got my appointment through for breast clinic

[alexsCURSEDMUMMY]

and now i am seriously crapping myself.
have been fine for past week-no pain and so no worries. letter arrived today and now my heart is in my boots

apologies - i don't the history of this but here's my twopenneth worth anyway:

i'm presuming from what you said that you've had pain before: pain is a good sign as far as cancer possibilities is concerned. cancer tends to be painless.

the waiting is the worst time. it will pass. try to keep occupied in the meantime.

there's nothing you can do now about the outcome - what will be will be, and obviously i'm hoping that it's a positive result for you.

keep posting. all the very best for your appointment.

thanks lalaa.
have been in lots of pain. doctor thinksi t originates from my back.i've been worrying like crazy and feeling for lumps. she decided to refer me to put my mind a rest but appointment has come through scarily quickly

one of my friends has breast cancer so am very paranoid but now i don't want to go to this appointment. feel like i would rather not know but know how crazy that is.

hi
im still having visits for a lump in my breast..you will/may go straight in for an ultrasound or mammogram if you are over 35? and depending on what they find you may be offered a fine needle aspiration(sp) to draw cells from the lump to determine what it is(this is not nice i wont lie to you, but thought a heads up before hand would help prepare you?)..youll then get an app about 4 wks later to discuss the findings and further treatment if needed.

i still have my lump but after two fine needle aspirations, ultrasound and plenty of diff consultants making wild guess's, im now under top plastic surgeon/breast consultant for 6 monthly checks and whom has advised me not to have an op because the tests have shown nothing sinister and to keep an eye on it would be the best for me!

good luck, they are very nice with things like this.

good luck

sal- gp said she is sure there is no lumps and can feel nothing suspicious. leaflet said i will prob have a mammogram. i am 34.

sorry, i dont know your history, so is it a prob with pain you have been having?

yes- and i think breast is a funny shape too.

i feel like vomiting . am so scared.

at the risk of sounding off the cuff, most breast are odd shaped, mine are, one is very diff from other and like someone said earlier pain is generally a good thing.
i know you will still worry but wish you luck anyway

Oh ACM, me again from your other post. Please, please don't worry so much.

The clinic actually phoned me at home at 6pm on the day I'd seen the GP to say the breast clinic would see me in 7 days.

This is all so normal. The guidelines are that on referral by your GP to the breast clinic, it should be within 14 days. My GP wasn't worried about my lump either remember. I was just as paranoid as you. So being called to the clinic in that time is normal.

The breast exam, mammogram and ultrasound were all done within a couple of hours and I was told there and then the result.

I know through experience that nothing any of us can say will lessen your deep fears. I can only try to reassure you, from one paranoid person to another, that you will be absolutely fine.

If you think it will be any help try to look at the breast care website. It offers really reassuring statistics and advice. E-mail me any time if you think I can say anything else to make you feel better.

I really know how you are feeling. I was in your place last week my friend. You will be OK.

oh emmatom thank you-i'm sitting here in tears . i know i'm probably fine but i just keep thinking what if i'm not? i've got the two beautiful sweeet amazing boys, and the idea that i won't see them grow up is just terrifying me.i know i'm being a drama queen but i just feel terrible.
i had chilled out so much and now it's all come whooshing back.

You are not being a drama queen. I tucked my two up at night and wondered how they were going to manage without me. I thought how my husband would manage.

This is what irrational fear does to us. You are not doing anything most women would do.

You have an odd shaped breast. Most of us do. You have no discharge.
You have no puckering.
Your GP can't feel anything unusual.

You are being referred, by the sounds of it, to put your mind at rest. Which you are quite entitled to by the way.

You are just being very sensible in getting it checked.

You have done everything right and I believe you have nothing to fear.

Am around if you need to talk more.

am taking deep breaths.
have got to try and stop thinking about it.
you are right in everything you say.

gp did say that she wouldn't have refered me if i hadn't been worried.
i'm sorry to go on.

Yes, actually, trying to keep yourself occupied is a good idea. If I sat down in the evening, especially when on my own, that's when my fears took over.

If you feel in a practical mood, a good site is www.breakthrough.org.uk. Tells you how breast is made up and symptoms etc. You could find that reassuring.

I have my mirriam Stoppard 'Breast Health' book here. And I quote "Breast pain is RARELY a symptom of breast cancer......the worse the pain, the less likely it is to be due to a malignant growth. Looked at this way, breast pain is a reassuring symptom since its presence all but excludes breast cancer"

Keep reading that.

that is good emmatom . thank you for being so reassuring.
when are you going to have your cyst drained? that's this week isn't it?

i hate being a woman sometimes- breast stuff and smear tests and periods and yeast infections. definitely coming back as a man in my next life.
or a well looked after cat.

Next Tuesday I bare my breasts again for the drainage. Lovely!!!

The good that comes of these fears is once you get the all clear, which you will, it makes you realise how all the silly things we worry about 'aint worth worrying about!

As long as you have your health, the rest doesn't matter and things like this happen to shake us up a bit I reckon!

