How was your BC found? By doctor or you?

I found mine. A few weeks before my gyn appointment in July, I thought I felt a rice-like bump in the side of my left underarm. I mentioned it to my doctor and he didn't feel it, but told me to have an ultrasound when I did my regular mammo, which was due for Oct. Not even a week later, out of nowhere pops this mini ping-pong ball in my right breast! Now I know both my doctor and I had done what I would consider a thorough check. As it turned out, whatever it was in my left side turned out to be nothing, but I wonder if I being concerned about that made me more alert so that I noticed the lump sooner.

My cancer was found with a mammogram and I'm ashamed to say it had been 3+ years since my previous mammo.  I am fortunate that it was caught early in a digital mammogram.  It did not show up on my MRI and it was not palpable.

Also, I am the first in my family to have breast cancer.

at 43 I had some minor pain in my left breast when pressing on it near the side. My GP at the time checked and said it was connective tissue. It never went away but never got worse.

At 45 I had a mammo that  required a follow up US. Again everyone (including BS) felt there was nothing there.

At 45 my gyno retired. I didn't get the noticed till 1 month after she retired. Skipped gyno and mammo that year.

At 47 & 48 new Gyno and did get mammo. I remember the tech saying she needed to take another picture of the left breast because of that little small mishapen part that she didn't get.

At 49 had gyn (same gyn as age 47-48) appointment 5 weeks before scheduled mammo (no she didn't seem to notice the large hard mass or the mishapen part that the tech noticed the year prior). I noted bloody discharged the day before mammo so gyn upped it to diagnostic. During the US the tech said "what is this  hard area? Is it always this hard" (Yes I was scared). Radiologist report recommended biopsy and MRI but stated "Not typical of breast cancer." I then switched all my doctors/radiologist etc  to the hospital my BS practiced.

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Had I been more knowledgeable I feel I would have pushed for more testing and caught this at the very least 1 year earlier. My gyn F-d up big time… and this is not even the full story.

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edited to add that a small amount of LCIS was found in the other breast when they did the MRI before surgery. Tumor on the otherside was 6.5cm including non invasive part. My former breasts were dense tissue barely 34A/B cup. How the hell did they miss that!

Yeah...I wish I had been more knowledgeable too. I was lulled into a false sense of security...I did self exams, I did mammos, no risk factors or family history....no one ever said dense breasts until after the cancer...

The digital ultrasound done locally showed the tumor mass to be 2.5 cms. The 5 Dr. team at the Mayo all felt it manually and concurred; 2.5 cms. The MRI showed it at 8 cms. and the removal at surgery was 10.5 cms.

I now get mammos on remaining breast because the oncologist feels that they do catch other cancers but not ILC as much. I insisted on MRI's as well. I was not menopausal at diagnosis. I had 36D breast size, breast fed two children but still had large dense breasts. Never even remember hearing about  dense breasts being an issue with mammograms.

Having read through all of these posts has been most interesting.  I was looking for a scenario similar to mine but have not seen one.

I have had a lump in my right breast for years.  I then noticed a second smaller lump closer to the nipple - also years ago (literally).  I have brought these lumps to the attention of my doctors.  I have had diagostic mamms (including u/s).  I have been consistently told "nothing to worry about".  At one point (I think back in 2007), someone told me that I could get it biopsied "if I wanted to".  I really didn't want to "seek out" a biopsy.  Given the way it was proposed - kind of to placate me, I decided I was being silly and didn't schedule the biopsy.

Next mamm I had was a diagnostic mamm. (around 08/09).  The dr asked me why I hadn't gotten the biopsy that was noted in my records.  I explained that I had been told the lump was nothing to worry about and so felt I had brought the biopsy down on myself and therefore didn't pursue it.  He told me "well, you guessed right -- nothing to worry about"!!  So I went on my merry way.

Got a mamm June of 2010.  No problem (dense breast tissue of course).

Fast forward to week before last.  Get another diagnostic mamm.  Radiologist takes a LONG time w/ u/s.  Schedules me for a biopsy asap.  Went for the biopsy last Tuesday.  Before the radiologist even started the biopsy - she said to me "I assume someone has told you that you have breast cancer".  I asked her if she was sure -- she said yes, 100%.

How could it suddenly become so obvious, even without a biopsy, that the SAME LUMP was suddenly cancer???  Oh  - and of course it turns out that the other smaller lump is cancer too.

To say I am kicking myself for not being my own health advocate and having the biopsy done back in 2007 is an understatement.  Still - how could the cancer have not been detected or at least suspected on subsequent mamms and u/s??

Painful lesson learned.  I found the lump - years ago, but was told "nothing to worry about".   

Regarding breast MRI... following my diagnosis and as part of a BS second opinion recommendation, I had a breast MRI, just to see if anything the mammogram and biopsy had missed. The right breast showed only what had been found before, low grade DCIS, and the left was completely clear. I still proceeded with my UMX and have not looked back since.

