Hi everyone,
I still haven’t been able to get a doctors appointment to get my lump checked again. The only thing is I’m beginning to get second thoughts. I’ve already been to the breast clinic and had a mamogram and ultra sound and was given the all clear. The consultant told me that the lump is most likely normal breast tissue. A couple of months ago I went back to my GP as I now get a clear discharge from one spot, again given the all clear. Now I have found my lump has got bigger and I get pain and burning. I worry that my GP is going to think I’m paranoid.
Hi Sian
Dont worry about what your doctor thinks if you are not happy then go get it checked again.
Its your body remember
Good luck
P x
Be as paranoid as you like … better to get it checked than leave it.
Why havent you been able to get an appointment? Your GP must have emergency appointments available. Take one as to you, this is an emergency! Don’t be put off by the Mrs Ravens (do you remember her from My Hero?) they put on the desk. get an appointment today and stuff what your GP thinks.
Cathy
xx
If your surgey is like mine (hopeless) and only runs on the day appointments then it can be difficult to get an appointment - we basically have to phone at 8.30 and as they only have one line for appointments it is constantly engaged … if you manage to get through in the 1st 5 mins then you are in with a chance … if not you are stuffed and you have to wait til the next day.
However … if you have tried a couple of days in succession and have no joy then tell them that you MUST see a doctor asap … most surgeries now have a triage on on duty doctor. …if all else fails tell them that you either get an appointment to go in or you will have a house call… that usually gets them to fit you in!
Or do what I did. I wasn’t happy with what my GP had said and as there is only one doctor in the practise I went to the out of surgery service (emdocs). It was them who agreed I had a lump.
Thasnks for that. Apparently there are only 3 doctors in for some reason or another and I have been trying to get past the receptionist who still after me telling her over 15 times pronounces my name wrong. Our surgery operates on day appointments as well so I will have to try again tomorrow. I’ll let you know how I get on.
Sian X
Sian,
why don’t you bypass your GP and phone your consultants secretary directly and ask for an appointment - I have done this on a few occasions and it’s always worked.
Sian ring up the out of service doctor, and lay it on a bit. It’s terrible that you have to do that, but you will get seen tonight after the surgery has closed. As I said my doctor had said there was nothing there and when I went down the next time she refused to look as she thought I was being paranoid. I had no choice but to go to the emergency doctors to get a second opinion, and I am glad I did because I expected after my own doctor saying it was nothing, the would say the same, but can you imagine my shock and then horror when the doctor I saw said yes you are correct there is something there and it needs looked at. So the morale of the story is It’s worth going that extra inch sometimes, bad really when all you want is to get whats your right.
Sian, I agree with Angie, you have a change in symptoms and she should give you an appointment. Tell her your situation too. Let us know how you get on.
Yvonne xx
Sian, it is not the receptionist’s business to block you from your doctor. If necessary say it is an emergency. GP surgeries always have emergency slots. Don’t allow the receptionists to bully you.
I had an experience of going to the clinic and the lump having resolved by then, and afterwards returning with a sore lump to find out it was an abscess (which is being a right nuisance to clear!) In retrospect I wish I’d been pushier about getting things seen to earlier. So just go - at the end of the day even if you feel a bit foolish, is it your body and you have every reason to want to check whether there is something wrong.
Another trick I’ve used in the past is if there are no appointments left ask to see the practice nurse … usually if they find something that they consider needs checked by a doctor then they get you seen immediately.
It’s hellish that we have to adopt such tactics just to see a doctor.
I insisted on gettting an appointment to day and managed to get one for 9.20 this morning. The doctor checked me again and think that the nipple on that side looks a little flat and she could definately feel a lump thats tailing off and also she says that that breast is very lump unlike my other breast. So after all this she is going to refer me to the breast clinic again and she also said she would put a note in about having a fine needle bio.
So thanks to all of you that kept nagging me to go back to the doctor as I really think that if I hadn’t put a post on this site I wouldn’t have bothered going back and just sat at home slowly sending myself mad checking it every 5 mins. Just that wait now for the appoinment!!!
Sian X
Hi Sian
I am so glad you managed to get an appointment. I know you now have the wait for the clinic to endure but at least everythings going in the right direction for you. I think most everyone will agree that its the uncertaintly and guessing that eats away at you and drives you mad. Once a diagnosis has been made, the relief that you will feel knowing what has been wrong is amazing and you can look forward to whatever needs to be done.
Good luck for your apointment and stop feeling at the lump - the more you prod it the bigger you will imagine it has grown, believe me!!!
Cathyxx
Hi Sian
I am so pleased you got that checked out again. Try not to keep prodding it yourself.
Hope you get appointment for breast clinic soon so at least you can put your mind to rest. You should have a biopsy as standard, surely.!!! I had a mamogram, ultrasound and FNA. They came back as benign but the consultant said he wasn’t sure what it was so then I had core biopsy. That came back as pretty much benign/inconclusive so they decided that lump should be removed. Good job too as it was cancer grade 3. I am not trying to scare you just trying to say how all these tests are important. Just my experiemce.!!
Good luck and keep us posted
P x
So glad you managed to get an appointment today. That’s the 1st hurdle out of the way. Now we just have to hope that your appointment for the clinic is not too long in coming through. It’s good that the GP is also insisting on an FNA too. My GP and consultant both said most likely a cyst on examination but no fluid on FNA so got sent off for mammogram and ultrasound - this clearly showed breast cancer yet core biopsy came back benign. In my case the tumour was grade 1 er + and apparently the lower grade tumour cells don’t look too abnormal which is why we got a benign result from the biopsy. Again not saying this to scare you but it’s good that my consultant took more notice of the mammogram and ultra sound reults than the biopsy.
Good luck with the clinic.
Hi Sian,
Let us know what happens.
Good luck.
Best wishes,
Sue