Self exams - please help

petyab

My mom was diagnosed with BC at 59. I was with her through all appointments. One year later my mother in law was diagnosed. I was the primary person to go with her to her treatments.

These experiences have caused me significant anxiety. In 2016, when I was 35, my ob-gyn thought she felt a small lump in upper outer quadrant. I could not feel anything that day. Nor could my husband. The next day, I had a diagnostic mammo and ultrasound. Radiologist could not feel anything.

In early 2019, I thought I felt something. Again, I had mammo and ultrasound. Both negative.

The experience with my ob-gyn, has left me doubting my ability to do a self-breast exam. I do not fault her for sending me to a mammo.

My question to the lovely ladies on this website is whether you thought it was fairly easy to feel a lump (malignant or benign). Was it obvious that you were feeling something out of the ordinary? If you felt a thickness, rather than a lump, how do I look for this? How would you describe the thickness?

Thank you in advance for any words of wisdom.

ctmbsikia

My tumor was upper inner quadrant and it was obvious to me that it shouldn't be there. Now having had surgery, dense breasts, and every other benign breast condition known to man, I can say all of those lumps and bumps move around when I feel those areas. The tumor did not move. At least mine didn't. It was much harder and had a distorted shape. I would certainly keep up on your screenings

Brilee76

It was obvious that something was there that wasn't before. I wasn't even giving myself an exam. I was just "fluffing" the boobicles after taking my bra off for the day and noticed it. I called my SO in and asked him if it was in my head or if he felt it too and he did.

Jons_girl

I would be interested in how lobular cancer is felt. So hope some of those gals answer.

Mine was ductal cancer. It was near surface tho and felt like a hard bb. I e wondered if cancer was deeper in my breast how I’d actually be able to feel that?

Great questions. Thank you for starting this thread.

MelissaDallas

From Mayo Clinic Website:

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I'm confused about breast self-exams. I'm 45 years old, and I remember being told to do self-exams monthly. At one point, my health care provider even gave me a laminated card to put in the shower that showed the correct technique. Now it seems self-exams aren't talked about much anymore. Are we still supposed to do them?

ANSWER: You are correct that the role of breast self-exams have changed. While detailed breast self-exams no longer are recommended as part of formal screening for breast cancer, it is still important for you to know how your breasts usually look and feel. That way, if anything changes, you will be more likely to notice the difference. Breast self-awareness can help you become more familiar with your own breasts, so you understand what's normal for you.

In the past, health care providers often recommended that women do breast self-exams regularly using a step-by-step approach to detect signs of breast cancer. Although breast self-exams seemed like a good way for women to find breast cancer in its early stages, research showed that those self-exams triggered more breast tests and biopsies being done that came back with normal findings (sometimes called false positives) in women who did breast self-exams, compared to women who did not do the exams.

Now, instead of using detailed self-exams as part of a formal breast cancer screening process, health care providers recommend breast self-awareness, so that women become familiar with the normal look and feel of their breasts. That way, if you notice a change in your breast, such as a lump or bump that seems out of the ordinary to you, you can tell your health care provider about it. From there, the two of you can decide if any further investigation is needed.

Although it is a good idea for you to be aware of the typical look and feel of your breasts, keep in mind that breast self-awareness can't replace a clinical breast exam conducted by your health care provider. And breast self-awareness should not replace screening mammograms or other breast cancer screening tests that your health care provider recommends.

Screening mammograms often can detect breast changes in women who have no new noticeable breast abnormalities or any other signs or symptoms of cancer. The goal of these screening mammograms is to detect cancer in its earliest stage, before you'd be able to notice any changes. Mammograms continue to play a key role in early breast cancer detection and have been shown to help decrease breast cancer deaths.

Take time to talk to your health care provider about the approach to breast cancer screening that's right for you. Factors that can make a difference in that approach include your age, medical background and family history. Discuss the benefits, risks and limitations of screening tools, such as mammograms, and decide together what's best for your situation. — Dr. Karthik Ghosh, Breast Diagnostic Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota

petyab

These are really really helpful responses. Thank you so much. And, yes, I have read the research on the changing recommendations re BSE. Personally, I will continue to do BSEs. And, even though I am not 40, (39 in Jan. 2020), will continue with imaging. I will need to decide whether to get whole breast ultrasound or MRI.

Based on my anxiety, I believe I may have overdone my self-examination.

Jons_girl

I wasn't doing any self exam when I found my tumor by accident. I too will be doing self exams now. If I hadn't felt it I am not sure when someone else would have found it. As the mammogram they did never saw my tumor. It was the ultrasound that saw it due to my very dense tissue. So my faith is in self exams and ultrasounds right now. MRI though is a great diagnostic tool as well. Mammograms work well for those who don't have very dense tissue like mine.

