Hello ladies,
Well, first of all I know I'm supoose to wait now 1 week or so for results but I'm freaking out!!! literrally! and i know you are all probably not doctors, but you are all women and might be able to suggest me what to do or maybe calm me down. So lets start from the beg. I'm 30 years old, I'm married w/ 2 boys...4 and 2 year old. My maternal grandma had recently a breast cancer scare, she had even a biopsy and what she has is not malignant...thank God! but my paternal grandma had colitis for 2 years and 2 days before she passed away it had become Colon Cancer. So u can imagine how i'm feeling. So, for the past year I've been having a lot of breast pain, mostly in my left breast. And first it felt like muscle pain underneath my breast. My doctor gave me some medication but after a while it became more in the breast all around. Stupid me, waited!!! and now, w/one thing and another one, I decided to go to a physical last month and mentioned it to the dr about the pains that will happen for 1 or even 2 weeks continuously and will stop and then comeback. But I tried to check if related w/the time of my menstrual period but nothing.
Btw, I must mentioned I have changed many birth control methods cause of problems, now i'm in Nuvaring. So, the dr sent me in to do an ultrasound and then possibly a Mammogram. so finally my appt was yesterday. And they did the mammogram first, and at the end I asked the lady if I still needed to do the ultrasound. She said well let me talk to the dr in staff to see, i'll be back. so i waited outside and then she cameback w/the lady that would do the ultrasound and nothing else. so during the ultrasound first on my left breast where it usually hurst the most (BTW I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT I CHECKED MYSELF ALWAYS, AND MY HUSBAND AND EVEN MY DOCTOR NEVER FELT ANYTHING) and i was trying to look at the screen, like i knew what i was looking for, but that i could tell nothing out of the normal, but on the right breast i had to turn toward the wall, and when i glanced back i saw a picture of maybe like a lump and she was measuring it.......so by now, i'm freaking out....then, at the end, she went to save it and left the room, but i guess it takes a few more seconds to save cause i looked really fast and it had a lot of pictures taken w/the measurements.
So, now I'm freaking out, i called my mom she said it might be what she has...i think they are called "calcifications"??? but i wonder w/that do you suffer from pain??? cause that's my only symptom...just pain...i haven't notice no loss weight or anything like that...I really don't know, can you please help me...have you had anything like this? or just calm me down please. This will be the longest week of my life.
Thank you for allowing me to vent and for listening!
First of all.....THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ALL YOUR CARING AND ANSWERS!!! I APPRECIATE IT A LOT! i never felt so loved by strangers!
So, my doctor's nurse called me yesterday and she said that they found cysts/nodules on my breasts, but nothing to worry about that they will do another test in 5 months......okay by this time I'm super relieved!!! but I asked her what should i take for the pain that I get, she kinda seemed like she didn't know for a few seconds, then she said "tylenol, yeah that should be good".....so, that was kinda weird, cause I take that and it doesn't help. So, the whole afternoon I started thinking and I spoke w/a friend that works w/a general doctor, and he said that I should get a 2nd opinion maybe because of the pain they can get them out somehow...but then I got more worried when my husband told me last night that our health insurance coverage will change next year and that we will have a $6000 annual deductive for family to cover first before the insurance starts covering 80/20. So, I'm thinking that I should do all possible this year....so, any recommendations???? which doctor should I go to...another Primary Care Doctor or what kind of specialist????
Thank You again!!!
i have always heard that in general, breast cancer lumps are NOT painful - so if you have pain, it's most likely to be benign. take a deep breath, and try not to freak out(been there, i know it's tough!).
Cancerous tumors do not hurt - they don't have nerve endings. But, when they press upon other organs/nerves, you may experience pain.
My cancer diagnosis was almost 2 years ago (June 10, 2008) - the day before my son's second birthday, 2 days before my birthday, and just before my daughter turned 11 weeks old.
In my case, I was nursing her, had a pain in my shoulder, was feeling around for a muscle pull and found a small pea sized nodule around my collarbone. My unfortunate education led me to google and several medical websites and the identification of swollen supraclavicular lymphnodes. My OB/GYN wasn't concerned the next day when I went in, so I went to my Family Practitioner who ordered ultrasounds and biopsies. The Ultrasound showed "Benign Adenopathy". My CBC (complete white counts) was normal. It took 3 pathologists to correctly identifty Hodgkins Lymphoma. After 5 months of chemo, I'm past 18 months cancer free.....for now.
So, here's my advice.
1. Stay off the internet! It will only lead you down paths full of anxiety and fear.
2. Trust that little voice inside of you and keep pressing for answers
3. If your diagnosis is clean, get the BRAC analysis to see if you carry the genes that are believed to be precursors for breast/ovarian cancer. I believe the company, Myriad Genetics, also has one for colon cancer.
4. If your diagnosis is cancerous, find a breast cancer specialist vs. a general oncologist. You want to make sure you're being treated according to current medical guidelines for your exact diagnosis. Breast cancer has many different forms. Don't be afraid to get other opinions to make sure you're getting the best treatment.
While you're waiting for results, do as much as you can to remain busy and to keep your mind off of waiting for the results.
If you are going to be on the internet, make sure it's credible sources such as the Susan G. Komen site, Livestrong, American Cancer Society, etc.
GOOD LUCK!
