to my doc. She was sure it wasnt anything to worry about, but rightly made the referral.

The hospital called me that afternoon and made an appointment within a week as they had availability. I dont think they suspected any doom.

I will say that you are on a breast cancer forum, and therefore i imagine for most people on here, they recieved a diagnosis of cancer, whereas people who didnt may not frequent these forums. Do not use the responses as your measure(if that makes sense) as wilk be heavily tipped

The replies you have had already are correct in that if you are referred to Breast Clinic they try to see you within 2-3 weeks.

Most people who get referred do not actually turn out to have cancer . Some like yourself reach out to us on here for advice / reassurance / information / just to talk or vent while they are waiting for appointments or results but as soon as they find out they are negative they usually stop posting because as @Hannahjc says it is a breast cancer forum and they don’t have breast cancer. Just a few days ago someone who had posted because she was concerned sent an update to say that she had been diagnosed with fibroadenoma - a few of us congratulated her but she probably won’t post again - she may just want to put it behind her . The conversation threads move quite quickly so you would have to scroll down a long way to find it. Some friends and colleagues have told me that they were tested and found to be negative but they only told me after I got BC .

Many of us struggle with waiting for tests and results - some of us think it’s the worst part of all of it so try to take it a day at a time while you are waiting , keep busy and doing things you enjoy . Don’t tell every person you know about your referral but talking to a trusted friend or two does help and don’t be tempted to Google either - it’s good that you are going to call the helpline .

Wishing you all the best and let us know how it all goes xx

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All breast referrals are urgent and will be seen within 1 to 2 weeks. The majority come back clear (I am a medical secretary) I wouldn’t necessarily be on a breast cancer forum as it will just make you more anxious. GP’s will always refer for a specialist opinion even if they suspect it’s not serious. Hope this helps

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Yes @max26 has a good point there . This isn’t the time to delve into this world and hopefully there won’t be a need for you to do that . That’s not to say we won’t be here for you if you need some support though. Xx