MinusTwo

Melissa - good article.

I never did breast self exams. My breast tissue was so dense & so fibrous it was impossible. My various docs over the years faced the same problem. So I started having mammograms in my mid-30s. Even before technology improved, 35 years of those mammograms with appropriate call backs for ultrasounds were appropriate and allowed me to sleep at night.

MelissaDallas

MinusTwo, most of the people on here that I see do not discover their lump (if they even had one) while doing self-exams. I think the point is we are wrong more often than right about what we think we are feeling. Just like almost everyone posting here that thinks they found something “immoveable” is incorrect about that when a clinician examines them. Frankly, my guess is that a lot of primary care or other non-specialist doctors don’t know what they are feeling either. Just like gyns admitting that unless you are really thin they likely aren’t feeling your ovaries on digital exam either

AliceBastable

I never really did self-exams - laziness combined with forgetfulness. I went for an overdue wellness visit in late May 2018. We discussed the need for a mammogram, which I hadn't had in several years, and I promised to take care of it. The doctor performed a manual exam and found nothing. I had the mammogram the next week and that started the whole cancer ball rolling. My breasts are not dense, so I'm not sure why the PCP missed the upper outer quadrant tumor.

SimoneRC

Hi petyab,

I had very dense, fibrocystic breasts my entire life. I began mammograms at age 35 due to that and family history. I asked my GYN what to feel for when doing self exams. He told me to get to “know" my breasts and be aware if any of the lumps and bumps felt different. Flash forward to age 51. I was very tired, gained weight and was shedding more hair than normal. Same symptoms I remember my sister had before being diagnosed with cancer. So, I had a feeling I had cancer, just had no idea where. One of my lumps had developed a smooth, soft, movable lump shaped like a grape halved lengthwise. My GYN said most definitely nothing but sent me for mammogram. I had had a completely normal 3D mammogram 7 months before, as I did every year. After seeing my GYN, later that afternoon I had a completely normal 3D mammogram, followed by a suspicious ultrasound and then biopsy. All the same day. Every doctor, and there were many, at a National Cancer Institute Hospital said they would NOT have found the lump to be at all suspicious if they felt it without knowing it was cancer. My tumor was 1.9 cm, 1.4 cm of it was cancer. Best advice I ever had was from my GYN telling me to know my own breasts and recognize change. Don't ever hesitate to bring changes to the attention of your doctors!

MelissaDallas

When I say we often don't know WHAT we are feeling I absolutely do believe we can often feel if something is different.

Starting in my late thirties I began feeling very abrupt “hormonal changes”. I told gyns about it and always got the “well, at your age” BS. Yes, I had exams and pap smears. fast forward ten years and I blew up to nine-month pregnancy belly. Huge ascites. Landed in the ER, and despite my insistence I had zero risk factors and had normal labs doc decided I had end stage cirrhosis. Had unnecessary normal liver biopsy. THEN they finally did a CT of my pelvis. I had a twenty pound ovary taking up pretty much all of my pelvis and abdomen. I know it started when I started complaining about my hormones ten years earlier.

petyab

Is there such a thing as over doing a breast self-exam?

SimoneRC

Once a month is the advice I was given

djmammo

Breast Self Exam Instructions

https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-self-exam

https://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/types/self_exam

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/breast-exam/about/pac-20393237

http://www.womans.org/publications/2014/08/breast-...

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/breast_center/treatments_services/breast_cancer_screening/breast_self_exam.html

http://www.komennyc.org/site/PageServer?pagename=breasthealth_selfexam

Jons_girl

thank you djmammo

jessie123

I rarely did breast exams because of fibrocystic disease. However, I guess I knew my breast better than I thought because when I felt the lump I knew immediately it was different. I was in bed one night watching TV and felt a quick sharp pain at 2:00 on my breast. The quick pain made me put my hand there and that was the beginning of my journey. The tumor was ILC (unusual presentation) and was just around 2.5 cm's.

DogMomRunner

I was training for a half marathon. Along with weight loss I also lost volume in my breasts. That's how I found the lump. Like Alice, I did not do self exams for the same reasons

TB90

No test is perfect. But some of us know what works for us regardless of universal stats. I can feel everything in my breast and although I could very well miss something, I very well could find something before another test. No one approach is best. The best approach is what works. I simply do not want to wait till suddenly a large lump and lymph node shows up. I guess this gives me a perhaps false sense of control over this disease. Nothing any of us does or does not, we are not responsible for this. I just need to find reassurance at my own touch.