Breast cancer scare!! Please help I'm only 22

[Ohjohnny]

Hi I can' t take my anxiety anymore so i deccided to post here with a hope for a peace of mind. I am 22 generaly in good health had a cbc recently and it was good. I have some lymph node problems in my collarbone area but a ent doctor couldn't feel the lump and said it was all ok. I have some lower back pain but i have a 22 month old son and i hope it's because i carry him around. I have found a lump in my breast a couple of months ago, my left breast is lumpy and i wouldn't panic if my lump wasn't hard, flat, fixed, irregular shaped. The first time around I was keeping an eye on the lump because i'm scared of doctors and i thought it went away. I went on vacation and a couple of days ago i felt it again and now i am not sure if it went away in the first place. I would like to note that i had problems breastfeeding on that breast and a case of mastitis 20 months ago. Also my son sometimes kicks me with his legs on the breast so i guess that counts as a trauma. I am trying to calm myself down but igoogle alot and i cant find any explenation for this kind of lump other than cancer. I have no history of breast cancer in my family and i am wondering if.anyone here had a similar problem? I can't get to the doctors for three more weeks because i am on vacation and i am losing it

[Ohjohnny]

Anyone?

[Frenchy]

Hi... I’m so sorry you’re having these issues and have a lump that you are concerned about. Especially whilst you are away.

You current predicament is a bit tricky and I suspect the lack of replies may be down to the fact that – as much as people want to help put your mind at ease and help you get back to your vacation – people can’t really provide you with actual medical advice or firm reassurance and we can’t tell you (or anyone in these kinds of situations) for sure what the lump in your breast might be or whether it is harmless or not. The likelihood with these things is always that they probably are nothing serious – and it could be that it’s a normal bump that's been made to feel worse if you have been prodding or poking it (tissue that is ordinarily soft can actually become sore, swollen and quite hard if you are touching and prodding around with it too much). And I’m assuming – as you are here – you probably know you have anxiety issues and that could be making things look/seem/feel worse.

However in truth, the most any responsible person on the forum can say here is that it whilst it’s probably nothing dangerous....you should get these kinds of things checked out by a doctor. That doesn’t mean I/we think it is cancer, it’s just in cases like lumps and bumps in breasts, no one wants to put anyone at risk by assuring you that it’s harmless when we really have no idea what it is or what has caused it.

I’m not sure where you have travelled to -and obviously getting this kind of thing checked whilst you are on holiday probably is going to be a bit more of a headache – but as you are only at the start of your holiday and it sounds like you are there for 3 weeks and very worried about this, you could contact your travel insurer (assuming you have this in place – you certainly should have!) and explain that you have found this lump and would they cover you for a visit to a local GP in order to get it checked. If they agree then you may be able to find a local doctor who can take a look and have your insurance cover this. Otherwise I really think you are going to have to try and put this out of your mind, stop any prodding (and it might start to feel better in a few days, on its own) and then see your GP as soon as you get back.

What has your history with Health Anxiety been in that past? Have you had a number of instances in the past that you have believed might be cancer? Is cancer an ongoing anxiety of yours that has plagued you a lot? Not that this changes the points I’ve made above but am interested as you are obviously new and have no posting history. If this has been an ongoing anxiety, are you having any treatment for this?

I’m sorry that we don’t have a way to make all this go away for you overnight. I really do hope you manage to get on top of this and can enjoy some of your holiday.

[Ohjohnny]

Hi thanks for your kind reply. I do have HA i had it since i was a child and it became worse after i gave birth. To make things worse i live in a family of doctors and they often talk about cancer and death which is making things worse for me. So far they have dismissed every lump i had so now i feel stupid to even mention this. I am living in croatia and here HA is not taken seriously so i never got any help and i am ok most of the time. I am on vacation in my country and it's not likely that any doctor would see me unless it was an emergency. I read this forum a lot and it is helping me calm down and i feel good about posting here because i know that people reading my post often feel the same. My main problem is google because when i search it seems that my lumps can be cancer and nothing else (i know many people here have the same problem) when i posted my problem i hoped that maybe someone here had the same symptoms that tourned out to be benign. I am going to see a doctor as soon as i get home.