Hi All
Just want to send a warning out to as many as possible. If you have a lump and it’s painful, please don’t ignore it. My GP at the time told me if a lump hurts then it’s nothing to worry about. A few years later I had a painful lump and did nothing about it, I had recently changed GPs & went for a routine mammogram which picked it up. It was breast cancer & I was very lucky as it was grade 3. I had a mastectomy followed by chemo & am now on hormone treatment. So ladies, if you have a painful lump, please don’t dismiss it as harmless, get it checked out. Best wishes to you all. xx
Just bumping this up laraine as I think you have a valid point. Any lumps should be investigated! When will these doctors realise this! “painfull” means different things to many people. There is a huge variation in people’s pain perception.
The lump is the defining factor and anyone who detects one should push to have it investigated…can be difficult, I know, if up against a strong medical voice…just have the coursge of your convictions1
lee x
I agree completely. ANY change merits a visit to a GP.
I was only diagnosed on Monday.
In the new year I felt a strange ‘itching’ sensation under my nipple, this was not constant… I then felt a pain under my nipple.
Invasive ductal Stage 2, 25mm.
I feel like screaming it from the roof tops.
I had no “real” lump just an area of tightness, but GP referred me anyhow and so glad she did. Two tumours each 2cm, invasive lobular. One never even showed on the mammogram.
Diagnosed 28th Jan. Mastectomy 15thFeb. It’s just whirling in my head!!
Totally agree i have always experienced pain with the breast lumps i have had and still have, so it is a total myth that bc lumps don’t hurt. I always say to people who have asked advice anychange to the breast or nipple at all get it checked out, better to be safe than sorry.
Love reneex
Hi My “lump” Was very painful, this was a grade 3 very aggresive tumour, everyone including my friends said it´s not cancerous as tumours don´t hurt! Please Nobody listen to “friends” advice go and get all checks done …
Luv Teresa xxx
Hello
ditto from me - lump was painful and it was grade 3.
Had lovely conversation with my GP last week who asked a lot of questions like that and I told her about the younger women thing. She said she would share that with other GPs. Felt that was very enlightened, but I know a lot of younger women have been dismissed at early stages and then gone on to have more extensive disease. How heartbreaking is that?
I’ve asked a couple of times if BCC would consider an awareness raising programme for GPs - not one of the younger women myself, but their stories are just so dreadful that I would like to see something change.
monica xx
I had a painful lump that I was told would be nothing as I was young (35!) & have no family history!
Was passed from pillar to post a fair bit as they were convinced it was a heamatoma, but eventually done a biopsy & it came back as Grade 3 Triple Negative & had by that time spread to 17/30 nodes.
At one appointment prior to my biopsy, I even pointed out a second painful lump under my arm & was told ‘That’s just a lymph node’!!!
I wish I’d pushed things sooner, but then you trust the experts don’t you?
Hazel x
Hey girls
You have the same story as me!!
I am 34 ( 33 when diagnosed in July 09) and was told there was nothing wrong even though my lump hurt alot. That was a good sign apparently!! I was also a grade 3,triple negative. I think I caught it in time as it didn’t spread to my nodes though i still had them out to.
I am going to complain because If i had gone with the 1st Dr’s opinion ( it’s fiberous tissue nowt to worry about so come back in a few months if there any changes) then maybe I wouldn’t be here in a few years!!
I only trust the specialists…my opinion of GP’s has become bad.
Rosie Jo
I agree - GPs need to have their knowledge raised. I too was lulled into a false sense of security by having painful breasts, though oddly enough the solid lump I had was not painful. The only way to be sure is to have biopsies of the cells
Mole
I find this situation so disturbing. Some GPs don’t seem to know about painful breast lumps, mine didn’t know about armpit swelling, armpit thickening or armpit lumps yet it seems impossible to get anyone to take on the challenge that GPs need better training. GPs can make horrendous mistakes yet our voices appear to be getting ignored. As a four year misdiagnosed breast cancer lady, I’ve approached almost all Breast Cancer Charities in the hope that this matter might be addressed but so far I have failed. I’m actively pursuing my 4 year misdiagnosis through the law (don’t waste your time with the Ombudsman or the GMC) and it may be that I will be in a stronger position once this has reached a conclusion. I will add painful breast lumps to my list for attention as I have not expressed this as a area of concern in my campaign work. It’s easy to say we should seek help if we recognise something that is not normal for us, but it’s the GPs as gatekeepers that have the power to refer us for specialist examination or refuse to refer. With incompetent GPs around I have to ask if it is not time for us to campaign for universal self-referral? Interesting… I’m feeling particularly sore about misdiagnoisis tonight as I have just read that teacup has passed away.
I will fight on.
Take care.
Jeannie
Hi All,
I have seconadary cancer now but i have a tumour in my recon and they are justleaving it there as a marker, so they say anyway, but i can tell you at times, at the moment in fact it is hurting like hell and i have a lot of pain around the sideof my recon at my back and onc said prob diseased but it just hasnt shown yet and he hopes when i start my chemo which is tomorrow it will help a lot with the pain.
i hope so too but it is just such nonsense that breast tumours don’t hurt, cause as most of us know they do. Sometimes you think your gp thinks you are making it all up. I WISH!.
lOTS OF lOVE
Hope U R All Well As Can Be.
