waiting for results

just visited my hospital breast care unit, i had a mammograme 10 days ago on which they found a lump v small in my right breast, have worried since then cant eat, sleep etc and went back today to see dr. he couldnt feel anything but when i had an ultrasound, it showed a small lump deep down on the armpit side of my right breast. had 2 biopsis and she said they looked very worrying. went into see the dr and he had the breast care nurse there and said it was bad news. spent half an hour in tears with the bc nurse and have got to go back on friday for results. they have discussed treatment with me depending on the findings but i know i have to have lump removed in the first place. im sick with worry, im awaiting a colposcopy and last year was diagnosed with Af, the lump is 15mm in size, can anyone help? please

Hi pendragon,

Welcome to the BCC discussion forums, where I am sure your fellow forum users will be along soon to offer their support. In the meantime could I suggest you give our helpline team a ring, they’re here to support you too. Calls are free, 0808 800 6000 lines open Mon-Fri 9-5 and Sat 10-2.

Take care,

Jo, Facilitator

Hi pendragon

I was only diagnosed last week so I know how you’re feeling (I had a hysteroscopy the day after I got my bc diagnosis)

The waiting for results is awful.

Sending you hugs.

Maggie xx

Hi Pendragon and Maggie,
Ladies the waiting and anticpation is the worse thing in this journey. I have had my op and have had more bad news but I actually felt better after having the news than before I went in. Bit weird I know. You will go through a avriety of emotions. I am always a positive person and most of the time I still am but the way I know it has affected me is that I struggle to focus on anything for longer than a few minutes. I wish you all the luck in the world ladies and hope you get the results you want.

Hugs

Sam xxx

Thank you Sam x

Dear Pendragon and Maggie, Yes I totally agree with Sam - it’s the anticipation and not knowing that’s the worst. I still cannot believe I was only told about my BC just 5 days ago - mine 16mm ductal and lobular invasive - I’m really grateful for the info the doc and BCN nurses gave me about the surgery, but am still scared to bits. I’m trying not to show it to my lovely other half, but am finding the broken sleep is making me a bit snappy with him.
Best of luck to you Pendragon on Friday with your results, and hope you find that being told what your treatment plan will be will actually be much better than all this waiting and not knowing.
Love and hugs to all of you xxx
xxx

thanks for all the lovely comments, i have had my results grade 111 invasive ductal carcinoma, they told me that the lymph nodes look clear bit will take bout 4 away, my bf asked if it was cureable and was told yes. plan is to have lumpectomy on 18th july followed by radiotheraphy, well until this morning i thought this was the plan. recieved copy of letter to my gp which now says easily treatable and i also recieved a request to go for a chest xray. i rang the breast care nurses who told me that i need to have an xray in cae its spread and that i must have misheard when they said contained and cureable. im totally confused and my head is really messed up, can anyone help me?

hI pendragon

I’m not surprised your head’s totally messed up. It may be an idea to phone the nurses on the helpline here. In the meantime, think of it as “belts and braces”…better to have the chest xray to be on the safe side.

(((hugs))) Maggie xx

Don’t stress about chest X-ray its part of the pre op routine. They have to check lungs for infection before giving gneral anaesthetic - that’s all x

thanks huni, seem to stress over everything nowadays x

Hi Pendragon and Maggie

Just one point, please do NOT on any account, Google. Just use this site and the Macmillan site for info and advice.

My situation, tumour was ductal invasive, 3cm, grade 3, 100% ER positive, 70% PR positive, HER2 negative, three lymph nodes removed, one contained cancer cells. Also vascular invastion. Had MX , followed by chemo. Not having rads, but am now taking Anastrozole for at least five years.
As for spread, an xray won’t tell them that. If your lymph nodes are clear, it won’t have spread. If there is any cancer in nodes, they will be removed as were mine. They can’t even be sure of the grade until after surgery, when the lump will be examined in the path lab. Maybe you could ring your BCN again and ask her to clarify the situatiion for you.
Take care
Poemsgalore xx

Hi Pendragon, Im sorry to hear about your news and confusion. I too will be having surgery on the 18th all I can say that may help is try to take things in small steps dont look ahead too much, I have even got to the point of saying get through this morning now do this afternoon the waitng is awful. Anyway good luck with the surgery and the outcome.

Be kind to yourself
Meconopsis x

to poemsgalore and meconopsis,

thanks for your kind words, spoke to a lady on this help line earlier on, still feeling low but she assured me it was quite normal, just feel silly for worrying so much tbh.

am seeing my bcn on monday taking a friend and a pad and pen along too. hope meconopsis that your surgery goes well will be thinking bout you
dont think id have coped without these lovely ladies to talk too, thanks so much to everyone x

pendragon,
don’t feel silly for worrying too much. You wouldn’t be normal if you didn’t, after all, you don’t know yet what you are dealing with. Glad you are seeing your bcn, good idea to take a friend and pad and pen. Good luck, thinking of you.
poemsgalore xxx

