Huge mass in breast aibu to go to a&e ? **Diagnosis in and treatment underway for the OP** Title edited by MNHQ

[needabitof]

Last week I went to the doctors - my right breast has a big mass in it that has appeared in the previous week.
He checked my liver, lymph nodes, so I know what he's thinking, and referred me to the breast clinic under the 14 day rule. Except it isn't 14 days, it's over three weeks before you can be seen. The gp can do nothing to speed things up apparently.
I thought I need to pay for a private mammogram, it's £400. I'm desperate - imagining the worst constantly.
Managed to get a referral sent by the gp to the private hospital, only to be told they're breast clinic has been cancelled for the next three weeks.
Aibu to go to a&e to get some medical advice or wait? The mass is getting bigger and painful each day.
What would you do? Thanks in advance.

Sorry to hear your news OP. I hope you get the best care possible, which I am sure you will, and recover well, best wishes.

So sorry to hear your news and wishing you the very best as you tackle the next few months.

Very sorry to hear this and wishing you all the best for the weeks and months ahead xx

Sending best wishes for a speedy recovery

We are here for you OP, hopefully they can see a clear plan in place after all the results are in

So sorry to read this - but so glad that you finally have an answer to what was happening and are moving forward with a treatment plan. Wishing you strength and peace, OP.

I am so sorry to read your update op, well one on being so persistent. Best of luck with everything in the coming days, weeks abs months. You've got this 💕

Best of luck, OP. You’re in the system now and, in my experience, the NHS really gets moving fast when they know it’s cancer. I hope you’re soon making a good recovery. Xx

I am so sorry. I'm just seeing this, so I'm taking it all in at once. Remember one thing...IF a radical mastectomy is advisable, you are not your breasts. Nothing that happens below your chin makes you any less of a woman than you were (it is all in our minds, as it were), and any scars will be medals of honor for a battle fought hard and won. My heart with yours.

A piece of advice

Ask your consultants to scan the biopsy of the cancer cells to see what genetic mutation caused the cancer. If they know, they can pick a chemo drug that works specifically for that mutation rather than guess at one which might work. There is t a chemo drug for every mutation yet, but its the best way of getting targeted treatment rather than a scatter gun approach.

Looking for the mutation is standard care in the private system, but you often have to push to access it on the NHS

Thinking of you OP and sending you so much love xx

So sorry to hear this, sending best wishes 💐

💐

I'm so sorry to hear this.

I was diagnosed two years (and was given the all clear a year ago) and it's a complete mind fuck in the beginning whilst everything is being sorted out. Once a plan is in a place things do seem to settle down a bit.

Best of luck with your treatment. I'm hoping for the best outcome for you. xx

OP sending you good wishes and a hand hold. I am just over 2 years clear of triple negative breast cancer. The treatment was tough but it's incredible what they can do these days. This is extremely difficult news for you but there is a lot of support out there if you need it, in person or online, and they will be able to offer support for your family members too. Wishing you the very very best

Being diagnosed really is the worst bit. All the fears are terrifying. But once you are enfolded in the NHS cancer care system, and it is GREAT, then you will start to feel much more positive. I'm a week away from starting radiotherapy on breast cancer, after a lumpectomy. Honestly, my tumour was caught so early by a routine mammogram that it has been treated quickly AND BRILLIANTLY. Please remind everyone you know that mammograms are important.

Just checking in and I'm overwhelmed by all your messages of support, truly.
It really means so much to me, and those of you who have been through this and come out the other side are keeping me going.
It's a head fuck for sure.
I've come out in hives nearly all over and it's so itchy, especially on the soles of my feet weirdly. The doctor said this is due to the shock.
Hope I can keep still for the mri tomorrow.
I'll read through all your messages later - a few things I remember - yes I have an amazingly supportive partner ( finally) I'm very lucky.
My breast tissue was very dense apparently, that's why it didn't show up in both mammograms.

Good luck @XingMing I hope you can let us know how it's going? Your post is very reassuring.

@marmiteloversunite Living flat - your phrase has stuck in my mind and I don't care about a reconstruction- I just want this out of me and to carry on living. Thanks for your words.

Really happy to have helped even a tiny bit. Go and check out flat friends uk if you don't want reconstruction. They got me through. Loads of ladies living flat.

@Sandunesandseashells

Aaarrggghhh, I was hoping for the best for you. I hope you have good support at home. I’ve been there too - 8cm mass + another 3.5 cm mass and a completely overwhelmed lymph node. I had 6mths chemo, mastectomy, radio, 12mths Herceptin. Thing is though, that was 12 years ago and I’m still here. And I’ll bet the treatments now are massively improved since then and prognosis far better. If you enjoy books, I recommend The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton. It’s not religious it’s about the power of the mind over the body and it certainly helped me at the time. 💐

Yours is such a positive post, thank you. I'll get hold of that book.

@marmiteloversunite

Really happy to have helped even a tiny bit. Go and check out flat friends uk if you don't want reconstruction. They got me through. Loads of ladies living flat.

I will do, thank you.

How did things go today OP?

Thinking of you and hoping that there is a clear path ahead for treatment.

For me, today, it has been a day of back and forth between clinics. Arrived in oncology for radiotherapy check, sent up to breast care to have wounds checked. (I was going anyway). Then back to radiotherapy who managed to slot me back in, probably during their lunch break. I clocked up 10,000 steps around the hospital and a quick supermarket run. But it seems likely that my radiotherapy will go ahead as planned next week, unless there's a real hiccup. I am so impressed with the breast cancer system They have been f*cking awesome and so kind. The surgeons have given me much lovelier boobs, everyone has taken the time to discuss any questions; the follow up treatment and the interventions have been very nice, sometimes hilarious -- at one point I robbed the dog's antibiotic stash to quell an infection, which had the surgical assessment team rolling around laughing; they did agree that it was similar to the one A&E would have prescribed though! No praise is sufficient for the care I am receiving.

@needabitof best of luck with your treatment.
Hopefully you are at an early stage. Also, there are different types of breast cancer and the treatment for these differs, so if knowing the details is something you want to know, maybe ask your partner to listen and take of the things the consultant says, as you probably won't be able to take in everything the doc says at your appointments.