I have found an approx 1cm x 1cm dimple in my right breast above the nipple. Phone NHS direct who said I should ring out of hours surgery at doctors. I was told I would have to see my own doctor tomorrow. I am so worried.
Hi dizzycloud you did the right thing & yes its best to get to your GP & get a referal to the breast clinic it could be nothing but always best to get all breast changes checked out.
It is worrying & not alot you can do to stop that but you will feel better once you have it checked out hopefully it will be nothing
all the best keep us posted
Mekala
Hi dizzycloud,
Welcome to the Breast Cancer Care discussion forums, you’ve come to the right place for some good support.
Do make an appointment to see your GP tomorrow, but please remember not all breast problems are cancer but do need to be checked out.
I have put for you below the link to one of BCC’s publications which you may like to read.
Unfortunately BCC’s helpline is closed today but is open again in the morning, Monday at 9.00 a.m. ( M-F 9-5 Sat 9-2) where you can have a chat to one of the staff while you await your doctors appointment. Calls to the helpline are free 0808 800 6000. Try not to worry, you are doing the right thing by making an appointment to see your GP.
Take care,
Jo, Facilitator
If your GP gives you an “urgent referral” to the breast clinic, don’t panic! That means you will be seen within 14 days, and could well find you get an appointment much quicker than that, so again don’t panic, it’s just a rare bit of efficiency!
Remember that most things referred to the breast clinic are NOT cancer - it’s a breast clinic not a cancer clinic - so hopefully it will be nothing for you to worry about.
Good luck, take a rad of the Publications section of this site and use the forums as muych as you find helpful. Don’t google, you’ll scare yourself silly.
thaks so much for your replies. Having been though treatment for precancerous cervical cells a few times I forgot what the worry felt like until now. Even though I don’t know if it is cancer yet, I am already worrying about stupid things like finances etc. I just need to know. I will try and take my mind of it but it’s hard
when you ring up for an appointment tomorrow do it as soon as surgery opens and tell the receptionist that you have a dimple in your breast and want to see a GP urgently. Unless you have a special relationship with your own GP say you will see anyone, and you should get seen realy quickly. Also if you are happy to see a man that could speed things up.
Before you go along do a bit of research into hospitals near you. Some are better than others, some just have mamogram and ultasound equipment in a breast unit, some have special one day stop breast clinics where you can have all your scans and results on the same day. If you have a centre of excelance in breast cancer that is the best of all. you might not be able to find out much on line though, some are better than others about information. Even just finding out where they are and thinking about travel might be useful. The doctor will probably refer you to a breast clinic hopefully an urgent referal so you are seen in two weeks, and it is your right to choose where you are refered to.
Dont worry about the urgency and speed, its not because you might have cancer its because until you find out what your dimple is you are going to worry and everything is done to get the diagnosis as quickly as possible.
Of course you are worried, you dont know why you have a dimple and fear the worse, its only natural. Just remember 9 out of 10 breast changes are not cancer. If they do a biopsy (a tiny proceedure over and done before you know and not painful) then 50% of those are not cancer. And there are many types of cancer, not all of them spread, not all of them need chemotherapy.
Good luck with the GP tomorrow, let us all know how you get on
I got to see the doctor at 10.30 this morning and he carried out a full examination of both breasts. He found a lump in the breast that is dimpled but nothing in the armpit (big relief) and referred me to hospital. Just got a phone-call from the hospital and I am booked in for this Wednesday morning. They will do all the tests and give me the results while I am there. I am so relieved to be seen so soon!
