worried and anxious

Hi, I’m new to this site and hoping to find a bit of comfort and experience to help me through the next week.

I found a lump in my right, was seen by my doctor and sent to the hospital 2 days later, after hours of having mammograms and ultra sound the consultant told me I have breast cancer. I had to return to the hospital 5 days later to see the consultant and he then told me the fluid test had come back clear but it may be he did’nt get the needle in the right place. Another 5 days later I was in surgery and have had the lump removed and also a biopsy, I am now very bruised and went to see the consultant today as another lump appeared but he told me the lump is actually the edge of a hole where he took a biopsy, He took 2 biopsy’s and removed the lump. the results are not back yet and I have to wait until next wed (10th Aug) before I find out if it is cancer or not.
I feel angry at times that the consultant told me I had BC and now its not 100%, does anyone know why the fluid test may come back clear if it’s still BC?

Many thanks

hi, It must be so frustrating for you having gone through all this and still not to know wether you have cancer or not.

some lumps can look just like cancer on the scan and then surprise the doctors by having a negative result on the needle biopsy. that is because the needle takes such a small piece of flesh that it is possible they missed the cancer cells. Howeve some lumps need to come out wether htey are cancer or not, and when they are in there they take samples of the flesh round it to see if there are any cancer cells there.

when the took a biopsy of my lump they thought it was just a benign cyst type cancer, but when they got the lump out they found other cancer cells, so i am realy glad they have it out. i need radiotherapy but not chemotherapy because it was not agressive.

Its not that the doctors are imcompetant. Every cancer case is different and they never know !00% what they are dealing with until the lump is out and the laboratory results are back, before that they can only predict what the likely type of lump you have from the best evidance they have from how it looks on the scan and what the needle biopsy managed to find, or not find.

So now you have still to wait to find out what your lump is, its an aweful time to spend not knowing. Hopefully you will discover that it is a non cancerous lump and you need no furthur treatment. But even if there are cancer cells there lets hope the fact it was so hard to find them means it is very early days and they can be sorted with minimal treatment

I had my bone scan today, when i went back after the injection my ams ach burning and still ach now.

I am sorry to hear that you are in this frustrating position. You get your head around you have cancer, then to be thrown into mass confusion. I really hope they give you your results next week and the lump is benign.

If you are talking about a fine needle aspiration test, I know that there not as accurate as the core biopsies.

Best wishes.

xxx

Thank you for your replies, I have been a little better emotionally today and so far no tears today. Im just counting down till next wed but know that the night before I will be wishing I dont have to go to find out the results. I dont know anyone who has been through this so am finding I need to talk to people just for a bit of reassurance.

is it usual for the needle aspiration to come back negative but for the lump to still be cancerous? and if it is cancer what is the likely treatment?

Thank u
Di

if the test came back with no cancer cells its one of two reasons. Either the lump is cancer, but the tiny bit of flesh they got missed the cancerous area. Or the lump is not cancer.

There are so many different types of cancer and just as many different treatments. You have had the first stage of treament–having the lump out. If it is cancer, then he next most common step is radiation to kill any cells that got left behind. If you are lucky like me that is all you have. Oh except my cancer is hormone posative, so I am taking tablets for 5 years to stop it happening again.

Obviously there are more serious type that need more serious treatment, but until the doctor has the lab report in front of him he will not know your diagnosis.

Its only natural for your brain to go over and over all the posibilities between now and next week, I realy wish I had a crystal ball to help you out.

Hiya I was 7mnth pregnant wen I found my lump the hospital did ultra sound & put it dwn t changes in pregnancy ,I was then left till my baby was 3mnth old till they called me bak & did biopsys they then said it Looked like fatty but was called up 5days later & told it was cancer then had t av all the tests then scans then lumpectomy the tumour was 8cms & was fed by oestrogen so been pregnant was feeding it ,but iv had my 2nd chemo tday & all is well just tired ,hope ur results cum bak clear its just the waiting ,take care x

sugar sugar,

what an amazing story. i always believed that being pregnant was a guard against cancer. I have not beaten myself up about having my children late in life, but noted that this was another risk that I had taken. ( i did not know at the time and anyway i was not in a relationship much earlier than that so could not have done anything about it)

shows you learn something new about this disease every day.

