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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

721 replies

needabitof · 14/10/2021 06:56

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.

OP posts:
Worstusername · 09/11/2021 21:35

I would not go to A&E..I've just returned from a full night there....went as GP wrote me a letter and sent me - saying I needed to be seen urgently. Unless triage declare you to be seriously ill, you will have one hell of a wait. I sat in waiting room for 12 hours and when I finally saw the A&E doctor, he was very dismissive - I only went because the GP sent me, but never again!

Porcupineintherough · 09/11/2021 21:36

Hang on in there OP Flowers

Porcupineintherough · 09/11/2021 21:38

Oh for the love of God @Worstusername read the OPs posts if you cant read the thread. Things have moved on.

MakeTeaNotWar · 09/11/2021 21:48

Ah shit @needabitof I'm sorry. Wishing you all the best and I hope you don't mind if we keep checking in on you. Have you got good support around you?

SockFluffInTheBath · 09/11/2021 21:51

Fingers crossed the breastbone thing is nothing untoward. I hope your treatment is swift and effective. Lots of love to you OP.

Whydidimarryhim · 09/11/2021 21:58

Thinking about you needabitof - x

MintMatchmaker · 09/11/2021 22:02
Flowers
Pieceofpurplesky · 09/11/2021 22:03

Thinking of you Thanks

EffingElse · 09/11/2021 22:06

💐 thinking of you xx

Yuledo · 09/11/2021 22:08

I know how scary it is, having beaten cervical cancer.

Fingers firmly crossed for you.

ModMajGeneral · 09/11/2021 22:18

Good luck OP

Pumpkinpie1 · 09/11/2021 22:26

Thinking of you & hoping the MRI goes ok x take care

Noimaginationforaun · 09/11/2021 22:35

Been thinking of you since your first post. I hope you have your results soon

LuluJakey1 · 09/11/2021 22:47

Please try not to panic. This is what happened to my mam. She then had to have a CT scan and we had a phone call to say the consultant wanted to see her about the results at 4pm the day before her mastectomy was scheduled. We spent 3 weeks worried sick waiting for the scan and appointment and imagining the very worst outcomes. I played scenes out in my head, I couldn't sleep or eat and the day of the results I was physically sick with the stress.
It was nothing at all to worry about - never showed up on the CT scan at all and she had the mastectomy the next day. The consultant said all sorts can cause shadows and areas that could possibly be of concern and that's why they do the CT - mostly they are nothing significant.
I really hope you get good news. It is such a horribly worrying time and the waiting is dreadful. Will be thinking of you. x

LuluJakey1 · 09/11/2021 22:49

@Worstusername

I would not go to A&E..I've just returned from a full night there....went as GP wrote me a letter and sent me - saying I needed to be seen urgently. Unless triage declare you to be seriously ill, you will have one hell of a wait. I sat in waiting room for 12 hours and when I finally saw the A&E doctor, he was very dismissive - I only went because the GP sent me, but never again!
Oh for heaven's sake RTFT. The OP is weeks past that point and has moved way on.
CatherinaJTV · 09/11/2021 22:52

@needabitof

Thanks *@MakeTeaNotWar*. The mri showed something on my breastbone, so I'm actually terrified right now. I'm going for a bone scan and a ct scan over the next few days, and the breast care nurse is trying to get me seen earlier than the end of November.
oh damn - one thing after the other! I hope you can been seen very soon and this is just a fluke/unrelated harmless thing. Sending thoughts and strength and hugs, if you want!
Original poster
needabitof · 09/11/2021 22:55

I'm overwhelmed by your messages, thank you each and every one of you who've posted.
@LuluJakey1 that is giving me hope. It's absolute torture every day, the waiting.
What started off as a small lump according to the consultant is now a large one and now this, you try to come to terms with a lumpectomy/ mastectomy, thinking that will be it over with, and now I don't know what I'm facing and yes, thinking the worst every day.
I'll keep you updated.
xx

OP posts:
tricky29 · 09/11/2021 22:58

I’d definitely go to A and E and I would really emphasise any pain and discomfort you are feeling. At they very least you should be getting an ultrasound, mammogram and aspiration (if necessary). Cysts and abscesses are quite common in breast tissue (I have had both) but it’s very worrying when it is happening to you and needs to be looked at as soon as possible.

Baileys123 · 09/11/2021 23:01

Try to stay positive Flowers

tricky29 · 09/11/2021 23:03

I’m sorry I didn’t properly see your recent update.

OneTitWonder · 09/11/2021 23:05

@needabitof I have been exactly where you are. In 2012, I found a large lump in my breast, fast forward to an 8cm aggressive tumour, lymph nodes also cancerous, mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone treatment. It was terrifying and awful. I was 43 and had a 4 year old son, and I thought (and so did the doctors) that I was going to die. Yet here I am, 9 years later. Had my annual mammogram and ultrasound last week, and got the all clear. I wanted to share my story because when I was diagnosed, all I wanted to know was that there might be some hope, somewhere. There is. There are people like me. As my oncologist once pointed out, the statistics aren't about you, they are about every person in the world who's ever had breast cancer. They're numbers and averages and means and ratios. They're not you, and not your personal situation.

I don't know if you're looking for advice, but for what it's worth mine is to give yourself over to this being a journey. You have to relinquish control (that was incredibly hard for me) and strap yourself in for the ride. Listen to your treating team, know that it will be an awfully hard grind, but remember, always, there is hope.

All my very best wishes to you.

eternalopt · 09/11/2021 23:06

Oh my goodness. This popped up in current threads and I filtered it to just OP posts to catch up and could feel the breathe being sucked out of me with each one and I couldn't just read and run without wishing you all the pair I've thoughts in the world - hoping for quick scans and tests and quick results that are in the right direction Thanks

littlefireseverywhere · 09/11/2021 23:09

Sorry you’re still waiting for a sooner appointment, hope you hear soon.

Gwlondon · 09/11/2021 23:10

I am so sorry. X

Silkieschickens · 09/11/2021 23:11

I am so sorry you are going through this and thinking of you.

Thanks also for posting as I have had a breast lump since May, emailed doctors in June and got dismissed, still there and reading this made me call doctors again and this doctor said expect it to be cancer, slim chance its not and referred me. Also 3 week wait here but after 3 hours on phone got through to clinic snd they added me to cancellation list and seeing them on Friday, they called today.

Wishing you all the best for the future checks and treatment.