Meanwhile I have been very tearful today. I didn’t cry yesterday, but today everything is setting me off. I had to tell my boss and burst into tears, walked into doctors and cried again. I am at work but barely concentrating and to top it all my 14 year old daughter is texting me every two minutes that she has a migrane and it won’t go away and that I have got to get it sorted. She knows all about by breast problem - I had to tell her as I was very short with her yesterday. Why are kids so selfish at times like this? I need a break, but she isn’t going to her dads until the weekend and she is going for a week (or possible two).
thanks for all the support it has really helped me
I had my breast clinic appointment first thing this morning. I had mammogram and ultrasound. They found one large tumour and two smaller ones. I had a core biopsy done on two of them and get the results in a weeks time. My consultant has said they look cancerous. I had expected this and I am remarkably calm now I know what I am dealing with. If they are malignant, how long is it generally before treatment begins?
hello dizzy… so sorry your in this possition, treatment has already started, you,ve had mammogram , scan and core biopsy, as you say the results will be back in a week… but you already said your doctor thinks it is BC… this is one of the worst times, your now sitting in the waiting room, the lonely,st place on earth… your doctor will give you your results and then tell you what he/she plans to do… its usually an operation of some sort… either a lumpectomy or mastectomy… the decision depends on lots of things…you will probably have a sentinal node biopsy at the same time… this will give the doctor more to go on, where treatment is concerned. i had a lumpectomy and sentinal node biopsy, followed by radiotherapy, that was this time last year… its a tough rollercoaster ride, it will have its ups and downs, but your breast team will do all they can to get rid of this problem for you… at the moment your in shock… when it starts to sink in, you will have lots of emotions, always here if you need a chat… and there are loads of us to talk 2 xxx angie
Hi Dizzy
Really really sorry that you have to join us here, but you will find lots of support from the wonderful caring ladies on here.
Treatment usually starts very quickly. I was diagnosed on the 10th March, and had my first lumpectomy on the 25th. Unfortunately my margins were not clear so had to go on to have more surgery, and also a node biopsy. I got the results that the margins were clear two weeks ago, and I had an appointment to see the oncologist a week later and he put me straight on Tamoxifen, and would have started my chemo the following week, but because I want my holiday in August it has been delayed till september.
Cancer is treated very differently to everything else on the NHS in that you dont usually have to wait too long for any of the treatment.
Good luck.
xxx
thanks for your comments. I feel quite relaxed about it all at the moment and had mentally prepared myself since finding the lump. I am most worred about my finances (I know I am silly!). I am a single mum so I know I am going to stuggle a bit. I work full time and run a business. I know I will have to have time off work; I only get ssp, but I hope to run my business while I undergo treatment to help keep the cash coming in. I know if it malignant that I might be too ill to run my business to its full capacity for some of the time. I know I should concentrate on my health but at the moment focussing on my finances helps
If focussing on the finances helps, then focus!
This bit is tough while they don’t have all the information in, and you don’t have a plan. It gets -not easier- but more straightforward when there is a plan of treatment.
When you get to a stage where you feel you can share this with people in real life (as opposed to us unreal people on the board!) note down anyone who offers to help re work or child care or hospital transport or anything, saying with a big beam/wistful look whichever comes out at the time “That’s great, I’ll put you on my team”.
thanks, I have already told me nearest and dearest and my boss has been fantastic. Apparantly he asked my work colleague who I was texting while I was at the breast clinic how I was all day. He was mortified when she told him what they had found. I have said I want to work as much as possible as I can’t survive on ssp. He said he realises that (I think he is going to pay me while I am off). He wanted to order a laptop today so i can work from home when I am able via our work network but I asked him to wait until I get my results just in case my consultant was wrong. I told him what might happen and rough timescales so that he can plan ahead. I also warned him there might be lengthy periods when I would not be well enough to work
I am so touched by how much people think of me and all the offers of help I have had. My ex boyfriend who I dumped 18 months ago has said he will do anything for me and wants me to have him back (he has been trying to get me back since we split up) but we are sadly incomapatable. He is a lovely man. I have accepted his, and all offers of help as I think I will need them
Waiting for my results is giving me the time to sort my house out. I will spend the weekend cleaning and sorting out rubbish. I think I am in for a busy weekend!
Dizzy, you have got a strategy there! Focussing on finance then declutterinng-it’s cunning plans like these that gets us through!
that is so true - focusing on things you can control keeps the gremlins at bay, and cleaning is such a stress reliever. i washed all the curtains in a 5 bed house between diagnosis and treatment meeting, house has never been so clean since!
good luck xx mon
I have never been house proud and to be honest (well I havn’t since having my daughter; I always think there are more important things to do in my time off). I only usually do the bare minimum, however my parents phoned yesterday and said when I had my first lot of tretment they would be coming to stay! OMG!!! They would be horrified by the cobwebs and dust that have accumulated in certain areas of my house. Yesterday I cleaned the lounge and totally bottomed the bathroom.
