How long does it take to feel a lump?

Options
flower123
flower123 Member Posts: 144
edited June 2014 in High Risk for Breast Cancer

Why do you have to check your breasts every month? How can a new lump just show up one month to the point where you feel it? I don't remember ever knowing this, but I think I've read about it. I have my Gyn appt. next Wednesday...still so worried about this lump that seems to have gotten harder and much more noticeable in the past week and a halfish. Am I losing it or what Surprised??????? I'm just wondering...how can a lump NOT show up on a mammogram a few (three or four) years ago. 

If you could even point me to an article or something. Anything would be great. Thank you so much.

Hugs,

Flower 

I'm going to post this in the other section too.  

· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Ezscriiibe
    Ezscriiibe Member Posts: 598
    edited June 2010

    I have no idea what you are asking. Depending on the location of the lump, it most certainly can not be there one month, then "show up" the next.

    The reality is that it was there for quite some time and under the right pressure or manipulation it is easier to notice.

    I checked my breasts every month in the shower for years. Sometimes I would do it twice a month.

    In early December 2009, I felt NO lump. On January 2, 2010, I felt one that ended up being over 2 centimeters in size.

    In January 2009, the lump did not show up on my mammogram. On January 4, 2010, (scheduled 2 days after I first felt the lump), it showed up pretty as you please.

    I'm sure many other women can share similar stories.

    So I'm not really sure what you are asking.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • flower123
    flower123 Member Posts: 144
    edited June 2010

    I don't know, I guess I was wondering how a lump can just grow or show up so quickly. Thank you for sharing what happened to you. I'm just frustrated I guess. 

    Thanks,

    Flower 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • KorynH
    KorynH Member Posts: 301
    edited June 2010
    Women who are premenopausal have breast changes in their breasts from month to month. That is why you check every month. If a lump comes and goes with your cycles, it is probably not cancer, could be fibrous changes, could be a cyst. My lump was steady and stayed the same size for 2 years. Why 2 years did it stay there you ask? BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT SEE IT ON MAMMOGRAM. Two years later another mass DID show on mammogram and that turned out to be IDC. When they did the breast MRI to check the other breast, HELLO, the original 2 year lump turned out to be ILC....only found on breast mri. I never should have let it go so long without insisting on a biopsy or mri. If you have a lump do not let them send you home telling you it is nothing. Keep pressing them. If I had done that maybe I would still have that breast. Cry
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • NancyD
    NancyD Member Posts: 3,562
    edited June 2010

    Lumps can come and go. Non-cancerous one , like cysts, are affected by hormones, so your monthly changes can make it larger. As your hormones ebb, the lump decreases. Doing a monthly check allows you to get to know your breasts and the location of cystic lumps. If  lump is steady in size...doesn't change with monthly hormone level...you should see a doctor.

    My lump was deep and I really couldn't feel it for a long time, but I did notice my breast was larger than my other one. It wasn't a big difference, but it was fuller. Yearly mammograms didn't pick it up until I could feel it. 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Momcat1962
    Momcat1962 Member Posts: 665
    edited June 2010
    Ezscriiibe....You are incorrect...a "lump" most certainly CAN show up one month after not being felt, or evenseen on a mammo, U/S...Story of my life the last 18 yrs.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • starzhere
    starzhere Member Posts: 162
    edited June 2010

    My doctor said that it takes about five years for a cancerous tumor to grow to a size to be able to be felt.  I had a suspicous calcification that was discovered on a mamogram and it was so small that they removed a spot the size of the head of a pencil eraser and that included the clean margins, so mamograms can find tumors that aren't big enough to be felt.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • mom3band1g
    mom3band1g Member Posts: 817
    edited June 2010

    I had a gyn check-up Aug 30, full breast exam.  3 months later i found a 1cm lump!  I had very small breasts so I am assuming there was nothing there in Aug.  How it grew that fast I don't know but it did!  Never did show up on mammo or ultrasound either.  MRI showed it just fine!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • thegoodfight
    thegoodfight Member Posts: 560
    edited June 2010

    I had a normal breast exam from gyn last day of April 2008 and found lump in shower on July 1, 2008.  That was a two month span.  It turned out to be 3.5 centimeters and never, even after confirmation by US, did it show on mammo.  Surgeon said it had been growing for 7 to 10 years and I had 23 years of "normal" mammos?????????????????????????????

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories