Phyllodes tumour - partial mastectomy

Alym26

About 3 years ago I found a lump in my breast, the lump feels quite large, is painful at times and you can feel it through my clothing if I were wearing a sports bra and a t-shirt. I struggle with anxiety so when it came to bringing it up to my doctor I was always too scared. Last July I finally got the courage to say something to my doctor, she thought it was nothing and gave me an ultrasound referral. It took me a while to make the ultrasound appointment... I didn't end up making it until this past April.

On April 22nd I had an ultrasound done, the technician didn't say anything. I spent the day thinking that if they call today, something's wrong... if they don't call, i'm fine. My doctor didn't end up calling that day so I thought I was in the clear, then she called the following Monday saying I needed to come in and see her the following Monday. I immediately started freaking out, because my mother had told me they wouldn't need to discuss my results if it were nothing... I ended up switching the appointment to Wednesday afternoon because I couldn't bare the anxiety. I needed to know.

I got to the doctors Wednesday, and honestly had prepared myself for the worst. My doctor ended up telling me "I think it's a fibroadenoma, it's a non-cancerous tumour" I was relieved, but still concerned. She said it's very common for women my age. She told me that we could either come back in 6 months, do another ultrasound and monitor it - or I could see a surgeon about a biopsy. I told my doctor that I would rather just remove the lump and have a biopsy done once it's out. My doctor made the referral for me to meet with the surgeon and that was that.

On May 11th, my doctors office called me saying that I had an appointment with a specialist(surgeon) on May 12th at 9am. This was alarming to me. It seemed very odd that the surgeon wanted to make the appointment for the next day, but it could have been because it was available.

Yesterday, I went to the appointment and the surgeon pretty much said immediately that she wants to take it out. She also said that there are actually 3 tumours in my breast, 2 of them together measure to 6cm. She didn't mention the 3rd tumour. After doing a breast exam and asking a few questions she began telling me her diagnosis of the lump - she said "So based on the ultrasound and the exam I just gave, I believe that it's a form of cancer... it doesn't spread, but it is cancer." I then asked her what the name was and she said "phyllodes" and I recognized it as something I had seen when looking up fibroadenoma's that is very rare and can be misdiagnosed as a fibroadenoma. After hearing her say that she thinks it is cancer, it kinda clicked in my head why the appointment was made for the next day and why she seemed very adamant about getting it out. She said that after the surgery if there is still something weird about it, we'll have to go back in.

My surgery is scheduled for June 1st, it's a partial mastectomy. I still don't think it's hit me that I could have breast cancer, people are trying to calm me down by saying that it might not be - but with the interactions I had with the surgeon... it didn't seem like she thinks it's benign.

Moderators

Hi Alym26 and welcome to Breastcancer.org.

We're sorry you're here, but glad you found us. You're sure to find our amazing Community a wonderful source of support and knowledge!

You're sure to get some input soon from some of our members, but in the meantime, you may want to check out the main Breastcancer.org site's pages on Phyllodes Tumors of the Breast.

We hope this helps and please continue to let us know how you're doing!

--The Mods