I had been getting annual mammograms since I was 40. The year I was 49, my tumor was spotted on my mammogram. Nothing had showed up the year before. I never felt it myself, and none of my doctors could feel it either, even though they knew exactly where it was.

Thinking back over the years, I recall having a "letting down" feeling-similar to when my milk would come in when I was nursing my children- in that exact part of my breast about 10 years ago. I told my doctor about the feeling, and nothing ever showed up on my mammogram then, so I stopped worrying about it, and it eventually went away. I now wonder if that was a precursor to my cancer. I'll never know.....

Mary 

I found mine. I had been having yearly mammo's, but had skipped the one I should have had in 2008. I'll always wonder if I had had my mammo in 2008 would the cancer have been found early enough to prevent spreading.

Mine was found at my yearly mammogram. Had been going pretty regularly for the past 15 years. At the facility where I go, you can wait and get your results before you leave or sign that you are not waiting (with the chance of being called back if needed). Your results will then be mailed to you. So at my last mammo March 2010, for the first time decided I wouldn't wait for my results. It was a nice day and I was feeling pretty positive that nothing unusual would be found. So I left and ran some errands. The next day my daughter called me at work to say there was a phone message from the place where I had my mammo. Instantly I knew it wasn't good. I had to return for further mammograms and an ultrasound which showed suspicious areas. Biopsy revealed DCIS which I would have never felt. Had my sugary in May, a bilateral mastectomy and needed no further treatment. I feel I am one of the luckier ones, but it could have turned out differently if I had neglected to get my yearly mammogram.

PLJ ,i just couldnt stop reading!!! wow!!! you really had to fight for it (like you needed that)!!!!!

best of luck dear

I find it interesting that many women talked about finding the breast lump after they had lost weight....???  Funny thing, I lost 17 lbs. and never even thought that is maybe why I felt the lump...hmmm???  Anyway, I felt a new lumpiness in my right breast at the end of May.  Didn't think much of it at first.  Never really did self-breast exams....maybe 5 times a year???  So I feel the lumpiness and think to myself...."my fibrocystic breasts are getting more cystic?"  Of course, I would feel it off and on for a few more weeks and then had my husband feel it.  He said "it doesn't feel like a lump......it just feels bumpier than usual".  I agreed with him.  I noticed that if felt "lumpier" before my period the next month.....thought to myself that is typical....before my period, my breasts always feel lumpier.  Kept making excuses.  I decide to make an appointment with my GYN.....I always remember hearing that if you feel changes in your breast, have it checked out.  Well, I made the appointment and cancelled it.  Back in February, I made my appointment for my mammogram, so I knew I was going in August for that and figured it if it was something, the mammo would find it.   Well, low and behold, it was something and the mammo found it.  Of course, this was my third mammogram.  The doctor said "you've probably had this cancer for 3-4 years".   So, obviously, the mammo did not pick it up the past three weeks.   Even more interesting is that I had my yearly examination with my GYN in March.  She did not feel anything in March???????   I don't know what to think.......anyway, that's my story!

PLJ said, "How can you tell someone that their mammo is 'normal' (yup, that is what it reads, normal, no masses etc...) when it doesn't pick up the lump that you went to have evaluated?"

It does seem odd, doesn't it?  That's the whole problem.  For 2 years in a row, my mammogram report said "No cancer; no changes since last year. Repeat in 1 year."  I never did see a copy of the actual radiologist's report; I just received a form letter with check marks.  I didn't even know back then that it was possible for a patient to ask for a copy of the radiologist's report.  That just wasn't done at my local clinic. The mammo tech would do the mammogram; the films would be sent across town to the hospital for a radiologist to interpret; and the radiologist would (eventually) send a report to my GYN. 

Since the mammogram was always scheduled to be done after my GYN appt, I never heard any more about the results except for the letter.  Only once did I get a call from my GYN saying the mammogram had to be repeated, and that was after my very first one at age 42 or so.  They wanted a re-do in 6 months instead of a year; but nobody ever told me why. Now I think it must have been because of the density.  The re-take was fine (supposedly).

The letters I received didn't literally say "Normal", but there was no BIRADS score either.  I never knew my breast tissue "extremely dense," or that it made any difference, until I went to the Breast Health Center to have my lump investigated.

My GYN was an elderly man -- a founder of that OB/GYN practice -- with a fatherly (paternalistic) attitude toward his patients.  I suspect he was more worried about my anxiety level than the possibility that my lump might actually be malignant.

One more thing:  at the Breast Health Center where my BC was dx'd and where I still have my mammograms done, they have a rule about lumps.  If there's a palpable lump, they will do an ultrasound exam, even if the mammogram shows nothing out-of-order.  I like that policy.

otter

I too get yearly exams, since 32, because of a family history. I also did yearly exams on "good years" Now I'm 43, and by chance felt a bump that wasn't there before. Sone internal instinct told me to request the mammo, and then the ultra when the did notice something.  I will promote self exams from now on.