Have to pop out for half an hour. Will check thread on my return and if you find at 11pm or 3 am or whatever, that the fear has kicked back in, I'll do my best to reassure.

Really do feel for you.

I'm back ACM and around most of the evening. x

Hello, I'm sorry to hear you're going through this.
I went through something similar earlier this year. I had pain in my left breast, had the gp check it and she immediately referred me to the breast clinic for a mammogram. I left the surgery in a state of shock and wanted to vomit. I had my 3yr old ds with me at the time!

I am very happy to tell you that a) everyone I dealt with was professional and wonderful and b) pain is (as I think someone said already) a good indicator as they say that cancer is painless...though I am not qualified! and c) they found nothing at all in the many mammograms I had.

Something the gp did tell me though is that there is a new (I think) scheme where anyone with an increased risk of breast cancer (I fitted into it because of family history) can now get onto an early screening programme fairly quickly.

When I was going through it I sometimes found myself drifting into a whole fantasy of "what would happen to ds if they find something" "I can't bear the thought of not seeing him grow up" etc. The only time I cried was when they told me I had the all clear and then both me and my husband cried in the kitchen!!

I'll be thinking of you and am sure they're screening to put your mind at rest and hope you get that good news soon xx

can i please join this thread? I've just had my appointment through for the breast clinic. Its on Tuesday and I've just driven my daughter to school in a state of shock. I am absolutely petrified and feel like not going,like you do. I too have had a sort of sore area on the outside of my left breast. I have prodded it and poked it so much and feel like there is a lump there but it feels like normal lumpiness just a bit bigger but sore. My gp couldn't find anything but referred me as I was in a real state and also as my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer at my age. (i'm 35) I keep looking at my two little children and am finding it really hard to carry on as normal. I really don't know how I'm going to go to the clinic and sit there on Tuesday without turning into a snivelling heap!

I have read everything i can on the internet and some of it makes me feel better but then I read something else that scares the life out of me!

On a positive note... all this worry has made me lose half a stone!

JustBonnie, must dash in a min, but just to say what I've said to ACM - please re-read what I've said to her.

I broke down at the clinic too - they are probably so used to it. Don't worry about that.

Your GP is doing what mine did - referring us both because we were both so worried.

Keep yourself busy as you can until the appointment.

Remember 9 out of 10 lumps are no problem. You're very young, you have no discharge, no puckering.

Go to the appointment, have all the tests and then rejoice when you're told all is OK, as you will be. x

hi just bonnie-it's awful isn't it?

i've been on the phone to my mum this am, the biggest worry wart in the world and she has been telling me not ot worry.she was saying i have been in pain for so long-12-18 months that if it was cancer then there woukld be other symptoms by now.
she's right i know shes right butit doesn't stop the lurching feeling in my tummy. ds2 slept in bed with us last night and i just lay there looking at him, thinking how i HAVE to be there for him.

god knows how my friend feels who HAS breast cancer. she's only 34 and has a 6 year old daughter. her situation has coloured mine considerably.

we should start a new thread of funny anecdotes or jokes just to take our minds off things shouldn't we?

I've really been trying to take my mind off it, but then it's so hard as it's breast cancer awareness month so every time you switch on the telly, read a magazine there's something about it. I know this is a good thing but it's not really helping me at the moment!

It's my youngest daughter's 1st birthday tomorrow so i'm really going to try and focus on that. Like you said the worse thing is looking at the children. I keep hugging them and kissing them and if I am lucky enough to get the all clear this time I am never going to get stressed or upset about anything unimportant again!

Your mum is so right about the pain. If you have had it this long and it was c you would be getting a lot more symptoms by now, but like you said in a situation like this we don't tend to think rationally do we?

Emmatom, your words are really helpful and I did feel better when I read what you said (well, for about an hour anyway )

I'm really hoping mine is due to the time of the month. The lump I think i can feel is quite soft and mobile and tender (all good things I think) My boobs are really lumpy and tender in general at the moment anyway, but I still keep thinking 'what if it's not'.

I'm off now to try and concentrate on something other than my boob!

take carexxx

hi, have just got back from clinic and have been assured my pain is hormonal. Was given a thorough check by a really nice doctor who assured me all he felt was 'normal breast tissue'. I am so so very relieved. Due to family history I've got to go back in 6 months for a check which i'm pleased about.

Have you been to your appointment yet, ACM? If so i hope everything worked out for you too xxx

oh, the doctor also said that pain is a good sign so if anyone else has similar worries, hope this helps!

Hi Bonnie, so pleased for you. You can relax now!!!

Makes you realise what rubbish we worry over sometimes, when this happens eh.

Have a good day.

emmatom, thank you for your words when I was worried, they really did help.

I am having the BEST day ever, doing things with the children without that constant horrible worry that I've had over the last few weeks. Like you said things like this really put everything else into perspective.

Actually looking forward to doing the HUGE pile of ironing that's waiting for me tonight

So glad to hear that.

Alexscursedmummy - how are you doing?