breast thickening

[chicita]

Good luck for tomorrow. Hopefully you'll get to see a breast care nurse (BCN) as well as a doctor at your hospital appointment and she'll be able to tell you everything you need to know to reassure you. Chances are you'll be seen at a "one stop" clinic as your appointment was a fast one (under 2 weeks). These clinics do all your tests in one day. You will probably be examined by a consultant and then sent for a mammogram and possibly an ultrasound as well. If you haven't had these done before they are nothing to worry about. The mammogram may be a bit uncomfortable but it doesn't take long. All the staff involved with breast care are usually very kind and considerate.
My first appointment at the hospital was at a one stop clinic, next day I had a biopsy under local anaesthetic which confirmed cancer. I had my surgery the following week and have now had 6 out of 8 doses of chemo (FEC). I've still got radiotherapy to follow later.
I've also had lots of experience of benign breast problems too, having had 15 breast cysts over the past 30 years. the good thing is that you went to see another GP and that he/she took you seriously.
The hardest part of all this is the waiting for test results but try not to worry too much. Poemsgalore is right, DO NOT GOOGLE. There are lots of websites out there with dodgy information and you will scare yourself unnecessarily.
Please come back and let us know how you get on. Everyone on these forums knows what you are going through and will give you lots of support. I personally don't know how I would have coped without them.
X Yvonne

[Maxie]

Wishing you all the best for tomorrow....my tip would be to take a notebook & write down what they tell you. Not sure what questions you would ask at this stage as hopefully your lump may not be anything serious. x

[Guest user]

can anyone tell me any questions i should ask please

[Guest user]

thankyou very much i am very nervous and sure i wont sleep, having to go alone is worse because i will have no-one to chat to ,i feel quite sick at the thought of it..ty again dawn

[maggiemay22]

I just want to wish you luck for tomorrow x

[QPR1111]

Hi, would just like to wish u all the best for tomorrow xx

[Guest user]

my partner has to work and cannot get time of so i will be going on my own ,,my friend is giving me a lift but her mother is ill so cannot wait with me,i will just find someone to annoy when i am there lol

[poemsgalore]

Haha, found you again. I had worked out that your don't really look like your profile pic...lol. I'm afraid I wouldn't like to speculate on whether your lump is the awful 'c' word, there are so many types of lumps, many benign, but of course we always have to be prepared for the worst. However, I think you can reassure your son that whatever you have, it can be treated successfully. More women with breast cancer (whoops, I said it, sorry) are cured and survive to a ripe old age.

Just to tell you my boring history. I found a lump in October 2012. Left it for several weeks before even telling my husband. When I did tell him, he sent me straight to the GP. I didn't really think it was anything serious (well you don't do you!) GP agreed with me that as it wasn't 'tethered' and moved around a bit, it was probably innocent. But she referred me to the Breast Clinic anyway. My appointment was one week after I'd seen my GP and I had the usual triple assessment: mammogram, ultra sound and biopsy. She took a few samples from my breast lump, and a few from a lymph node beneath my arm. One week later I was sitting in the doctor's office being told I had an invasive cancer.

It was ductal invasive, 100% ER positive and 70% PR positive, HER2 negative. I had a mastectomy on 12th December 2012 with a sentinal node biopsy at the same time. Outcome was that my tumour was 36mm (3cm) Grade 3 (most aggressive) and I found out later it was stage 2b with a vascular invasion and three lymphs were removed, one containing cancer cells.

I've had chemo, it was supposed to be Fec-T (3 cycles of Fec and 3 cycles of Taxotere) but the tax made me too ill, so my oncologist put me back on Fec. Started on 5th Feb, had last one on 23rd May. Now I'm waiting to start taking Anastrazole for five years. I did warn you it was boring.

