Job search while testing!

KM09

Hello Ladies,

I am so much calmed down after reading other ladies stories , struggles and victories here on this forum..It is very very scary to find a lump and thinking BC is the first think we do....I hope someone here can give me a perspective, something like out of the box opinion, because I am in a very confused state right now....

I had my kids late in life (as they say! at age 37 and 39.5)....I had a very stressful phd and research job, I finally left it when I was pregnant the first one....while being pregnant with the second one(in Nov 2016), I started having really bad bicep pain in right side...I had bad carpel tunnel in both the pregnancies....one night while exploring where the pain was originating I found a 'lump' in the right breast/axillary area, or maybe its a lymph node! it was right at the axillary tail and was palpable only when I lie to one side.... am not sure still what it is....so I went to my OBGYN at 5 month pregnancy, she examined me and told me that it is all a breast tissue under the arm and assured me that she cannot find any lump, and no need for ultrasound...fast forward to today, My baby is 9 months old and I still have pain in biceps..and I still have this lump/lymph node...sometime swhile prodding it is painful..it feels the same size as it was, and it ropy/oval....other than this, both my breasts are very soft and symmetrical....but my kids have preferred left breast always( I breastfed first one for 22 months)...so I assume the breast tissue is different, it is the underarm area where the cluster of lumph node is , is different wrt to that one easily palpable lump...

I am not in condition to go to a doc and pressurize for more and more testing...because we are in worst financial mess right now...I did have my annual physical recently with a different OBGYN of the same facility, she examined me and I conveyed my concerns, she said the same thing breast tissue in underarm area....but since I fed from left side more, and right side feels to have less milk/lobules and therefore flatter and plain so I can feel the bones and tissues in better way in the right side...its all so subtle which is confusing me....

we plan for me to join a job, I am writing my certification in 2 weeks...then a job search and then whenever I get a job and be stable on it for few months, and then maybe pressurize for more testing.....because we literally are broke and in debts after the second baby..I did not expect to be in this mess after so much high education and working so hard in my career...

Sorry for all the rant and long post but my Q is: I always have this overwhelming worry looming on head as to:

What happens to your job when you get diagnosed? To women who do not have good rappo with their bosses, who do not get good working environment, who do have stress to keep working to pay for medical bills..if they get fired for cancer diagnosis what happens? who takes care of the medical bills? what happens to the kids and family? Is it practical to work after the surgery etc....(I saw many people take disability benefits...so we cannot work anymore?? )

Secondly, is it feasible to get a job if you have cancer diagnosis? once it is diagnosed, I think it is overly tough maybe impossible to get a job, as it is , it takes a lot to find a job...

Please give me suggestions and inputs on this as many women have gone through it while working......

Thanks!