hi ladies…just joined today…i am 30 years old and in march i found a lump in my right breast…i kept putting off going to the doctors,silly i know but i was so scared…i plucked up the courage and went to my gp a fortnight ago and she had a little feel with my bra still on so i don’t really think she felt what i had…she said she would refer me to the breast clinic antway as i was concerned and i would get a letter…over last 4-5 days i have been feeling really off colour and sore and the lump is a lot bigger since my first visit to the gp…i went back to the surgery yesterday and saw a different doctor who got the nurse to examine me but she wasn’t happy and got the doctor to examine also…at first the doctor said he wouldn’t call to see if i had been allocated an appointment yet as they wouldn’t tell him!!..but after examination he was going to get the receptionist to call the clinic first thing this morning…the result of which is i am on the waiting list and i am going to have to wait 11 weeks to be seen at the clinic…the doctor will be given this info at the end of morning surgery and if he feels it necessary then he will re-refer me to get a sooner appointment…i feel like i’m gettin nowhere and feelin worse every day…
Hi Scotlass
Welcome to the forums. This is a very worrying time for you but you have come to the right place for support and advice from our many users.
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June, moderator
scotlass I can’t believe you have to wait 11 weeks - that is atrocious. I hope your GP is able to get you a quicker appointment - if not, is being seen privately an option for you?
Hi Scotlass
Sorry you have found yourself in this worrying situation.11 weeks does seem a very long time. I do hope you can be seen earlier to put your mind at rest. Did he give you any reason why they are not worried enough to make an earlier appointment. If not I would keep pushing if I were you.
Take care debx
hi finty and deb…thanks for your messages…yeah 11 weeks, i think i will have gone stir crazy by then.!!!..i have just called my surgery to see if the doctor had made a decision on a re-referral and have been told he is on a half day so didn’t have time to look at it today!!!..they have left a message for him to get in the morning but it really just feels like they are pushing me to one side…the initial referral i feel was based on a pretty much non exsistant examination by the original gp i saw a fortnight ago…he didn’t call them yesterday as it was 4.50pm and in his words ‘‘they probably wouldn’t answer the phone this late in the day’’…i know they have other patients to deal with but i am in such a horrible frame of mind at the moment,i just want a straight answer…
i’m not sure about going private as i am on my own with three young children and i don’t think i could afford it,haven’t looked into it yet but if i keep getting this kind of response from my own surgery then i may have to consider that option…i don’t know what else i can do…xx
Hi Scotlass,
11 weeks is a non urgent appointment. If you are feeling ill and the lump has grown you should have an urgent appointment. Is there a breastcare walk-in centre in your area? Or, are you brave enough to go back to your GP and ask for an urgent appointment and, ask if it could possibly be an infection as you are feeling so ill or, have you thought of phoning the breast care nurses at the hospital where your appointment is?
Just some ideas you can think about.
E
hi emmbee…i don’t know about a walk in centre…i have been back to the doctor about a sooner appointment and he will hopefully get on it tomorrow morning and get me a sooner appointment… but if i once again don’t get anywhere with them then i am going to phone through to the breast clinic myself and explain my situation…i am hoping that after him examining me properly yesterday that he will do it for me but if not then i will…the doctor did give me a prescription for antibiotics yesterday just in case i have an infection and i have started taking them…i’m giving my gp surgery this last chance to help me and if no positive action by them tomorrow then i’m going it alone:(:(…
as far as i am aware, all breast lumps have now got to be investigated within 2 weeks by an expert, ie, your breast clinic. When i phoned my gp and told them i had a breast lump, they saw me that same day and got me in to the breast clinic at the next clinc day a week later. The guidelines are there so that doctors can refer patients and not be shouted at by breast clinics for sending all and sundry, because they are obliged to send them if they have a lump. You are right to keep on their case and i think phoning the clinic direct to speak to a breast care nurse is a very good idea. Also i would search the internet for back up to the 2 week guidance, i think it may be NICE guidelines so start there. Consider writing your concerns down for the doctor as they hate having written documentation cataloguing their errors so are more likely to taske you seriously. Good luck, and remember most breast lumps are not cancer, but better safe than sorry
xxx
ps just clicked you may live in scotland? am not sure what the guidelines are there, hopefully someone could help you, or your research may help?
