I have a lump, quite a small one, on the right hand side of my right breast. I mentioned this when I went for a routine cervical smear test recently and the nurse then referred me to my GP who then referred me to the hospital. Such an inconvenience, I thought.
I had attended breast clinic back in July 2008 for a small lump below the same breast and had had a mammogram and an ultrasound. At this time, they told me the same day that this was nothing to worry about and was given the all clear.
Was expecting this appointment to be the same and put it down to hormones etc (I am only a B cup and the lump was more noticeable before my period). I was shocked when I was told I had to have a core biopsy as well as another mammogram and ultrasound.
Went back for the results last Tuesday after trying all week to be really positive. I was told that the samples they took did not show any BC but that they were inconclusive as my lump is in an awkward position and they didn’t think they had got the right samples. I then had a decision whether to have another biopsy or have a surgical excision but the main consultant then saw me and suggested that she book me in for an excision (scheduled for this Friday) but in the meantime she would do another core biopsy of which I get the results tomorrow.
The waiting this time has been awful. What is compounding this is that we have a holiday booked on 28 March to South Africa which we had been planning and looking forward to for ages. I just feel like I am in limbo at the moment and I keep trying to convince myself that the lump has gone down etc. At times it really looks like it has gone down but, at other times, I can find it straight away. So worried.
If I need the surgical excision I have asked for this under local rather than general. Tomorrow can’t come quickly enough.
S x
very spooky ! I went to have my smear done in Jan and mentioned to nuurse about a sort of lump and my name is Sandra ! However, I do hope that is where the similarities end. I’ve been “lucky” in that caught it early and hadnt spread so just waiting to see oncologist to find out what’s next.
You are right, the waiting is without doubt the worst,in my case waiting for surgery was actually worse than surgery itself ! Or maybe I’m just a bit strange…lol. Just wanted to let you know that Ive got my fingers crossed for you and hope all is well and also that whatever the outcome or whatever your worries you have def come to the right place.It’s a mad club here that we don’t really want to be part of but it is a huge help support and comfort on all sorts of levels.Keep chatting and big hugs and luck for you.
Sandra x
Sandra, this is really a horrible time for you and I hope your biopsy shows that it’s not bc. Like Sandra said, the waiting is the pits!!
I had a two month delay between my diagnosis and my lumpectomy, because I had to have an mri and then another biopsy on a second suspicious area and, as my diagnosis was on 12 Dec, we had Christmas, new year etc… My bc is early and the tumour was only 15mm and hadn’t spread to the lymph nodes. As I had been waiting for a decision about what surgery I needed for about 6 weeks, my surgeon offered to do it for me four days later, but we had booked a short break in Cornwall and decided to go away and have surgery a couple of weeks later. It was definitely the best thing to do. We had a lovely 5 days and the change of scenery did us good. I came back refreshed and ready for the surgery.
I’m telling you this because if you want to go to South Africa before your operation (if you need it), I don’t think it will make any difference to your outcome. Obviously, you should take advice from your medical team, but I’m told that bc is generally slow growing and that by the time most people feel their lump it has been growing for about 5 years.
I hope all went well today.
Take care
Sal
Hi Sandra and Sal
Thank you so much for your kind thoughts. Couldn’t face posting a reply yesterday as I was so anxious about the results.
The top and bottom of it is that they couldn’t find any cancerous cells from my biopsy but they couldn’t find any normal cells either. They said this was very rare and it was a number of years since they had seen this in a patient. They are now going to remove the lump tomorrow under local aneasthetic and then test the lump to 100% rule it out.
They said that on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being normal breast tissue and 5 being cancerous) I was a number 3.
The analogy they used was that even if my lump was nasty, it will have been removed and it is better to remove it now than leave it when it could possibly grow into something nasty.
They have said that there will be no problem for me going on holiday next Saturday so hopefully after tomorrow I can start looking forward to it and planning for it.
I will post again after tomorrow to let you know how I have got on.
S xx
Hi Sandra ,glad you getting your lump “seen” to, better out than in as my granny used to say… My two needle biopsies were said to be inconclusive so that didnt really tell me anything at all, but they took a core biopsy too and they did say my lump looked highly suspicious and that was confirmed when got core results 48hrs later. The waiting for results is a nightmare,you can just keep busy and try to do other things,gosh my house had never been so clean ! Hope all goes well with you, let us know how you get on and we are always here if you need us. Big hugs.
Sandra x
Hi All,
Well, I had my lump taken out under local aneasthetic last Friday 20 March and all seemed to go OK. I was amazed how painless it was afterwards but the bruising is starting to come out good and proper now and, in fact, it seems to be coming out in different stages. I now have quite a painful bruise on the underside of my breast next to my ribcage, but I suppose this is so tender at the moment because I have hardly got any fat on my body to fill it out.
I am seeing my GP tonight just to get the all clear for South Africa on Saturday and, fingers crossed, I’m hoping that this will be OK. The wound itself is very clean and I have been very good and not taken the tape off since it was put on last Friday.
I get the final results when I come back after Easter but just panicking slightly before hols.
Love to all.
S xx
Hope all went well with your gp and you have got your suitcase packed !