Young and Nervous

mgalina94

Hi,

This is my first time posting, but have been reading other posts and thought this might be helpful. I'm 23 years old and found a lump from a self breast exam a few weeks ago. I went to my ob gyn this week, who said it was most likely a cyst, but is scheduling me a diagnostic mammaogram to be sure. I have a great aunt who had breast cancer.I'm naturally an over thinker, and am extremely nervous for both the test and the results. I know worrying is useless, but it's also inevitable. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on preparing for tests or easing anxiety

Thank you!

YasmineH

One thing I have learnt is to stay off the Internet. So many lumps that may be malignant can also be benign. Have the test done for your own piece of mind. Simple Cyst are also very common

MelissaDallas

As far as easing anxiety, it is very very unlikely that this will be anything other than benign, and a single great-aunt with cancer wouldn't even register on the genetic syndrome cancers risk, so definitely don't over-think that.

MTwoman

mgalina, I would disagree with your statement " but it's also inevitable". Read through my thread for a better understanding of anxiety and the things you can do to reduce or rid yourself of "the inevitable". (find it here: https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/83/topics/855477?page=1 )

Also, MelissaDallas is right, see the chart below:

You fall in the 20-34 age group that represents 15 years worth of women and only 1.8% of the bc diagnoses in the US. Not impossible, just very statistically unlikely. Take a breath and just go do the imaging. Step by step. I would guess you're not in the 1.8%.