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 ..

@RichmondReader - yes it makes sense that I shouldn’t read too much into it .. although obviously I’m assuming the worst news because that’s me ! Not that any cancer is good news 😩

I will be thinking of you and sending a wee prayer up.Take care x

All the best today. Many thoughts with you from t’interweb.

Thank you @dancingwhilstfacingthemusic @OKherewegoagain .. Up early this morning , my heart is pounding so much , just over 2 hours until I find out what cancer it is and an idea of treatment

@Rockschooldropout keeping you in my thoughts too.

Thinking of you across the web

I’m thinking of you. 💐

Thinking of you today OP

Thinking of you OP, it’s a horrible situation you’re dealing with you but hopefully you’ll get an idea of what’s going on and a plan going forward xxx

Thinking of you & sending strength today @Rockschooldropout 💪🏻💪🏻 you got this.
got my appointment in a couple hours too. Just know that whatever happens there are plenty of us poor sods struggling with this bastard disease at the moment & you are not alone

So … it’s grade 2 IDC , axillary lymph node was clear ER- HER2 not back yet .
Because it’s quite large I’m told I’m most likely looking at mastectomy which I’m sort of at peace with tbh , I just want it gone .
Breast surgeon was lovely and said all the usuals about it being treatable etc but said I’m potentially looking at a year of treatment .
She wanted me to have the second area of calcification biopsies by mammogram guided biopsy and incision as she’s keen to get results back quickly but the radiographer said no as I’m on blood thinners so that’s booked in for next weds .
She said treatment won’t start till probably end of August and told me to go off and enjoy my birthday weekend .
There was a shadow on my right breast but I had another mammo and scan and the radiographer said it all looked healthy to him . He was quite breezy saying not to panic about waiting for the second biopsy but obviously my mindset is … get it out now !
The breast surgeon said I think you need a cup of tea and I was taken through to a little room and a lovely nurse made me and my husband a cup of hot sweet tea !
Everyone was lovely but it all feels surreal

Glad you now know what you're dealing with OP, but obviously sorry it's going to take a while to get on top of it.
Hope they can start treatment asap.

sorry to hear this 🥰 you will get through it x

@Rockschooldropout so sorry to hear this but as others say you know now. Mine is a grade 2 IDC as well, but with dcis. Having had 2 lumpectomies, the results I’m waiting on will determine whether I need another or possibly a mastectomy.

we are definitely the club no one wants to be in.

I hope you can have some distraction at least.

Sorry to heat this but glad you have a plan now. Hopefully you can rest your mind enough to enjoy your break. Please keep us updated if you feel you want to. Thinking of you 💐

I’ve just seen the letter from today which says there is also DCIS , she wants to rule out multifocal disease as there are two areas of calcification but they only initially biopsied one .
its 1.1 mm IDC with DCIS .. agree this is a shit club to be in ..🙈

Op this was my diagnosis the week before Christmas 2020. Her2 negative. In the initial meeting without DH due to Covid, they said potentially a mastectomy followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy as Larry had grown from the size of a pound coin to an orange within 4 weeks. In January the team decided to try chemotherapy first before a mastectomy and thankfully it worked. I then had an operation to remove the last bits then radiotherapy. A year later I had symmetry surgery. I'm thinking of you but as my cancer nurse said you will get through it. X

@HumphreysCorner Thankyou for sharing. I’m also focussing on hoping that this time next year the future will be brighter.

@Rockschooldropout one day at a time. Big sigh for us.

I went for my second biopsy results today and these have come back as grade 3 DCIS , they’ve upgraded all the cancer to Grade 3 now and my breast is full of DCIS apparently with a small area of IDC .
I’m booked in for a mastectomy which will be in the next couple of weeks and my consultant wants me to meet with the surgeon next week to discuss implant reconstruction as they don’t offer DIEP flap at my hospital .
I’m ER and PR- but HER+ so I’ve got to have chemo after my surgery and herceptin … It feels like a lot to take in … I won’t lie … I’m bloody terrified as I have stage 1 heart failure and an aortic root anyerysm so it’s a huge worry

Sorry to hear this @Rockschooldropout - not been on here much but been wondering how you were doing. I don’t know if this helps at all but I just wanted to say they found my breast had a ton of DCIS in it after my surgery too. (They also found one of my tumours was double the size they thought it was). I start chemo next week & I am bloody terrified also. I assume you have got a surgery date already but make sure you push for one if not as I dawdled & lost out on slots when I was at this stage!

I wondered how you were getting on. Sorry to hear your update. Take care of yourself 💐

It’s so shit isn’t it 😭 Did you have a mastectomy? Have you had all the results yet ….Were your nodes clear ?
The chemo terrifies me too .. I’ve joined the breast cancer now site and they have monthly chemo starter threads .. I think I’ll join those when I start as it helps when you know you aren’t alone x
No surgery date yet , they want me to speak to the plastic surgeon first then they said I’ll be phoned and told to come in for surgery at short notice ! They are on a tight schedule as it’s 31 days since my diagnosis on 7th September !

@HumphreysCorner sorry I missed your message .. it does feel like a long and rocky journey .. mine is HER2+ so definitely chemo afterwards .. how bloody scary to have your tumour grow so quickly !! Thank god the chemo helped to shrink it x
They want me to have an implant mastectomy and said I can have symmetry surgery after all my treatment

Nooo my nodes were most certainly not clear either. They knew it was in one or 2 nodes but there were more. I still don’t understand from the size of my tumour doubling from what they said it was whether the scans are shit or it grew. I had to wait 19 days for a surgery date once everything was confirmed that that was the next step & was given so many assurances about cancer not really growing that fast. But the rational side of my brain says it must do!
my surgery was 33 days after my diagnosis x

im so glad I found the BCN forum, I’m on the September starters board - I’ll make sure to be posting about how my first treatment next week goes over there 👋