Had my breast clinic appointment today. Here is how it went:
get seen by doctor, I start telling him my symptoms etc, he looks at me like I’m mad. Lay down on bed to get checked. He starts feeling and says yes I can feel small lumps. I mention the other breast and how I felt something there too and he says “if you say so!”
Got told I can’t have mammogram as I’m too young. I’m 30. So only having ultra sound. Went back and waited another hour in the waiting room. Had ultra sound. Lasted about 4 minutes.
Back to waiting room for another 20 mins. Get called in by doctor again. He says ultrasound doesn’t show anything at all so nothing to worry about and go home! Told him I was not happy and I wanted an explanation as to why I’m in so much pain and what are the lumps? He said they might be cysts and they might be pressing on a nerve. MIGHT be! He has no clue. Told me to just keep taking painkillers!
And that’s it. My breast clinic journey.
Im so angry and upset right now. Yes it’s great that they didn’t see any cancer but not great that I got no answers. He doesn’t know what’s wrong or why I’m in pain and he is not willing to find out. He just said if the lumps get bigger then go back but he will not be requesting a follow up at all.
Please can someone tell me they had this same problem and all was good, or they ended up having cancer. My husband is furious with the way I was treated and the fact that I’m supposed to just take painkillers for ever.
I am so sorry to hear of your experience today and you are probably completely right to be furious.
I think you need to se your gp and tell him what happened and see if he can sort this out.
Also, my lumps didn’t show up on mammogram as I have dense breast tissue. As uou are young, maybe you have too.They did show in scan though.
Sorry I can’t be of any help but my advice is gp as to where you go from here.
Good luckx
Hi Sinfullyd. Sorry you have had such a bad experience at clinic. I don’t want to worry you but I think you do need to go back to your GP and insist that you are seen by someone else at the clinic. I went to breast clinic with pain and a lump and was told it was just calcification and nothing to worry about. Two years later the lump and pain was still there and I mentioned it to a different GP, who I had gone to see over a different matter, ( it had taken me a year to get the GP to refer me in the first place as they insisted there was no lump there) who referred me to breast clinic again. At clinic they did a biopsy on the lump that they said wasn’t there in the first place. A few weeks later I had a WLE - my cancer turned out to be a rare one which only required radiiotherapy. I am a year on from this now and feeling fine. Please go back to your GP so you can get it sorted out - hopefully it won’t be breast cancer but it needs sorting out even if it is something pressing on a nerve. Don’t leave it two years like I did - worrying but not wanting to bother the doctor.
Good luck , from Heather x
thank you Rara. Yes apparently I have dense breast and VERY lumpy breasts lol. Doc was not happy about that as it made his job harder!
I would see your GP, may it be muscle related as to have pain in so many places is not usual??? Sorry cant be of any help really but at least you got the all clear from the breast clinic that must be a relief xx
Jill
Hi heather. Thank you for being honest. I know someone who was similar to you. She had lump, went to doc who said cyst. 2 months later she was diagnosed with IBC. So I know the docs get it wrong.
Hi tolliebelle. I think the pain is just in my breast but when I don’t take painkillers is gets so bad it radiates outwards. When I keep on top of the painkillers it doesn’t hurt anywhere else except the breast in question and mainly just around where the lump is. Thank you for your input tho. It is best to cover all angles. The doc said that if it is a cyst then it could be pressing on a nerve which is why I am in pain. But he can’t be sure.
Hi there. Sorry to read of you bad experience. I would agree with others and go back to your GP. Maybe if it is cysts you have an infection so may need anti biotics and stronger paonkillers. All I would say is the BS know what their looking at so be assured that it isn’t anything suspect. Go to the gp and tell him about your experience. Good Luck x
Hi Melrose thank you for you message. I will be heading back to the GP on Wednesday as I would like some answers. The GP and breast clinic have never mentioned an infection but it is certainly a possibility. I don’t think the GP will have the clinic notes on Wednesday but its the only day I have off work this week so I have no choice.
Ultra sound Moore reliable than mammogram so rejoice you have cysts, nothing to worry about!
Hi carrie, I would be more than happy if I knew I had cysts but the fact is the doctor didn’t know! They didn’t show up on the ultrasound at all so all the doc could say was I Think they are cysts. As they didn’t show up on ultrasound he can’t say for certain.
Hi again Sinfullyd - I thought I’d pop onto the site to see how you got on today. I’m sorry things haven’t gone as you would have liked. I can understand how frustrated you are. It’s not reassuring when you’re still in pain but don’t have a definite answer as to why and how to stop it. Worrying about it is not good for you either so I do think, as others have said, that you should discuss it again with your GP. And yes, young women do have denser breasts so mammograms are not so helpful. I won’t go into my situation right now but I do think you need to know what the lumps are and what is causing the pain - if only to put your mind at rest.
Best of luck. Let us know how you get on. It sounds like you have a supportive husband too, which is good.
X
Even if they’re benign cysts the doctor should remove them if you’re in pain surely?
Rejoice they didn’t find anything.I have lumpy breasts and tissue like you.I know you are concerned but be thankful surgeon knows what he is looking for.
Had my appointment today and I’ve got to say all the staff were brilliant. From the consultant through to the nurse who held my hand when I had my cysts, yay cysts!, drained. There’s still lumps left but the sonographer is an expert so I can trust he’s got it right. Relieved. I was in pain and have still got pain in neck and arm. I can now put this down to trapped nerve / muscle spasms etc . Perhaps it’s the same for you? If you are still unhappy ithen I think your GP is the best port of call. I am so happy to have such good news. Thank you everyone for your support. I know i am very lucky x
Hi, I’m no expert but it does sound like you have a cyst pressing on a nerve. Before I got BC in the right breast I had 15 cysts over 30 years in the left one so I know how painful they can be. If it helps, my BCN told me that cancer rarely causes pain, that’s usually a symptom of cysts and they are easily drained under ultrasound giving instant pain relief.
Good luck
X Yvonne