Breast Cancer Now Forum

I have a lump in my breast for about 4 weeks now maybe more I don't remember. I was referred straight away as lump was found by my doctor and I got an emergency appointment when it worsened. The consultant felt the "thickening" she called it but said probably nothing to worry about, she then referred me to ultrasound as she could feel it, the ultrasound however he said nothing about a lump or seeing any abnormalties or thickening, he just said "All is fine here, nothing found" but my concerns is, there IS something there, its worsening, I felt relieved but now its been 2 weeks since my scan and now the lump is becoming extremely painful, I can feel the pain without touching the lump, when I touch it, it's even more painful (it started off not painful), its also getting more swollen and I am just in a lot of pain. Now okay maybe it isn't breast cancer if ultrasound didn't detect it but I am baffled they couldn't see anything when myself and two other people could feel this lump and "thickening" and I can feel it increasing, it's not a small lump or thickening, its quite large and its getting so painful. I am baffled nobody has an answer to what it is, what's causing it and what's happenning, anyone had this happen with conditions being missed by ultrasound? And I know it might not be cancer considering not detected on a scan but something is being missed here and i dont like not knowing what is going on or how they could miss a lump that feels big to me and also my doctor could see swelling, and both consultants felt the lump, how can an ultrasound not see any lumps and say all clear and normal, yet I am now in a lot of pain and the lump feels more swollen, what's going on??  ... View more

Hello. I am 24 years old and 2 weeks ago I had itchiness on my nipple suddenly out of the blue. It was so severe my first thought was "maybe I'm pregnant" I took three tests and all negative. The itchiness eventually subsided and then a few days ago I just casually out of the blue noticed a lump in my left breast. It's not small, it's not circular, it's like hard around the top of my nipple and then from just under my armpit down to my nipple down the left, it's quite a large, long (not circle or square, just long) lump, it feels like hard tissue its hard to explain. It's not a small lump, its not a ball or a circular lump. Its nothing like I'd expect with breast cancer, it's like a hard tissue long lump. I also have tiny bit of dry skin to the left of my breast, nothing major just a flake of dry skin. I wish I could explain the lump to hear if anyone else has had similar, all I can explain is it feels like tissue, moves a little bit when I push on it. Feels like hard, swollen, lumpy tissue. I went to the doctors as soon as I noticed it, it was painless, completely painless at first. The doctor checked both my breasts and he said my left breast (where this apparent lump is) was swollen down the side of the lump and he could see the swelling slightly on that side when he looked at them both symetrically. He then checked and he straight away found the lump, he said this is it isn't it, and I replied yes, he never said much about how it felt and the fact its not the usual pea sized lumps or circular lumps that don't move people complain about when they have a lump. He asked if i'd had any more symptoms and I explained I'd had itchiness for a few days 2 weeks ago and it went away, I did have itchiness again the other day but it never lasts long. Just irritating. The doctor checked all my glands under my arm pit, throat, and said my lymph nodes aren't swollen, at first I thought maybe it was lymph nodes in my breast swollen and coming from my armpit, maybe an infection. He then said he was referring me straight away to the breast clinic. My appointment is the 24th of October. I cried when I left because I have anxiety issues and a phobia of being sick, so cancer is one of the worse things that could happen to me, I know it is rare for it to be cancer but I can't help worrying about it and this is going to be the longest two weeks of my life. Since the examination I have kept check of the lump, its still exactly the same apart from now its quite painful now too. I have spoken to a couple of friends and my Mum about all of this, one of my friends and my Mum are being very supportive and understand my worries, I never realised how scary a cancer scare was till it happened to me even if it turns out to be nothing but I have one friend whose really irritating me. She's making me feel stupid for worrying. She says its a cyst, cancer has to be pea sized and circular and making me feel like I am wasting everyones time. I was hoping the doctor would dismiss it as an infection or tissue but he was adamant it needed checked and it was a lump. He was also adamant that he could see a change in my left breast, it looks swollen and fuller. I am frightened and I just need somewhere to express my feelings with people who might understand and I am questioning if I have any right to go to a breast clinic with type of lump I have if according to my friend its impossible for it to be breast cancer because it isn't small, pea sized or circular so according to her it HAS to be a cyst. And its all in my head, she's making me feel shamed for being worried. I have taken time off work because I am worried, my Auntie had breast cancer the same age as me and cancer runs in both sides of the family though usually when people hit their 40's-50's a lot of deaths in both sides have been due to cancer. Has anyone here had a similar lump to what I am explaining? What can I expect on the day of the breast cancer clinic? Seriously cancer would just be about the worse thing to happen to me when I am so deathly afraid of sickness. The fear of treatment is horrendous.  ... View more