I am so scared and worried

Scaredandworried

I posted in "Not diagnosed by worried" forum but was recommended to post here

Here’s my story:

42 years old, two children; 15 and 9. Always had tender and painful breasts right before period. In sept. 2012, same thing however period came and went but the tenderness and pain was still there…continued through October and I had been drinking a lot more caffeine so thought it’s because of that. Breasts were so painful that I wouldn’t even let me 9 year old lean against me. Finally my daughter 15 convinced me that I need to see my doctor for this. Well, went to my doctor thinking she’ll say nothing out of the ordinary, well she did my breast exam and said your breasts are very lumpy which I’ve always known so I thought oh ok, but then she said I’d like you to go for a diagnostic mammo and ultrasound. At this point panic had not kicked in so I told her is a mammo really needed since I know I have fibrocystic breasts but she insisted.  My doctor pointed out two areas on my breast where she had felt lumps which she thought would be benign cysts but she wanted to get checked; one on each breast. So I got the tests done; mammo was benign but could not be interpreted well because my breasts are dense. Ultrasound said simple cyst on left breast where the doctor had noted lump and complex cyst on the right breast. I was told to follow up with ultrasound in six months. At this point, my panic had kicked in full time and I had started to worry and also noted a slight dimple on the right breast where the complex cyst was noted.  So I made an appt. with a breast surgeon on my own. He did an ultrasound in his office again and said well on the right breast there’s actually two cysts right next to each other and maybe that’s why they were noted as complex. He also noted a complex cyst on the left breast. He told me we can confirm these are only cysts by aspirating them. He was able to deflate the cyst in the left, and one on the right but the other one on the right would not deflate. So he did core biopsy on that, which came back negative as fibroadenoma with sclerosing adenosis, no evidence of atypia or carcinoma. So I was relieved and thought this was behind me. This all happened in Nov. 2012. Beginning of Dec I started itching in my underarms, more so on the right side then the left. I thought nothing of it till I started reading online that this could be a sign of BC. Ok then I started examining myself in front of the mirror and voila I see two new dimples on my right breast!!!!! At two different places.  So now a total of 3 dimples on this side; 1 near the armpit, where the biopsy was done and the two new ones are under the nipple. I’ve also started noticing that my hair follicles on the right breast are much more obvious then the left, so I’m panicking and thinking peau d’orange!!!! I went to the breast surgeon again and he could see the dimple under the nipple but couldn’t see the hair follicles (I can only see them in certain lighting when I lift my arms above my head). So he did an ultrasound around the nipple and said well yes there’s a mass with uneven edges there but since your first biopsy showed fibroadenoma and fibrocystic breasts that’s probably what this is too. I see these things everyday so nothing to worry about. Why don’t you come back in 3 months and we’ll take a look at it again. I said no and insisted on a biopsy….i could tell he was hesitant by finally gave in. So now I’m scheduled for Jan 23^rd but in the meantime my husband is beyond himself absolutely angry at me saying I’m trying to look for problems when there’s none. Whereas I am absolutely terrified and thinking the worst…..I have also made an appointment with another breast oncologist thinking this one’s missing something big. Shouldn’t I be having an MRI? The two new dimples are an inch apart from each other…..i’m thinking something big in there pulling my skin in….this doctor didn’t really bother about the dimples….Am I being unreasonable. I am so so scared, can’t think of anything else and my husband thinks I should stop making any more trips to the doctors.

ibcmets

Get the biopsy.  If the biopsy shows cancer, then many other tests will be required like PET scan or CT & MRI.  You would be referred to an oncologist and he would order these tests. 

Still hoping you don't have ibc but glad you are being persistant.

Terri

SeattleMama

I'm with terri - I so hope it is not bc, but keep up the persistence!!!! 

Mine grew very fast, the initial and the secondary during chemo. I kept complaining to my oncologist about pain, and "looking weird" again, and he kept putting it off.

liv-

scaredandworried sorry to hear you are so worried.

there is only one thing to do...ditto with terri - please go and get a biopsy.

best wishes.

xx

thefuzzylemon

I'm also voting for the biopsy!!! Its just too big of a thing to mess around with. DH will not be able to understand this...I Hope you can accept that so you can move forward and take care of getting real answers!!

I was misdiagnosed. Didn't get a second opinion or push for testing...big mistake.

Scaredandworried

I just came back from my doctor’s appt. This is a very well renowned doctor with the local university. I showed her the dimple and my concern over the texture of the skin. She said yes the changes are very subtle but she saw what I meant. She also said she sees a lot of IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer) patients and their skin looks very obvious so mine did not look like it. But to be very sure she’s recommending MRI, which now I have to wait for the insurance to approve. She also did ultrasound of my breast and said she did not see anything underneath the dimple. I am confused now because another doctor I had gone to ten days ago said he saw a mass. I just had my period 4 days ago….is it possible that mass/cyst deflated during my period?

In any case I’m now waiting for the MRI approval to come through…..in the meantime visiting this forum for support and encouraging words J

liv-

scaredandworried. - positive news but i would still be asking for a punch biopsy, better to be safe and sure.

warm wishes.

xx

Scaredandworried

Hi Liv, yes you're right. I think my doctor had the same in mind. This waiting for the insurance to approve the MRI is killing me though in the mean time. I feel like I'm wasting precious time.... I'm known to be very impatient and this situation is not the best ;(

liv-

hi scaredanworried ((hugs)) - you have every right to be impatient, time sometimes is very precious when it comes to cancer.

do you know when the insurance will give the go ahead?
easy for me to say try and not stress & try to do something to occupy your mind.  i find exercise with music, like power walking does it for me.  clears all the junk out of my head.

good luck & fingers crossed you will get your request soon.

xx

Scaredandworried

Hi liv, hugs back to you! Thank you so much for your response. The doctors office had told me the insurance can take upto a week... I was in her office this Tuesday, so ill call back to ask on Monday. I try to keep myself busy but seems like all I can think about is this

liv-

best wishes and thoughts will stay with you.

xx

Scaredandworried

So after waiting for so many days for the insurance to approve the MRI it was denied. I am getting it done this Friday paying out of pocket, which I feel is a small price to pay for peace of mind. The MRI clinic told me to make an Appt on day 7 though 10 from when my period starts otherwise I would've gotten it done last week. I am so scared of what they might see in the MRI and what might come next.... Please keep md in your prayers!

liv-

scaredandworried ((hugs))  out of pocket is nothing for peace of mind, good decision.

we are with you.

xx

liv-

thx bon, very imformative xx

ibcmets

Great article Bonnie,

Terri

ibcmets

Scaredandworried,

I saw Christina Applegate on the "Doctors" show and she has a foundation that pays for MRI's for anyone with a history of bc in family or braca1 or 2.  The site is www.rightactionforwomen.org

Hope all those having trouble getting Ins. approvals can get the help they need.

Terri