So basically I’m 28. I’ve been on multiple medications my whole life trial and errored a lot of different medications for periods of time, some of these actually have evidence to suggest they can cause cancer.
I’ve never had any concerns about cancer, I currently smoke, however only began a year ago and even then I don’t smoke a lot. Im not of an age where breast cancer crossed my mind…
around Christmas time I noticed my boobs felt inflamed, swollen almost. I ignored it after extensive research and deciding it could be time of the month related (I don’t get a period because I’m on the coil). A few weeks passed and they still felt uncomfortable and swollen, my left more so. I was starting a new job so I just put it out of my mind, however I dreaded intimacy as they just felt so uncomfortable when touched.
after another month I tried to feel for lumps and bumps, I felt something in my left breast, I couldn’t put my finger on it, it just felt like it was bone, or attached to my chest wall. It didn’t move and it seemed to be fairly long and deep in depth. I wasn’t convinced and convinced myself it must just be bone, despite the fact my other breast didn’t feel the same or have the same bump.
me being silly put it off, just like I was putting off my smear (which I also have symptoms of having cervical cancer but that’s a whole other post!). Which lead me 8 months later to today, where I finally had a smear (a year late) and also booked a drs apt for my breast examination.
a practise nurse felt my breast and said she couldn’t feel any lumps, however when the dr felt, they confirmed that there was breast thickening, and that yes it felt different to the right breast. And that the thickening is quite deep in depth, likening it to a pebble, and quite long in length. But also confirmed it doesn’t feel like a traditional cancer “lump”, however upon a second feel suggested that there was a long deep thickening of tissue and then a possible secondary “lump” next to it. The dr told me they were going to do an urgent referral and said it’s likely I will need a biopsy where they remove tissue from the breast due to the scans possibly not being able to pick it up very well because of it’s placement. The doctor also stated it’s in the outer upper left quadrant (again red flag as this is an area commonly effected with breast cancer)
now, the rest of my boobs aren’t what would be referred to as lumpy boobs at all, so my concern is that it could be invasive lobular carcinoma which seems to fit the bill for what I’ve described and experienced so far.
my secondary concern is that I have had a UTI persistent for 3 years now - no stinging or urgency with needing to go, just a foul smell and a funny colour. I had this investigated numerous times got given antibiotic after antibiotic - it would clear it a week and then come back again so I just stopped bothering with the drs as it took so long to get an apt each time and then taking countless antibiotics and achieving nothing but a week free of UTI it wasn’t worth the hassle. I then developed bleeding after sex and pain during sex but decided this was probably down to the UTI and didn’t think about cervical cancer at all, anyway now I’ve got this breast cancer smear I’m now fearful the cancer began elsewhere and has spread to my breasts or I have 2 different cancers going on at once, which I don’t even know whether it’s possible but yeah that’s where my brains running to!
im aware that it’s probably nothing, but at the same time my instincts are telling me to prepare for the worst, my body feels like it’s telling me something isn’t right and I can’t shake the feeling and I know I’m probably being epically dramatic, but I have bad luck with health in general I seem to get things that barely effect people yet I end up in hospital with it on deaths door. I just don’t know how to feel I don’t feel like I can focus I just need this call back about my apt or letter or whatever it is they do so I know when I will know the answers… I just wanted to know how many of you had breast thickening as a main symptom of breast cancer and what did it turn out to be and if it was cancer what type was it?
freaking out… I know this post is … ALOT