hi tors…thanks for the info…i am looking into those guidelines now and it seems the 2 week referral is for england and wales…trust me to live north of the border!!!.i will keep looking though…i am hoping to get things sped up tomorrow either by my gp or by myself…writing everything down does seem like a good idea…
yeah i know most lumps are not cancer but can’t believe they want me to wait 11 weeks to find out either way!!..i’m not one to back down though so i will keep at it…thankyou…xXx
scotlass im also north of the border and its no where near 11 weeks maybe about 4 would be the maximum.
have found the stats from the scottish government for 2008(most up to date)… almost 99% of patients were seen and started treatment within the 62 day standard
scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/08/CanWaitTimeQ12009/Q/forceupdate/on/Page/2
check that your referral has been sent as an urgent referral and you can remind them of the 62 day standards set out by the SG.
Lx
hi lulu34…i have looked at those stats and it does seem 11 weeks is a bit out of it!!!..
i am waiting again to see if my gp is going to do an urgent referral today,i went back to the surgery this morning to find out if he had done it and after not looking at it yesterday because he was on a half day,it once again wasn’t done this morning because he was out on house calls…i phoned the breast clinic myself today and they said that it has to be an urgent referral from the gp…i will call again this afternoon to try and get an update…i have spoken to the breast care nurse at the clinic today and she has gone over how i am young and it’s probably nothing to worry about,…think i might be on to my third doctor tomorrow if i don’t get anywhere today!!!..
the doctor has now re-referred me as urgent based on his examination on monday…hopefully not too long now…xXx
Scotlass Wishing you all the best for Monday and hope its a good outcome. Will be thinking of you then, please let us all know how you get on. Joyce.xx
Hope you won’t be long till you are seen scotlas, i am from scotland too and my gp told me an urgent referral would be within 2 wks, he said this is the scottish guidlines, so i hope you are seen quickly as the waiting is the worst part, i know it is easier said than done as i was 30 when i was first dx but have to admit i didn’t think for a minute it was cancer, always remember 9 out of 10 cases are cyst or benign lumps, i will keep my fingers crosses for you that it is something simple.
Good Luck and fingers crossed for you
Reneexx
just wondering how you got on scotlass?
thinking of you
Lxx
hi everyone…just phoned the clinic this morning as hadn’t recieved a letter yet and my urgent referral from my gp has been downgraded to routine by the consultant at the clinic…oh well 8 more weeks of worrying to go!!!..xxx
Hi,
This is now getting silly. Have you been on to your doc again? At this point I would be presenting myself at the clinic and refusing to go until I was seen.
Is the pain any better?
Do you have a Primary Care Trust in Scotland? Perhaps a call to them would be helpful.
Maybe you should call the BCC helpline 08088006000
E
hey emm,thanks for your message
i’m not sure about the primary care trust,but if the consultant doesn’t think i need to be seen sooner based on the gp’s examination then i don’t see what else i can do…the clinic said the have sent a letter to my gp but i have yet to hear from them so i’m glad i phoned today…the ill off colour feelings that i had started to fade once i confided in my sister and my gran so i think they were all coming from being so anxious and worked up,still occasionally getting a tight feeling in my chest…the lump is still the same as when the doctor examined me 10 days ago…
i think i just have to accept that i have to wait and hope it’s nothing that is going to be worse by the time i get seen…
xXx
still pretty pants hey… if you notice any further changes in the coming weeks go back to your gp eg if you get skin dimpling or tethering, nipple or skin changes, discharge or bleeding or notice any more lumps go straight back.
hope you dont really have to wait 8 weeks.
Lx