Breast lumps - please help

[PANIC247]

Wow .. can’t believe I’m back here it’s been 6 years that I’ve managed to have my HA under control.

Back story, my father was diagnosed with lung cancer stage 4 (he was a very heavy smoker) in January and passed away in April since then my terrible fear of cancer has returned. Apart from my father and a first cousin who had breast cancer (now in remission) nobody else in my family has ever had cancer.

I’m a 28 year old female btw do not smoke or drink and never have. I was checking my breasts as us women do and noticed my breasts seem quite glandy / fibrous I’m not too sure how to explain it. But if you look up a diagram of inside a breast I feel like I can feel all the ducts ect. I became a bit obsessed and started checking my breasts obsessively and feel like I’m my left breast the “glandy fibrous” stuff I feel is very prominent in one area, it’s not solid or a well formed lump. It is soft and moves but I can’t describe what exactly it feels like. I picked up the courage to go to my gp who examined me and said it feels like a fibroadenoma and she wasn’t concerned at all but is referring me for a ultrasound under the 2Week referral and Ofcourse I’m panicking now that something is terribly wrong and am convinced I have breast cancer. I have been searching fibroadenoma and they’re described online as feeling like marbles or peas. Mine do not feel like that they aren’t well defined lumps they feel more like softish gristle but I’m panicking so much if it’s not fibroadenoma then maybe it is cancer. Please ladies any advice :(

[Limeslime]

My bet is that it is simply prominent breast tissue. Have you monitored it throughout an entire cycle to see if it changes?
You’re so young, statistically you’re much more likely to have a benign cause. It’s good that you’re getting it checked out though, because that HA dragon will niggle away otherwise. I’m sure you’ll get some closure very soon!

[PANIC247]

Hey lime slime thank you for the response. I haven’t monitored it on, I feel like I felt it 3 months ago or so but I stopped checking as I didn’t want to go back down the HA path and I was getting very obsessive with it. But then started checking again a couple of weeks ago and now haven’t stopped. I have been taking the combined contraceptive pill for about 8 months now but don’t have much to compare to as unfortunately I’ve only recently started checking my breasts since dad passed away :(

[Carys]

Hiyer - not going to repeat everything on the thread as we've had a 'good chat' via PM.

[ErinKC]

This is exactly how my breasts feel, with my right breast definitely more lumpy than the left. The way you're describing it is completely the same as how I would. I actually had my annual check up today with my GP. I had grown a bit concerned in the last two weeks because I noticed that seemingly out of nowhere my breasts have become lopsided (my left nipple is like a cm to an inch lower than my right). I've never noticed this before so she did a very thorough breast exam. She said she didn't feel anything on concern - that it all just felt like normal fibrous tissue - but because I'm set to turn 40 in 8 months I might as well just go for my mammogram now to check it out. So, I'll get a mammograms and ultrasound of both breasts on the 31st. We don't have a referral system here, so I just schedule myself at the radiology place for the earliest visit.

I'm a bit nervous, but mostly feel pretty certain it's nothing to worry about. I read that fibrocystic breast changes are most common in women between 20 and 40 as hormones can start to do weird spikes and drops. We'll probably be getting our mammograms around the same time so I'll check in with you as the date approaches!

[PANIC247]

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post Erin. It’s honestly so terrifying waiting to find out I do hope it is just normal fibrous tissue as your doctor mentioned because it doesn’t seem to feel how fibroadenomas are described so I’m questioning what my GP said. Hoping and praying all is well for both of us!

[PANIC247]

Hi All .. so saw my Gp a week ago for what felt like “lumpy breasts” she felt and said wasn’t concerned she believed was a fibroadenoma but referred me to breast clinic under 2 week pathway which sent me into uncontrollable panic. Have barely been able to function the last week and NHS hospitals have told me I’m not going to be seen within 2 weeks as clinics are at full capacity so I decided to go for a private breast ultrasound scan today.

the lady was lovely and has very good reviews online she did a very thorough check with Ultrasound and went over both breasts rather than just 1 numerous times and reassured me there are no lumps, cysts or fibroadenoma Just certain parts of my breast are more dense and fibrous than others which she says is normal for someone my age (28). I felt reassured but as soon as I left the clinic the doubts started creeping in again. Telling myself that she’s just a sonogropher not a doctor and definitely not a breast specialist so she may have missed something or been unable to identify cancer. Also confused she’s saying there’s no fibroadenoma as Gp believed there was and surely a doctor knows what she’s feeling.

some advice/reassurance please? Has anyone had private ultrasounds NOT with a breast specialist ?

[Catkins]

Not with breast scans, but my husband had a private ultrasound on his abdomen last year. The person he saw went through everything thoroughly, explained everything to him and we even got pictures to take home.

The person who did your scan knows what they are doing. If there was anything that had concerned them they would have referred you back to the NHS for a rapid appointment. Even though they operate privately they have a Duty of Care towards you and are bound by nationally set guidelines on what they can do or say. She will probably be HPC registered as most health care professionals are now so will also be bound by their guidelines too. Ultimately it really isn't worth her telling you there is nothing wrong, if there is, because she could face disciplinary action and could lose her ability to practice in her field. She wouldn't risk that so if she had even the slightest concern she would flag it up and refer you on. I work with a lot of health care professionals and honestly with litigation being as it is they are incredibly careful with diagnosis and have very strict guidelines to follow.

I hope that helps.

[nomorepanic]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your thread was merged with another of your threads.

Please when posting on similar topics add it onto your previous post rather than starting a new one.

It is nothing personal it is just to make it easier for people to follow your story and to give you advice as a whole.

[nomorepanic]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your post was moved from its original place to a sub-forum that is more relevant to your issue.

This is nothing personal - it just enables us to keep posts about the same problems in the relevant forums so other members with any experience with the issues can find them more easily.

Please also read this post:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=213239