They said they are coming to see me, not my house, but having been at the receiving end of comments made when they last came (about 4 years ago - I usually go to see them) I some how think I am going to be stressed out!. Not only that but where on earth are they going to sleep?. Some mention was made of a blow up bed in the lounge, but my dad has serious arthritis and they are both in their 70’s, not ideal I think. The previous idea was for me to sleep on the bottom bunk in my daughters room - err no!, if I am feeling ill I want my own bed! - or am I being selfish?
And that leaves the time in between - how on earth am I supposed to remain sane being in the same house as my parents for a few weeks with no break and having to not be online 24.7 (I will get moaned at everytime I pick up my laptop)?. I have always been so independant and need my own space, I think I am more stressed about being looked after than undergoing treatment!. Does anyone else have this problem?
I don’t want to be looked after every treatment I go through. I prefer to ask for help when i actually need it. I know my parents want to help me and that makes them happy, and I love them dearly, but I can see this is going to be a big issue in the next few months
Hi Dizzy
Your parents have said they are coming to see you. You have enough on your plate at the moment without having to “entertain” elderly house guests with their own needs and health conditions - even if they are your parents, especially if you haven’t really got room for you to all
be comfortable.
You have to take control here.
Understandably they are worried about you. You are always their baby.
You need to have a conversation with them to say that you appreciate their concern and value their love, but in reality coming to see you at the moment is not the most helpful thing they can do for you right now.
Then maybe you can discuss together what they can do to feel in touch with you and your situation. They are probably also feeling helpless ad anxious and worried about you. You don’t need to be looking after them right now.
Good luck. Remember you are an adult. You have a say in this too.
Let us know how you get on.
If they insist on seeing you, might it be worth arranging a specific visiting time for JUST a couple of days BEFORE you start treatment, or even you go to visit them for a couple of days, as usual? You can let them know that you don’t know how you’ll be feeling with treatment and might just need to sleep all day, and that you will absolutely need your own space and there just isn’t room in the house. The very practical arrangements of where everyone’s going to sleep are important. Yes, you SHOULD have your own bed, your own room, your own space - you’ll need to have a “safe” place to go to ground when feeling less than 100%.
I really know what you mean about finding it stressful having to run around looking after them even though they’re supposed to be there to look after you. I haven’t even told my elderly father (he’s 89) because I KNOW how he is, I’ve seen it before. A few years ago when my then partner died, I needed to be around to support my kids but instead I ended up having to run around after him, and I have to say I really resented it (that’s 6 years ago and I’m still moaning about it!) so in your situation I’d want to preserve the relationship I have with parents and not put it under additional stress.
if you are worried about hurting their feelings i would blow up the sleeping arangements. Garnish the truth, say you are not sleeping well and need your own bed to be able to get any sleep at all and that when you wake up you like to be able to wander round the house to make a drink to help you pop off again and would feel that you could not if it was going to disturb them on the blow up.
Also say that when you have your treatment you will need to rest during the day and will need the house to be quiet to be able to do that.
you are not being selfish, if the doctors are right you are going to need all your reserves to cope with the treatment.
does your mum cook? perhaps you could ask here to cook some meals for your freezer and go up to visit her before the treatent starts with a great big cool box. that would make her feel that she has contributed something to your care. Dont know how practical that is though
and maybe you could explain that you’ve been advised that the chemo may well make you need to sleep a lot and need rest - they sound well meaning but you really need not to be worrying about bloody cobwebs right now. and you def need your own bed. perhaps you could agree short visits before chemo and a while after it and regular phone contact in between - on the days you are up to it. this is a time when you need to focus only on what you HAVE to do, and having visitors in the house isn’t part of that.
the idea about meals prepared is a good one - practical help like that is good for you and for the giver.
i hope things work out
mon xxxx