Do me a favor. Call, call the doctor all the time for the results. This week, now, yesterday, whatever. My doctor went on a vacation when they did that to me and didn't authorize anyone to give me information. Insist on it. I was tortured waiting almost a whole summer. Okay, that said, obviously yes, I went through some stuff like that and they saw a little teensie thing that was like a pin head, did a biopsy and I was fine. Nothing. (and my mother also had breast cancer so you can imagine the panic).They have to check little things because that is how they are going to find anything that should be dealt with. I will not say try not to worry. You will. But do follow up. It might be something different. I know someone who had a glandular type problem, doctor didn't know what it was. That cause pain. Fibroids cause pain or an unusual feeling maybe not always pain. Humor yourself. Find as many things about breasts that you can and start reading. It will make you crazy. You will find thirty other things to worry about. Or, find some amusing things to do while you are waiting, books that are great fun, movies, lunches with friends and walks and this part I will say: take it as it comes. I should know. I had UTERINE cancer last July (SURVIVOR-almost one year!) and I found out that was how you wait these things out. You are probably fine. But you will worry. So go for a bike ride! Smell some flowers. Good luck!
I understand exactly what you are going through!! My own Mother passed away from Ovarian Cancer about 8 years ago...and the following year when I went in for my annual mammogram they discovered an "abnormality" and told me I needed to go back in for a different type of mammogram that would check the suspicious site more thoroughly!!! I somehow managed to stay calm and collected until the 2nd test and thank goodness the radiologist was able to assure me while I was still there at the women's center that it was simply a calcification and nothing to worry about!!!
Don't read too much into the fact that you saw the technician taking measurements and such...I think that is pretty standard operating procedure for sonograms of any type!!! If they are calcifications then I am assuming she was taking measurements so that when you go back in 6 months or a year for a follow up screening, they have the measurements from THIS test to compare it to!!!
I don't know what to tell you to help calm you down. I know that when I was going through this same thing, and even when I was going through what we KNEW was cancer with my Mother, I simply turned it all over to God. He is able to handle anything that is thrown our way. I knew that my Mother had lived a long and wonderful life, and I knew that she was not afraid of dying. I also knew, when I was waiting for the follow up tests on my part that no amount of worry and fret was going to change a single thing. My best choice was to simply wait and trust in God to handle the outcome!!
God bless you
I too have some calcifications and some bening cysts, I worried horribly for ten days(waiting for the results). I almost ruined our only family vacation in years! because coincidentally I had the mamogram and biopsies right before leaving for Disney World (yay right? I couldn't concentate thinking this could be our last trip together, really depressing), when we came back I had my results and were all normal. Thank God!
The biopsies were really uncomfortable I got two do in one breast and one in the other I was 32 ate the time. The procedure involved so many needles and anesthesia that I was almost sure something was wrong (even though there's no history of BC in my family), I thought how could all this heavy testing be routine or "just to make sure"? there must be something horrible going on. When I got the results back I felt the world was lifted off my shoulders.I have to be back when I'm 40,
Really try not to worry, DON"T freak I know it's hard, believe me I freaked and worried sick to my stomach when waiting for my biopsies results and it wasn't worth it.
The breast is tissue sometimes is dense and has tons of different components, it's probably a bening cyst or some normal microcalcifications.
Good luck momma I'm sure you'll results will be completely normal,
Don't freak out. This probably is nothing. I have fibrous cystic disease (calcifications), which can cause pain and what you saw, but it will not hurt you. I've had to have biopsies too. ALL benign. Once after a mammogram they made me sit and wait for a doctor to re-read it. Everyone left for lunch and the waiting room was empty, except me! Needless to say I was doing my best not to freak out. This is all it was.
Do you know how to meditate? Now is a good time to visualize good things. It will help calm you.
Dear N.,
First off, TRY to relax....You might just have fibrocistic( spelling might be wrong..sorry) Breasts...This is a long process for the Doctors to review and double check....Did you have any prior films to give to the Mammogram Tech?
That would be helpful.
I had the same things done to me....It's VERY SCARY...Hopefully you will have no major problems....Keep yourself busy....I know that will be hard...
If you need to vent anymore...Contact me.
Sincerely,
G. H.
I have heard the same thing as the previous post says--Typically lumps arent painful--My mother in law had breast cancer twice and had no breast pain at all, either time--My grandmother and sister have fibroids and they can be painful, but benign--I will be thinking of you and your family!
It's true. Cancerous lumps are usually not painful! I just had a scare with a lump 6 mos. ago. Turns out it was a cyst (nothing that even needs to be removed) and the doc gave me a very thorough "lesson" on exactly what to look for. That was one of the things he said.
I found a lump in my R breast one night when I was rocking my daughter to sleep. At the time, I was pregnant with my second. You can imagine all the thoughts that raced thru my head (assuming it was cancer and I was going to die). I went to the doctor the next day and she asked me "Does it hurt?" I said yes. She said "Good." I looked at her dumbfounded. She smiled and said. Most of the time if a lump hurts, it's not cancerous. It's the ones that don't hurt that are the most concerning. That statement really provided me some comfort. I ended up going for an ultrasound (no mammogram since I was pregnant) and turns out it was fibrocystic disease...which is basically lumpy breast tissue that is benign.
Hopefully this will calm your nerves for the next fews days until you actually get your results back.
PS - I would worry about seeing pictures with measurements, either. They measure lots of different landmarks so that the techs and doctors looking at the pictures (2D) can tell what they are looking at.
I had breast pain before I was pregnant and while I was pregnant. It would come and go and was really uncomfortable. I worried endlessly. Finally while I was pregnant (7 months) my dr. sent me for an ultrasound since I couldn't have a mamogram. They too started to measure something and I freaked out. Turned out it was a cyst. They aspirated it and the pain went away immediately. I never felt any sort of lump or anything.
I know it is really hard not to let your mind go to crazy places, especially if there is cancer in your family, but call the dr. and see how much longer the wait will be. A friend of mine was recently diagnoised and she got the call the day after her mamogram and biopsy.