You must be quite young, and having to cope with chemo with a young family must be hard, I hope you have lots of support.

Well today I should of got the results from the lumpectomy and biopsy’s, Went for my 2pm appointment,feeling very stressed and anxious, to be told by the consultant that the results were not in and the hospital should have called yesterday to tell me. Im feeling very angry especially as they dont know when the results will be back so I just have to wait for a phone call but no idea when that will be.
The consultant does not know if the delay is due to more tests being carried out on the lump or if the path lab are understaffed. This is not helping my stress levels and even though I’m dreading the results I thought at least once I know I can start to deal with it.

Sorry to have a rant but I’m furious at the moment.

Don’t blame you, that is a terrible stress, and I hope they apologise some more for it. Whoever didn’t phone you should know how worrying it is waiting for news, and you have already had to wait.
Hoping for the best possible news for you as soon as possible
Lavender
xx

I have everything crossed for you. Xxx

oh now, this is so much worse than my problem with the path lab. they would not release my report for weeks because the person whos job it was to sign it was on holiday. so the surgeon and the oncologist both ad to phone for results and both got told different things on the grade and other minor bits. I was so worried that there was something major that they ought to know before planning my treatment–on holiday!!! would you beleive it.

But this lack of communication with you is terrible. I would ring your breast nurse every single day to ask if the results are in. Otherwise because they are busy they will not chase it for you. Only if you are comfortable with that idea of course. I would also ask her to make you an appointment with the next breast clinic in case your results are in by then, they can cancel it if they have to, and they can keep doing that until you are seen. You dont want the results to come in and then there not be an appointment avaiable.

they must know how bad this waiting is

hi just wanted to offer some more reassurance , the day before i was due to go for my results ( had been told it was cancer from mammogram and scan ) the hospital called to say my results werent ready , they had taken such a small sample it had to go to other lab for further testing , i went into meltdown , couldnt believe i had built myself up to hear the results and now this , but once i got my head around it i know that they needed to be sure of type , grade etc and it truly was in my best interests to wait , 7 more days came around very quickly , this may not be the same for you but even if its not be reassured that they will want to be 100 & sure of your treatment plan if it is cancer , keep posting and good luck xx

Hi Diane so sorry you are being put through this, its hard enough without all this messing about, the fact they didn’t contact you & let you know the results were not back I think is discraceful knowing full well how stressed out we are in the waiting room.

I hope you hear something soon do keep us posted

Mekala x

I have contacted the hospital today and was told all the breast cancer nurses are off today!, eventually spoke to my consultant’s secretary who initially was not very helpful but I persuaded her to phone the path lab to find out whats going on. She has now called me back to say the path lab will look at the biopsys’s on Monday and I may get the results on Wednesday but to phone them on Tues to check. She would not make me an appointment for the wednesday clinic until the results are in.
So looks like another anxious weekend awaits. Me and Hubby have decided to go away for the weekend to try and unwind and calm down abit, not sure if we can but need to try.

Many thanks for all your responses, it is comforting to know I am not on my own and others have been through the same experience.

Latest Update… I have just had a call from a BCN to say she has chased the path lab and the reason for the delay is they are having to do more tests and check other levels. Dont know if this means it is malignant and they are testing to see how aggressive it is or not. She will check on Monday to see if results are in and if not chase them again.

Dont know what to think now…

Hi Diane
could be they are checking out everything could be that the lab have been VERY busy yiou get that sometimes so they do get back log

try not to worry too much I know its hard

HUGS for you
Mekala x

How are you? x

Hi, I had a call from the BCN today to say they had the results and to go straight to the hospital. I was preparing for the worst but I am so happy to say the lump was benign. I couldnt of wished for a better result and was not expecting that news after the consultant originally told me I had breast cancer. They will keep an eye on me now and send me for regular mammograms.

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone for all their support I have received, they have really helped me through the last month.

I wish you all the best for the future,
Many Many thanks and huge hugs to you all
xxxxx

thats fantastic news xxx