Should I go back?

SeldomScene
SeldomScene Member Posts: 1
edited June 2014 in Male Breast Cancer

Hey all,

I'm a 26 year old male.  Last year, I noticed a lump on my left breast that has not gone away.  It is not circular or round and it isn't really hard.  It's not painful and I can move it around.  I also had what I felt to be a lump on my right testicle.  I had just done some marketing research on breast cancer awareness so when I felt the lump on my chest and found the testicular oddity I decided to get them checked out.  My doctor dismissed both right away but I persisted and he set up a mammogram/ultrasound for my chest and an ultrasound for my testicle.  Both tests revealed nothing, so I was relieved.  The doc said the mass on my chest was probably just some fatty tissue and that it would be there forever but it's nothing to worry about.

About 4 months ago I noticed something different under my left nipple.  I found another mass that is much different from the other one.  It is directly under the nipple (can't figure out the proper term - by under I don't mean it's below, I mean when I press directly on my nipple I can feel it.).  It is hard, round, small (probably the size of a pea) and I cannot move it.  It doesn't hurt on its own, but when I touch it I experience a fair amount of pain.

It's not a symmetrical thing - I can't feel anything like it on my right breast.  I'm worried about this.  I recently switched insurance companies and wouldn't you know, my doctor doesn't accept my new insurance policy, so I have to go to someone new.

Am I overreacting about this?  I really don't think I should be self-diagnosing but I'm also a little timid about visiting the doctor again for the second time in a year over something my previous doctor readily and hastily dismissed.

Thank you for your advice. 

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Comments

  • CoolBreeze
    CoolBreeze Member Posts: 4,668
    edited March 2010

    I would go back.  My cancer was hard and round and immovable.  It never hurts to get things checked out - you know what's normal for you and what isn't.

    Good luck.

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  • ithaca
    ithaca Member Posts: 25
    edited March 2010

    I think it's always good to investigate new lumps. Breast cancer in 26 year old men is exceedingly rare, but getting checked, if nothing else, can give you peace of mind. Since you have a new doctor (or need to get one), it seems like a good opportunity for an initial appointment.

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  • Larry44
    Larry44 Member Posts: 53
    edited March 2010

    Seldomscene,

    Some thoughts:

    1. Men frequently have trouble being diagnosed as having breast cancer because it is so rare in men
    2. We have to be advocates for our health care or we don't get good care
    3. Cancer is a very sneaky disease
    4. Mammograms can not diagnose breast cancer, only a biopsy can do that
    5. My tumor was a hard lump right under the nipple, I believe that this is the site where men usually get breast cancer
    6. Breast cancer in men is extremely rare, one in 100,000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in this country. Also the normal age of diagnosis is 60 - 70. Therefore it is unlikely that you have breast cancer but certainly possible.
    7. If you have breast cancer, the sooner you get treated the better

    I urge you to go to a doctor, preferably one specializing in breast cancer, as soon as possible.

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  • 1rarebird
    1rarebird Member Posts: 91
    edited March 2010

    Seldom--

    All three of the above responses offer you very good advice.  Let me add my own. 

    Please do what ever you have to and find out exactly what is causing that lump under your nipple. The chances are it is benign at present.  There is a very small chance it isn't.  But a breast surgeon can tell you exactly what you have.  Over my 63 years I have had both kinds of lumps develop in my breast; so if you find that the lump is not a problem now, always watch out in the future for any that might turn out to be otherwise.

    I wish for you the best luck with this--

    bird

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  • Mikeswife
    Mikeswife Member Posts: 19
    edited March 2010

    Please go again, have it checked, there is a reason they do biopsies, because with out them it may not look like cancer but until patholgy is done you do not know for sure. Let us know how you are doing.

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  • maxy
    maxy Member Posts: 1
    edited September 2010

    Go back to your doctor NOW or a new one and demand to see a breast specialist! take it from one who knows.

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