When you find out what you are dealing with, you will begin to feel more in control as your treatment plan gets into place.
Good luck for Wednesday. If possible, please try to take someone with you for support, especially when you get your results as you might not take everything in. Someone else will hopefully remember all the things you missed or forgot.
Poemsgalore xx

[Guest user]

by the way i dont look like my pic its face warp hahaha

[Guest user]

thankyou so much for your reply the last 2 days have been awfull i dont even want to look at my breasts let alone touch them,my son has asked me will i die i was heartbroken to see his face when he asked me that he has even cried in the street.. I am one to normally ignore problems hoping they will go away but this time i knew i shouldnt i did go a while back and saw a different doctor who wasnt very pleasant there was something wrong then but he didnt examine me the same as the doctor did this time he was very rough and quite flippant so i saw another doctor after leaving it for months thinking it must be ok..he found quite alot of thickening and a lump between my aerola and the thickening i was actually pleased cos i was starting to think i was paranoid he said it was urgent i be seen asap ,I have done what you said looked on google but so many different things i thought i had every disease going loll gotta laugh...i know your not specialised in answering my question but you probably had the same of similar my left breast which is shrinking as we speak lol has a large area of thickening ,which i didnt mind a first cos i looked like i had some breast and this lump of 1cm i heard doc say on dictaphone,, are these the symtoms of that dreaded word because if i listened to google my breast would of melted away by now hahaha , again thankyou for your message,although it made me well up it kinda made me smile that someone else cares whats happening ,,ty dawn

[poemsgalore]

Hi Newdawn

I would welcome you to the site, but realise that you probably don't want to be here and wish you didn't need to be here. I'm glad your appointment has been changed to 19th, not as long to wait - and waiting is the worst part really.
After your appointment, you will probably have to wait about a week for the results, unless your clinic has the fast track system. I don't know where you live, but mostly referrals are much quicker than the 18 weeks you were quoted. My GP managed to get me in the week after my appointment with her, and results were one week after that. But even if you only have to wait a few days, it is still the worst time of all. We usually find that when we have our results and know what we are dealing with, and a treatment plan is in place, we begin to feel more in control.
i hope your lump proves to be a harmless one, and not cancer, but if it is, this is the best place to come for advice and information. PLEASE DO NOT GOOGLE!! I can't state that strongly enough, as much of what you will find is wrong, or out of date. Just stick to this site or the Macmillan site: http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinformation/Cancertypes/Breast/Breastcancer.aspx
this is the link the the breast cancer section of their website. I've pointed you to that bit because they deal with all cancers.
My heart went out to your son, he must be taking the news very hard. Hopefully you will soon be able to reassure him that even if you do have breast cancer, it can be treated successfully.

Sending big hugs and best wishes.

Poemsgalore xxx

[Guest user]

my appointment been changed to wednesday 19th june instead of friday 21st

[Guest user]

hi naz yes my youngest lad who is 17 keeps asking me things i cannot answer and i caught him sobbing bless him,i know he is worried but untill i have been to hospital there is nothing i can say and i am trying to keep as normal as is possible in the circumstances, what symptons have you had apart from the usual ones that send you to the docs in the first place,by the way the best of luck for th 21st my appointment is at 9.40 am i shall think of you

[Guest user]

Hello Dawn, How are you feeling? I can see your post
my name is naz, I am 27 years old.
I can understand what you are going through, I have a appointment at the breast clinic on the 21st June too, it hard trying not to think about it but I'm alway finding it difficult explaining to family.

[Guest user]

NOT SURE IF MY POST ACTUALLY WENT BECAUSE IT DOES'NT SHOW ON MY PROFILE,

[Guest user]

Hello all,my name is dawn i am 51 with 6 children i have recently been to doctors about my breasts as i felt things were not right my left breast seemed to be shrinking ..after examination i was told i have a lump just left of my nipple about 1cm and a large area of thickening breast tissue and i would need to be seen within 2 weeks ,i now have an appointment for 21st june ,on my letter is said it can take up to 18 weeks to be seen by a specialist after referral but if cancer suspected you will have an appontment within 2 weeks of referral this has confused me very much ,my doctor who was most kind and made me feel relaxed said it was important i get an appontment within the 2 weeks so now my children are asking me questions for which i have no answers ty for any help offered ...dawn