Hi all - I’m new to all this and wondering how everyone else copes!
After suddenly finding a big painful mass i thought it must be another joy of menopause, but it didn’t go away or change, so I went to my gp who then referred me to the breast clinic.
I wasn’t feeling that bad about it until the thought of the hospital appointment started to trigger anxiety as I hate hospitals/needles. Then the triple check itself was awful - much worse than I’d imagined All three were painful and the waiting room in between was busy, noisy and hot. No-one seemed to know what my lump was as my very dense breast tissue meant that they couldnt see much anyway - and during the ultrasound i just felt like a piece of meat - they gave me no feedback at all. I was then told I needed a core biopsy and by that time was a bit of a mess and hyper-allert and with a bad needle phobia and so the loud click made me jump and I had searing pain
Now I’m ridiculously anxious about going back, and would much rather know via a letter rather than at my hospital appointment on June 4th!
Has anyone else felt this traumatised?! I feel like a real flake and havent been able to work for ages because of the stress of it all
So sorry you’ve had to endure the core needle biopsy experience. It really is pretty brutal!
I didn’t expect to need the biopsy when I went in with what I thought was a cyst back in November and I did cry when they told me that’s what they were going to do. The radiologist and nurses were amazing though, talking me through it first and demonstrating the click beforehand so it didn’t come as too much of a shock. It felt like it went on forever and I was in pain and very bruised and swollen for a long time afterwards.
I had to repeat the process again when the cancer returned in the same place a few months after surgery and the procedure itself was worse this time although the staff were great again and the pain and healing resolved themselves a lot more quickly.
And I’ve recently had another biopsy on the other breast, which was nowhere near as bad the other two, probably because it was on the lower breast whereas the others were on the upper outer quadrant. They did want to repeat this biopsy a week later to double check the results, but the radiologist has let me off for a couple of weeks due to the area being so bruised and swollen.
You are not most certainly not a flake and taking time for yourself is something I’d always recommend to anyone going through this as I know first hand what trying to be strong when you feel anything but can result in. Also I’ve found seeking support as you’ve done by writing here is one of the most valuable things you can do during this experience.
I hope you recover quickly and I wish you all the best for your results. x
Im so sorry you are going through this. I have seen at my hospital you can ask for a chaperone to go in a nurse. I think the cluck is louder cause its nears to your ear. They showed me what it does. The bit I didn’t like was the mammogram but the only thing that was going through my head is they are making sure they have correct location and information to provide you with the best treatment. It is hard, frightening but I dont think we really know how strong we are until we have to go through this horrible time in our life. Big hugs xxx
Mssteel oh thats sounds like you’ve been having a terrible experience
It must be incredibly difficult to think about anything else with all of that going on. I wonder whether the amount of stress the diagnosis/treatment causes makes the disease worse!
They didn’t warn me about the noise and because I had so much adrenalin pumping it sounded like a gun shot
They’re wanting to do a contrast mammogram on Monday but they’re not coming near me with the boob crusher again until I feel more healed!
I had no idea just the tests would be so traumatic
Thanks for replying - it helps to know you’re not alone
That does sound horrible. I had to return the next day for my core biopsy (on my birthday) as I had a mid afternoon appointment, clinic was running late and the radiographer who did those had gone home by the time they realised I needed one. Bizarrely that’s been the most traumatic part of my journey so far as I expected my surgery to hurt and planned for it. I took arnica for my bruising and I think it helped.
Waiting rooms are horrid to but face to face is often needed so you can ask questions. Some of my letters have been shockingly poor in detail.Take a book, music or a friend to get you through it. Like to wear an aromatherapy roll on so I can’t smell the hospital so much. Also make sure you tell people about the needle thing as they will do their best to help.
Reach out to your breast care nurse team for support, it’s what they’re there for. There’s also helplines you can ring here and at Macmillan.
I thought I’d look up about other people’s experiences of the biopsies and it seems like a lot of women find them horrendous! Do they just tell you that you shouldn’t feel anything so you go ahead with it?! I’m now being given some diazepam from my gp for any future tests - I wish I’d known sooner how tough that initial afternoon would be.
That’s particularly rough having it on your birthday I was initially meant to be seeing a male consultant on my partners birthday so I bumped it and asked for a female surgeon and now I’m really glad I did
All three were painful and the waiting room in between was busy, noisy and hot. No-one seemed to know what my lump was as my very dense breast tissue meant that they couldnt see much anyway - and during the ultrasound i just felt like a piece of meat - they gave me no feedback at all. I was then told I needed a core biopsy and by that time was a bit of a mess and hyper-allert and with a bad needle phobia and so the loud click made me jump and I had searing pain 
