Hello everyone,

I'm wondering if anyone has had help to face up to getting breast checks or any other checks which they are nervous about because of fears of it being serious?

I had a benign lesion removed from my breast 10 years ago, that side has been slightly bigger and more 'reactive' since, the armpit and the arm itself feels like it swells slightly when my period is due but it all goes down again. I went back for another check up a year later and they said there was nothing to worry about, it's just more active, but that was 10 years ago.

I'm due to start going for mammograms, I've just started HRT which I feel a lot better on, but just before my period I get really worried about this whole area. Once my period starts and the sensations and swelling go away I'm less worried, but the real issue is that I won't go and get checked out.

Telling me to go won't work, if it were that easy I'd do it. I've worked with a psychologist to face up to some medical checks and I've done those, but this, I don't want to be back in the situation I was in all those years ago, it happened straight after a life changing traumatic incident, so I was really not up for anything else and then I had to go and get that sorted. At the time they thought it was cancer, but then later told me it wasn't, it was a rare lesion that's benign and they only remove these things because it would cause confusion on mammograms later on (I suspect they just wanted it gone as well just in case).

Has anyone worked with a psychologist or anyone about this sort of thing, or managed to go get checked when anxious, because I need help and no one in my friends or family are interested to hear about it sadly.

Thanks for any advice, thoughts, experience you have.