49 Yr Mum has found a painful lump in breast.

[EagerPlumTurtle]

Hi All,

Im currently looking for some guidance, not a diagnosis. I'm trying to stay away from google as I know it can take you down a very deep dark hole. But really any experience or advice would be appreciated.

My mother is currently 49 Yr. She does have some health issues e.g Diverticulitis, Cholesterol and recently arthritis in her back. Other than that she is quite a fit healthy woman. She has been on HRT for almost a year now and is still perimenopausal.

She has had pain sometimes in her boobs over the last couple of months and has put it down to her hormones or HRT. However, she lifted my daughter (1yr) 3 weeks ago and felt a sharp pain in her left breast. She has had it since when she wakes up in the morning or when she lies on it or touches it.

About a week ago, she decided to examine her breast and has found what feels like a hard rugby shaped lump within her upper inner quadrant that is painful to touch. I'm not sure if it is moveable. She said its not but when I examined it, I could make out the lump in my hand and "move" it.
She has no obvious signs of breast cancer e.g weeping nipple, inverted nipple, discoloration, protruding lump, rash, changes in shape or size, "orange peel" skin or discharge.

We have no history of breast cancer in our family. We do have history of lung, throat and skin cancer though.

She has appointment on Monday to see the doctor. As you would have all guessed, we are quite concerned about this.

I just had a baby last september and had a breast blood scare 2 months postpartum. Thankfully, it turned out to be hormonal.

I would love if anyone could give some incite or advice on the fact that it could be something other than the dreaded "C".

Thank You,
A really upset and concerned Daughter 💔

Great that she's getting it checked out. Also it's weirdly good news that it's painful - usually cancer lumps aren't. Fingers crossed for you all.

I had similar & it was a large cyst, drained by the breast clinic. It was also painful & I was very relieved when it was drained. I’m 47 & peri menopausal.

She's just come out in floods of tears.

She said she could see a look of fear in the doctors eyes when speaking to her.

The doctor is quite concerned about the size of the lump. My mams concerned about her back pain which the doctor said wouldn't be related only if it has spread.

She has to wait 4-8 weeks for an appointment with the breast clinic but she has left feeling 10 times worse than when she went in.

This to me doesn't sound good.

Has anyone experienced the same and had a good outcome?

Are you uk based? That’s a very long wait to be seen - it’s usually within 2 weeks. If uk based, this needs chasing up with gp - others will be along with better pathways to chase. My experience was very swift.

Wishing your mum well.

I agree, they usually see you within two weeks here.

That does seem long for a cancer referral - in our area it was 3 weeks but my doctor had said they were certain mine (similar symptoms to your Mum though breast also went mishappen when lifted arm) was cancer. I called hospital and got put on a cancellation list and got seen within the week. It was cancer but 9 out of 10 referrals aren't. I had pain so that means nothing either way though after lifting your one year old is likely to be muscular.

If it is cancer the best thing is to get seen and on to treatment. I needed a year's intensive treatment, it varies by person what they need, but now am 3 years clear and loving life again. Do mention the back pain so they can scan if they find breast cancer. Its rare to it to have spread straightaway, at least beyond lymph nodes so its very unlikely to be linked. Hope its something benign. If its hormone positive they will want her to stop HRT.

Also agree that's too long - I've had three suspected breast cancer referrals (luckily all fine every time!) and the longest I waited to be seen was 12 days. One time they saw me the next day. Definitely chase it up, with the GP and directly with the breast clinic.

I was on the 2 week wait. I’m in the UK & the wait was 7 weeks in my area. I chased it up with the breast clinic directly & they said it was due to the sheer volume of referrals & the backlog. This was in June this year. I was on the cancellation list, but never got one & just had to wait. It’s unacceptable but it does happen. I looked at private but was quoted £1000.

She lives in the Republic of Ireland. There has been so many scandals with the breat cancer checks and smear test, that the health system is a disgrace.

Im not worried as such about her back pain as she's had that for nearly 10 years, im more worried about her Diverticulitis symptoms as I have read that some BC do spread to the gastro tract and can mimic these symtoms. She was only diagnosised last year.

The doctor didnt find any lumps in her lymph nodes under her arm pit so I think that's a positive. My mother did ask if she's had the lump a long time and the doctor said that yes she thinks she has it a long time.

Honestly, she's in a pretty bad way and has herself fully convinced that she has cancer and won't be here this time next year.

It's honestly breaking my heart and im not really sure how to cope with it.shr doesn't want to information the rest of our family as there is other health problems going on also and my husband lost his father 10 years this December to cancer.

We have looked into paying privately for an ultrasound but the biopsy goes into the thousands and we can't afford that.

I really dont know what to do. I feels helpless and lost.

That's awful. An urgent appointment shouldn't take that long. A member of my family was having an investigation for another type of cancer at one of the big Dublin hospitals, and our GP was able to intervene when it was taking too long. Would that be worth looking into? I know they're all different clinics and work differently.

I had bc found after a mammogram. No one could feel it including the consultant and no pain. Treated and all fine the 4years since.