Can’t sleep,Possibly breast cancer and feeling frightened

[Rockschooldropout]

I’m 52 and on hrt so when I noticed my left breast felt a bit tender recently I put it down to hormones.Ive been a bit negligent with checking my boobs as I’ve had some heart issues and then my DDad died in April

However I noticed over the course of the last week , my left boob swelling before my eyes , the veins have become prominent and the side and nipple area became very tender . I managed to get a gp appointment this morning and after examining me she said she didn’t like the look of it as my skin is puckered and there’s an obvious quite large ill defined lump near my areola. She’s refered me on the 2 week pathway and I’ve made the mistake of falling down the Google hellhole of inflammatory cancer .
This evening DD came to give me a cuddle and rested her head on the side of my boob and it was painful - I’m not feeling very optimistic at the moment ..

Hi OP sorry to hear you are anxious.

No real knowledge on my part but offering what I do know for comfort.

I had always heard pain was not a very common sign of breast cancer. I also know HRT (and that time of life generally) can very frequently cause breast tenderness and other breast “ dynamics” so I think there’s plenty of scope for it not to be cancer.

Re the puckering, if you had a sort of duct inflammation type lump, would that not cause puckering due to the pressure?

Great, call back in time for them to act if you've heard nothing, not right at the end of the day (advice given to me by my GP!)
Good luck OP, don't hesitate to see your GP if there are any changes.

@morecoffeemorework oh that’s a good point ! I’m off work tomorrow so will call after lunch

I’m clinging on to it being something less sinister - I freaked out slightly reading the gps referal but understand that all they know is it’s a lump and they have to treat it as suspected cancer …
Im guessing a blocked duct could cause skin puckering , I’m trying not to Google any more 🙈

Yes Google is a scary place! And IME usually a cause for alarm.

I think your GP is being cautious and wish you a reassuring outcome. Fingers crossed. 🤞

Hi OP, I started a similar thread last summer - absolutely convinced myself it was IBC and panicked.... Turned out to be hormonal (in one fucking boob!?). Felt a bit of a knob afterwards but very very relieved.

One breast, very swollen, very painful, reddening in places but uneven colour and no palpable lumps. Nothing found and not happened again since. Really bizarre.

My Mum was treated for ductal breast cancer this year, excision of the tumour, sample taken from lymph node (negative for spread) then radiotherapy for two weeks. Tamoxifen for a decade. As she said, the lesser of many possibilities and she's doing grand.

Hope you're OK, will keep it all crossed for you.

@ButtSurgery I’m so pleased to hear your mum is doing well 😀 my own mum has Non Hodgkin follicular lymphoma and is on maintenance chemo for life but is enjoying life and feeling great - it’s reassuring

I freaked out about the possible IBC but I don’t have any redness and do have an obvious lump which out my heart in my mouth , especially when the gp said it was quite large . Good to hear yours was hormonal .. you did the right thing in getting checked out x

Well I’ve called and I have an appointment for 23rd July which is day 16 from the date of referal .. not brilliant . They said they have a huge backlog and it’s the earliest I can have . They don’t operate a cancellation list 😩

How is it feeling op?

Thank you for asking x
Pretty much the same after initially thinking it was swelling more .. no redness but still swollen and I think my lymph nodes are up on one side . I went to my gp yesterday to ask for antibiotics and she prescribed them but said she didn’t think they’d do much as she feels it’s most likely inflammatory breast cancer .. not really what I wanted to hear at all

Oh I’m sorry, that isn’t what you wanted to hear. I’m a bit horrified that if she really thinks that she isn’t moving heaven and earth to get you seen sooner.

But fingers crossed she’s wrong and the antibiotics work …

@Calliopespa I was shocked to tbh - she seems pretty convinced it’s IBC and the 12 days I still have left to my appointment feel like an eternity .. my boob is definitely tender .. especially the nipple very much like in the early days of pregnancy and it’s noticeable that it’s bigger .. I did start another thread after the drs visit as I was in such a state , reading up on IBC it feels like another 12 days is too long

I read up a little too and I’m wondering if there is any possibility of having it checked privately?

It seems justifiable beyond just the stress of waiting as that type seems to move quite fast. It’s just a very sorry state that they can’t see this sort of thing sooner .

There seem to be sone clinics called Genesis Care? I know it’s an outlay but it could prove money well spent (and if it doesn’t well that’s sort of good news too..,)

I’ve looked into it but I’ll most likely need biopsy’s if I potentially have IBC which I don’t have the funds for as it’s a huge amount for that , also with IBC you have to start chemo straight away and I don’t want to delay it by waiting for them to refer me back to the nhs

Ah that makes sense. I guess you are saving time at a different stage of the process so it all evens out.

@Rockschooldropout hi, any update? Hope you're ok

Nothing to update yet - appointment is on Tuesday . I’ve bitten my nails down to the quick .. Tuesday can’t come soon enough , fully prepared for biopsy and “it doesn’t look good “

Got everything crossed for you OP. Really hoping for good news x

How is it feeling OP?

If the news isn’t good try to think that they have to find it to treat it .🤞

@Rockschooldropout have the antibiotics made any difference?

Thank you x

That’s a good way of looking at it 😀 boob still the same

I had a similar scare earlier this year, redness, pain and a lump/swelling came up reasonably suddenly and the GP seemed concerned (and I read the notes he made for the referral and it didn't seem very good!)

The clinic didn't find anything sinister and said it was probably hormones causing a cyst to swell. It went down again within a few weeks and hasn't returned so seems odd to be hormonal as a complete one off! But it was very much along the lines of the IBC symptoms. You really don't know until they check it out.

Sadly not , it’s never been red , but it’s still definitely fuller and more swollen looking than my other boob. Not as tender possibly as it was but still very tender round the nipple .. It fuller above my nipple and I can’t see any reason for it apart from bad news after what my gp said