Reneexx
I would just like to endorse what has been said about raising GP’s awareness. Here in Germany women go to gynacologists with their own practice outside hospitals as the initial contact for gynacological health issues. My wife’s (previous) gynacologist told her she was too young to get breast cancer because she was below 40! I don’t think it is too much to ask that medical professionals are at least as well informed about breast cancer as the readers of Hello! magazine…
Dear CharlieRay15
Thank you for supporting GP awareness.
It appears to me that women who have had friends or family with breast cancer (like I had) and women who keep up-to-date with reading material (magazines, breast cancer awareness leaflets,etc) are probably more “breast aware” than many GPs. At the time of my misdiagnosis I was living in the Central Highlands of Scotland and my GPs have admitted that they don’t see a lot of breast cancer. I question why a GP practice should refuse further specialist investigation to any patient who appears to be genuinely concerned and aware of changes that are not normal for her. I make it my interest to hear from other women who have been misdiagnosed. I find myself getting increasingly concerned for younger women who are being “fobbed off” being told they are too young to get breast cancer. Much needs to be done in the way of GP awareness and the recognition that breast cancer is the most common cancer in women under age 50. It is my opinion that much needs to be done with regards to GP education and awareness to give our country better survival rates.
Wishing you well.
Best regards.
Jeannie
Hi, just wanted to add my experience to this… i went to see GP in september 09, had a small painful lump, was told by GP that it was JUST a harmless cyst… would disappear on its own…nothing to worry about, within 8weeks it became larger so went back to gp surgery, was referred to breast clinic… had 40mm tumour, grade 3… there in followed a mastectomy, im due to start chemotherapy on 2nd march. im 41 and there is no family history, oh and just another point…the first GP i saw actually said she’d just done a course on checking for breast cancers…so i thought i was in safe hands!!!
Best wishes
Tracey xx
A friend i met in hospital was only37when dx 10mnths to late in my opinion, by the time she was dx cancer had got so big it had already went to her liver she is 39now and it is in her bones and her liver now. It is high time medics listen to people when they go to see them, people know their own bodies and gp’s and such should always err on the safe side.
reneexx
It was my experience all the way down the line that GPs need to be more informed. The one I saw throughout my treatment knew nothing about Herceptin, yet at the time of my diagnosis it had been in the news frequently as the high profile court cases were going on before it was made available to women with early stage BC. The same GP also refused to let my Oncologist have permission to send me for counselling because as he put it “you have had all the treatment, you don’t need a psychologist, you just need to get on with your life again”. My onc overruled him.
I now see a woman GP in the practice who just happens to be his wife (personally I don’t think this should be allowed, spouses in the same surgery). She is no more clued up and has recommended stuff that the Oncologists said I should steer clear of. When I mentioned certain things were a no-no, she just blankly looked at me and said “oh, did your oncologist say that then?” She claims to be really hot on female health issues!
My local Maggies told me they get a steady stream of patients telling them they don’t think their GPs are very clued up on cancer and I think this needs to be acted on.
However, the one thing I am thankful for is that I was referred quickly for a ammo and the local breast clinic. I was given a mammo within 10 days.
Hello
I couldn’t agree more that GPs need to be more aware - I feel very lucky that mine engages in a dialogue and asks questions etc, and also that I’ve been referred on quickly both times, but I find it so concerning that people are sent away because they are too young.
As a starting point, awareness raising would be a relatively straightford exercise, if anyone dared tell the GPs they have something to learn! I know all GPs aren’t arrogant and many can accept that patients might just know their own bodies, but there still seems to be that old culture of ‘doctor knows best’ which patently isn’t always true.
there must be a way that this can be taken forward…maybe via PCTs, but it needs the clout of an organisation.
I’d be interested in getting involved in anything related
best wishes, monica xx
Hello Ladies
I am not surprised at the fustration and anger I am feeling from all the posts. It is as though they all read from the same text book, one that is seriously out of date!
Young women are informed by fashion mags on how to look for symptoms, making them more aware and when they do go to the GP’s they are by on large sent away.
I don’t know how we can change this ladies, all I know is that I am on a mission…I find myself telling women on bus stops, train stations, you name it…Anywhere I am making conversation with another woman, I drop in my situation and tell them to believe in themselves and not to give up if they feel something is wrong with their bodies, it may not be as serious as cancer but I illiterate the importance of getting opinion after opinion until they are satisfied. So many are shocked to see how young I am yet i know there is younger ( and older) who need not be afraid of using up a Dr’s time…it’s our right!! I remind them that the saying ‘Cancer doesn’t hurt’ is a myth, as we all know.
Word of mouth is a very powerful thing not to be underestimated and I hope by speaking to people they will speak to their friends and the message gets about that way…I live in hope.
Sorry I feel like I am proper ranting!!
I hope you are all keeping well?
Hugs Row xx
Hi Rosie Jo
Just wanted to say I do exactly the same as you. I also try to get the message out that it’s not just women over age 50 that get breast cancer. Whilst 80% of breast cancer occurs in the over 50s, it seems to me, and by my experience, to be the 20% under age 50 that often have a difficult time in getting a referral to a breast specialist. I now know numerous young women who were told by their GPs that they were too young to get BC. Mine even said it was rare in women under age 50 and through my ignorance I believed her. We must spread the word. I also live in hope.
Take care.
Jeannie