HI I AM IN THE SAME PLACE AT THE MOMENT ITS BEEN SIX WEEKS SINS A FOUND A LUMP ON TOP OF MY RIGHT BREAST
I HAD A MAMMOGRAM THEN UITRASOUND FOLLOWED BY A BIOPSIE ALL IN THE SAME DAY,IT WAS SO MUCH TO TAKE IN. 2 WEEKS LATER I WAS TOLD THE BAD NEWS THAT I HAD INVASIVE BREAST CANCER I JUST BROKE DOWN BUT I HAVE GREAT SUPPORT FROM MY PARITER AND FAMILY. I HAVE HAD THE LUMP AND TWO LYMPH NODE REMOVED, NOW ITS THE WAITING GAME AGAIN I HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE HOSPILTAL ON THE 19th JULY TO FINE OUT IF IT HAS SPREAD YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR LIFE IS ON HOLD. I HAVE JUST TURNED 50 THIS YEAR BUT I FEEL ABOUT 80 WITH THE WORRY AND STRESS. I KNOW THERE IS A LOT OF WOMAN OUT LAIR GOING THOURTH THE SAME THING SO YOU ARE NOT ALONE

thanks barnowl for your kind words. still not coping very well, my op is next thursday, bee told im an overnight stay as im on warfarin. cant sleep and cant take meds cos of warfarin and sleep apneoa does any one know any herbal remedies. work have just said oh you only need 2 weeks off at the most, lol who knows how long ill need.
glad youve got a good support network my friend is being brill and we only met 6 months ago. picks me up when im down even told me today i was coping better than she would!
good luck with results, ill have that horrid waiting game soon too x

hi all
i had bc in 2007 and had to wait for about 6-8 weeks for myresilts so ii understand just how lost you can feel
where i was lucky was that during that time i watched a program about an african woman who was hiv positive and she also had hives
she walked for 4hours to rsee the doctor . the doctor had a limited supply of cream. this lady wasn’t allowed the cream. why? because she had no running water to wash in.
to top it all she was allowed torest on a bed before walking back home. the bed lookedmlike a gym bench. the woman was grateful as it was so comfy
i was gobsmacked
at that point i relaised that whilst it is very scary waiting to get results and find out whether chemo might be needed, it is far more scary to think that there is no health care and no treatment - no matter how unappetising the treatment is , no treatment is a lot more scary
i am not rying to be patronising or say we are lucky to have bc but things could be a lot worse
good luck with everything

hi just wounder how you are all today, i am usuallya a vrey strong person but i had a bad day yesterday i could’ent stop crying and thats not me i thing it because i have tryed to strong around friends and family, and i was on my own yesterday so i had to just let it all out. i am feeling a lot better today i bet you all feel like that at some point but it dose help to let it all out sometimes.I feel talking to people in the same situation as me has been very helpful. you dont realize how meny ladys are going though the same thin
barnowl xxxxx

Barn owl, I’m with you totally. Like you I am a very strong person, but today is a bad day. I’ve had WLE and SNB and now waiting for mx and immediate reconstruction. I saw the BCN on Monday and she said she would check a few things with the surgeon and call me to confirm the date, in a months time. She hasn’t called yet and I’ve tried calling her today, with no luck. On top of that I now have a chest infection and feel rough. Like you, Barn owl, I can’t stop crying. I’m one feeling r.eally bad as I had a massive glass of rosé last night. Not ideal on antibiotics and feeling ill, but now I have the guilt to go with it.

barn owl, how did you cope at a time like this ? I feel like I’m going mad
Zuleika

Hi all, in similar boat, wle and ANC 18 th June, back in Monday coming for 2nd wle. Then chemo and rads, but no apps yet. Also got chest, abdo and pelvis scan next Friday, but no bone scan . OH phoned bc n and asked why no bone scan told they don’t consider it necessary inappear well, but when you read forum others with 2 lymph nodes etc have all scans, perhaps it depends on protocols in area you live. I’m a staff nurse and am disappointed at times with bc nurse as they don’t phone as promised. I think we all have good days and bad days, one of the worst things with this diagnosis is the time waiting for all the facts to be in front of the team.
anxiety is all consuming and very tiring, it’s nice to know that we all go through the same emotions, sometimes I feel a lot better when I’ve had a good cry. I’m currently imagining that’s it travelled all around my body and feel anxious the team don’t speed things up and how can they be sure I don’t need bone scan? Worry, worry, wworry when reading through other ladies posts it does seem much more bearable and doable when your whole treatment plan is organised and ongoing, scary though!!
its amazing to think a lot of us didnt give this a thought over 2 months ago and we were all just living our normal lives, what a difference a day makes! On a positive note look how many are doing well, and how many are passed all this and just looking back with big sighs of relief. Looking back you probably wonder where the time went, it just seems long when it’s all in front of you. This time last year I was at a wedding and I can’t believe that a year has gone, so we can and will do this. We are allowed bad days but must make the most of our positive good days because that’s why we are putting ourselves through all this crappy treatment to have lots of good days in the future.
As women I think we stay strong in front of family and then let it go alone, probably not always healthy to do it this way but we are so used to protecting our family, I know that it’s this with me because I tend to cry moron when I’m on my own. This forum is a big help to me and probably to you too as its so obvious when reading posts we aren’t alone. Zuleika you aren’t going mad, your feelings are completely normal , my feelings are all over the place and have been everyday since may 17 th, you will come through this it’s just this waiting I’m sure it’s the worst bit.
Im in and out of posts all day so if your feeling anxious, down leave a post or pm il get back, I’m home alone today so after walking dog il probably have a little melt down too. Sending hugs and thoughts xx