How was your BC found? By doctor or you?

Mine was too deep against chest wall to be found on physical exam.  It was eventually found on mammogram when it spread to sentinode.  At the time, I did not know about breast density being a risk issue yet I was pulled aside into that special wait room when radiologist sees "something".  This occurred for my very first mammogram.  Later I was told all is fine and too leave but not allowed to speak to the radiologist when I asked.  I feel I learned a lesson the hard way.  I believe something was seen early on and a decision was made without my knowledge to "watch" certain areas.  Back then my mammograms were scheduled every 2 years.  Wish I had known and switched to yearly schedule.  No wonder I am such a PITA with these drs now!! 

Edited to add - no one ever mentioned doing a followup ultra sound either. So no one told me anything about my breast status. I simply got that form letter in the mail a few weeks later "You have a Normal Mammogram."  Duhhhh!!

SusanG -- can you also update your count to include those tumors which did not show up on a scan - mammogram?  I think this is import information for many of us that the current mammogram "system" is not perfect!  I am always very disappointed when I see how it failed for so many women.  THanks!!

Mine was found by a mammogram.  I had been having mammos every two years for the last decade or so, and a one cm invasive ductal carcinoma was found last June. It was treated with a lumpectomy and radiation, and I have been told that I am unlikely to have a recurrence.

Unfortunately they can never give a 100% guarantee, so I still need to be checked regularly.  I'm now having mammos every 6 months.

When I was referred to the breast surgeon following my diagnosis he reviewed my mammogram and said it was worthless because my breasts were so dense. Thankfully, I was receiving annual mammograms and ultrasounds because my breasts were so dense. The ob/gyn felt the lump and a diagnostic ultrasound confirmed it. I always tell women they should find out if they have dense breasts and if so, demand an ultrasound. I am telling all of you sisters that we deserve a better way of screening. With younger women who have dense breasts, mammograms are, as my breast surgeon stated, "worthless.". We have been hoodwinked into believing that annual mammograms are our best friends. Clearly for many of us, they're not!"

Susan - Thanks for the count update!!  Honestly it is a bit scary knowing how many tumors were missed and found by other means.......

I found mine in the shower.  I've always done self exams in the shower.  A bit of advice;  NEVER perform a breast self examination in the shower.  I almost passed out.  I actually had to take a knee for a moment.  I literally crawled out of the shower onto the bathmat in total shock.  After my biopsy the doc told me they don't make shower cards anymore for that very reason.  She said they teach young women these days to lie down before performing self exams.  Good advice.  If you find something, you're going to end up in that position anyway, so why not start from there!

Six months after a clean mammogram, I had multifocal tumors (largest was 2.7 cm) and lymph node involvement.  So put me in that 30% who had lumps within a year of a clean mammo.

I found the big lump myself - I'd done a heavy upper body workout that day, and as I was going to bed I rubbed a sore area near my armpit and found the lump. I retrieved my previous mammograms and had them read at Hopkins - they said that given the density of my breasts they would not have seen it on the mammogram at all either.  At least that gave me a bit of relief that no one missed anything on previous mammos.  And the doctors in California are fighting the proposed law requiring that doctors notify women if mammograms show that they have dense breasts.

Found it myself.  Started mammos at 35 (dr. said to come back at 40), insisted and got 2mammos after, found lump myself at 38 while pregnant.  After diagnosis radiologist missed 3 spots of DCIS caught by BS after reviewing images.  Sorry, but in my opinion dr's miss a lot of things.  My mom died of BC due to medical error.  It's nothing they said for years!

I found my own lump...the NP at my doctor's office saw me after I had a mammo I scheduled for myself and she said didn't really feel the lump....shaaaaaa!!!!  I said it hurt and she assured me breast cancer didn't hurt...wrong!!!

Calcifications found on my yearly mammogram.

I found mine myself. I had been doing yardwork, and started having pain immediately after - caused by the tumor pressing against a muscle in the chest wall. The diagnostic mammo had trouble detecting it, even with me pointing out where it was - but it showed on the ultrasound. Disturbingly, when I had the surgery, they found a fair amount of DCIS that was NOT detected on mammo, ultrasound, OR MRI.

Just a thought/question:

Does it matter if you had IDC, DCIS or TNBC, or another rarer kind?  Is one type of cancer picked up on mammos more than others?

http://radiology.casereports.net/index.php/rcr/article/viewarticle/94/287

The Shrinking Breast: An Unusual Mammographic Finding of Invasive Lobular Carcinoma

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lobular-carcinoma-in-situ/DS00982

Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS)

LCIS usually doesn't show up on mammograms. The condition is most often discovered as a result of a biopsy done for another reason, such as a suspicious breast lump or an abnormal mammogram.

I never felt a thing! Suspicious area spotted in annual mammogram, dense tissue, recommended 6 month follow-up, next mammogram 7 months later = DCIS + LCIS. Biopsy + Lumpectomy...

Demanded MRI for other side..bingo! ILC, IDC...goodbye (@Y@)'s....hello foobs!