Evening all. Thank you for sharing your messages. This seems like a wonderful forum and I’m glad I found it.
I am a 44 yr old with three kids, 9, 14 and 16 yrs. I found a lump on my left breast 2 weeks ago and was seen for a mammogram, ultra sound and biopsy within a week (super impressive service albeit difficult to appreciate when I’m a bag of nerves). The first Dr said that it didn’t seem like anything, the mammogram didn’t show anything because I have one dense breast apparently, but the ultrasound showed the lump and they asked to do a biopsy straight away. When I went back in to see the Dr she apologised for not thinking it was anything. I said, don’t worry and anyway, it could still be nothing and hopefully it just a benign lump. She said maybe, but it looks quite worrying and when we call you back in for the results in a few weeks you should bring someone with you. Now my mind is in overdrive and I have pretty much convinced myself that not only is it cancer, but it will be the worse case scenario. I have been getting pains in that breast not exactly where the lump is but towards my armpit. I am worried that this means it is spreading. My rational self knows that I just have to wait and I that it could still be nothing and if something, maybe not as bad as I fear. My less rational self is googling everything and fearing the very worse.
It’s been a week since my biopsy and I really hope the 2-3 week turnaround for results is more like 2. Thank you for letting me share my anxiety. Wishing everyone well x
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Hi @jenhopeful
Hello and welcome
Its a very stressful and worrying time, when get sent to the clinic, and I’m sure the comments made by the doctor have made your worries worse. I’m no doctor, but I don’t think a week or two waiting will make any difference regarding growth or spread if it is cancer. Leaving it for several months could be another issue, hence they say act quickly - which you have.
I believe the 2 week wait for results is normal, because it can take 2 weeks for the testing to be performed. I went back after 2 weeks, to find out it was cancer, but they had no other details as the tests were not complete. And those 2 weeks were awful!
They can not say for sure if your lump is cancerous or not until they have the biopsy result, as some cyst and tumors look much alike on scans. But I expect their experience may give them an inclination.
To finish, and hopefully give you a positive view. Not all lumps are cancerous, and those that are can be treated extremely well. You will receive support from your medical team and people on this forum. Ask plenty of questions and remember you are not alone.
Best wishes for a good outcome x
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Thank you @sal1 for your reply. I really appreciate it. I had a call on Friday to ask me to go in on Weds for my biopsy results. Preparing for the worst and hoping for a nice benign lump x
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Hi @jenhopeful
I hope you are doing okay while still waiting, it really is the hardest part. I just wanted to provide some reassurance about the pains you are experiencing. Often this can be related to stress. Before surgery I had pains in my shoulder, neck and back and was convinced that must mean it was everywhere. The pains miraculously disappeared after surgery and my results as good as could be hoped for. I have also recently been recalled from my first mammogram and started experiencing tenderness in my left breast and ribs and once again feared the worst. Turned out what they wanted to look at again was on the right so shows how our minds can play tricks!
Not long now and we will all keep our fingers crossed for you. Whatever the outcome there are people here to support you. x
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Thanks you @southwest123 for taking the time to reply. I know you are right. I am being super self conscious of every twinge and ache and in reality I probably normally feel those things. Just crazy paranoid about them now. I am grateful that the wait has only been two weeks. I feel so bad for others who have to wait longer as two weeks has been tough. I feel almost resigned to it being bad news, so I will be so surprised if it is good. I guess that is better than expecting good news and being shocked by bad. When I went in for the scans I knew I had a lump but really was just expecting them to say it was a cyst. I was so surprised when they said it looked worrying and wanted to biopsy straight away, that I didn’t ask any questions. I have taken advice from this forum and written questions down for my results on Weds, just in case I need to ask them. Thanks again for replying and best of luck with everything x
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I had my biopsy results yesterday and it confirmed that I have breast cancer, IDC grade 2. They said to stop my hrt and have my coil removed so I think that must mean that it is hormone receptive, which I think is a good thing because it can be treated with hormones.? I will hopefully have an MRI in the next two weeks to check it is just one breast and also take a closer look at my lymph nodes. He said they looked swollen, but was quick to say that might be unrelated to the lump so I am trying to be positive. Both my boobs are dense apparently so they can’t see much on the mammograms. I was not shocked by the news. By the end of the two weeks waiting and sleepless nights I was preparing myself for the worst so having a treatable cancer didn’t seem so bad after all. They said surgery was likely to be in 4-6 weeks as they want to ensure they have the full picture with the MRI. I hope it all happens sooner than that but I will try and not let the waiting consume my every thought this time. At least with the surgery being a way off I don’t need to tell my children yet. My 16 yr old is in the middle of her GCSEs so I am glad it can wait until after they are finished.
In summary, bad news but there were positives about the effective treatments available and I am going to try and focus on that. Wishing everyone well x
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@jenhopeful I’m sorry that cancer has been confirmed, but your attitude is incredible and will definitely help you through this. x
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@jenhopeful I hope you are doing well, it looks like we have similar diagnosis. I go on Tuesday to meet the BC team and they’ve said I need a MRI, but I’ve not had any dates. Could you let me know how long you had to wait for your MRI and how it was? I’m dreading it… all the best. Xxx
Morning @amafoss65
I had my cancer confirmed on the weds and told I’d need an mri with dye to have a more thorough look. They said both breast were dense so I think that’s why I’m having the mri, but maybe they would have done it anyway? I then had a call the next day on Thurs asking me to attend on the Friday morning for mri - so that bit was super fast. On the weds appointment they told they expected to see me again with the mri results and treatment plan in 3-4 weeks. I had hoped that was an exaggeration but it will be 3 weeks this coming Weds and I still don’t have an appointment so it seems it will be closer to 4 weeks. That waiting time has been quite difficult. The mri was no issue from my perspective. The people were lovely and I felt very well looked after. They put a cannula in my arm before (which was no worse than giving blood) and during the mri they told me when they were putting the dye in, but I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. It is very noisy, but went quite fast. Mine was 45mins and was just my breasts. I kept my knickers on and had a hospital gown around most of me so didn’t feel exposed. Hope that helps and hope you find the mri procedure as easy as mine x
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@jenhopeful Thank you so much for responding. A 4 week wait does seem very long, positive thoughts and wishing you good news. I’m worried about the MRI as I’ve previously had a panic attack in the tubular MRI machine and couldn’t go through with it. I think the breast MRI is face down and hopefully you don’t feel so restricted? Can you see out of the face hole? I might ask for a sedative just to calm me down! Hopefully know more this week. All the best x
Yes it was face down with your boobs in a support type piece. I was looking down and because I was slightly elevated there was a gap between my face and the bed, I don’t tend to get claustrophobic or anything like that and appreciate someone else might feel confined in that situation, but I didn’t feel trapped or confined. They checked in with me regularly and said if I needed to stop to just sign with my fingers and they would be able to stop. Hopefully you will feel like it wasn’t as bad as you worry it will be. That’s how I felt anyway x
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