How was your BC found? By doctor or you?

Shayne · July 2012

You can always go back for an MX if you want to later. I know how you feel about wanting it OUT! It was a huge relief for me after surgery.

mybee333 · July 2012

That's true. Going for the lumpectomy will give you information re: your tumor. Just hold off on radiation until you have all the information. You have a bit of time to then see if you have the mutation. I'm hoping all goes wonderfully well with your suurgery. Fingers crossed and blessings for a clean lumpectomy.

jcolford · July 2012

Hi everyone,

I found my bc myself. I had my annual exam during the winter and everything was fine. About 6 months later I felt a stinging sensation in my left breast at the 3 o'clock area and when I rubbed it I found the lump. I couldn't believe it. I even had my husband check to see if I was imagining things. I called my doctor the following day and was sent for a mammogram (first one), ultrasound and the following day they did a biopsy. The results were IDC High Grade, I am still waiting for the status of ER/PR.

Strange how life is, in less than a month I went from being extremely healthy (only hospitalized when I had my children) to fighting for my life. Found the lump on June 25th and am scheduled for surgery on July 20th to be followed with chemo. My genetic testing for the BRCA1 gene is being rushed because it is a predominant gene on my father's side of the family. They are hoping to get the results prior to surgery to determine if a double mastectomy is necessary. Feeling a bit sorry for myself, I am not greatly endowed but I am/was happy with what I have. I am planning on cutting my long (naturally curly) hair prior to surgery and chemo. I might have to lose my hair but it is going to be on my terms! Sorry for the rant but this is all still too new and unreal to me.

Shayne · July 2012

Hey, no apologies here......personally i go thru times of feeling sorry for myself, im sure others do too. I like your attitude about cutting your hair!

its still unreal to me sometimes.......sometimes i wake up and forget, and think maybe it was all a bad dream.......

mybee333 · July 2012

jcolford - It is still early. My best advice to you is to take it day by day. Everything changes quickly with BC, as you will see, and you don't have all the information or answers yet. Nor do you know how you will respond, the strength you possess, the ways you can cope, or even how you will feel next week, next month, next year. I do not at all mean to minimize the heartbreaking suddenness of what you are experiencing. I am just reminding you to breathe, feel, love. You will get through this. And when you need support come to us here or where you find the most support (generally with other survivors) and let it out, rant, whatever you need to do.

Love.

Let us know how you do.

Shayne · July 2012

Well said mybee333!

Chris59 · April 2013

My hubby found mine.

rockermom66 · April 2013

Mine was just barely found by mammogram. It was a questionable area that we watched with mammo every 6 months.
It wasn't picked up on an ultrasound at all. I finally had a biopsy on the area and voila!

There is no way it could be felt by anyone being that it was deep inside my breast towards my chest wall and on the small side.

Annette47 · April 2013

Found on routine annual mammogram (presented as clustered micro-calcifications). Was too small to be palpable. I don't have particularly dense breasts despite still being premenopausal though.

Denise-G · April 2013

Found a lump by self-exam. But that lump wasn't the problem. I was large breasted and a little lump appeared on the surface. Immediately went for Mammogram and Ultrasound, then biopsy. My BS called it your "safe your life lump" as the 6cm tumor was near the chest wall and I could not feel it. She had the little lump biopsied and no cancer cells. I thank God all the time for that little lump that appeared out of nowhere since I was Stage 3.

msphil · April 2013

mine was found by me in the shower, then went to clincic where I worked and had needle biopsy and saw my coworkers lokking at each other and I knew right then and there , I was in the process of making wedding plans, I had 3 moths of chemo before the L mast, then 3 months after, then we got married then rads and 5 yrs on Tamoxifen, and Praise GOD this yr I am a 19 yr SURVIVOR,msphil

ClairesMom · April 2013

Mine was found when I went for a routine mammo and the woman at the front desk talked me into having a new test called a tomosynthesis. It's a ct scan for your breasts done on the mammo equipment. Insurance doesn't cover it but my radiology center in south jersey was offering it for $50. She reminded me that I would pay more for a pair of shoes so I agreed to have it done. Well guess what - nothing showed on the mammo but there it was on the tomo. That woman may have saved my life as my bc was caught early. When I went to a breast surgeon she told me the test was too new and I should throw it away. I fooled around with her 4 months, had another mammo and u/s where nothing showed up. Finally I got a second opinion, was biopsied on the spot and the results were positive. I still can't believe it. You just have to follow good advice and your own instincts.

Anonymous · April 2013

Clairesmom ~ Wow! What a story.

Denise-G · April 2013

Clairesmom - wow, that's incredible! My local hospital in Toledo, Ohio now offers tomosynthesis.

I am going to convince everyone to go to that hospital for it based on your experience! WOW!

I have a question for you - gonna PM you! Denise

allurbaddayswillend · April 2013

I found mine myself. I also only did my self-check a few times a year - maybe three? But I felt a twinge of pain in my right breast in March of 2012 so I checked it. I had had a clear mammogram a bit over two years prior, I was 47 years old when I found it so I too wasn't terribly worried about getting routine mammos at the time - no risk in my family. About 6 months prior to the twinge of pain, I had asked my OB about the then smaller lump in that breast and he dismissed it and also did not encourage me to get a mammo or any other test. I think I should switch OBGYN Drs ...

Belinda977 · April 2013

Doctor...However, I should have felt it but didn't. ....guessing denial.

edwards750 · April 2013

Not necessarily Belinda...I didnt feel mine at all. Admittedly I didnt do the monthly exams like I should have but I did have annual mammograms. I knew when the nurse called me and said they wanted me to have a digital mammogram and ultrasound it was not going to have a happy ending. To that point I had never been called back after I left the facility so the odds were against it being nothing. My sister found hers as did my mother. We are all advocates of getting that yearly mammogram. I had a friend who didnt have insurance so years went by and she was having breast pain. Scared me. She finally gets one and everything is okay thankfully. A friend's sister was def in denial and ended up 6 months later have a double mx and insane doses of chemo which eventually stopped working. She died not being able to see her daughter get married. Very sad. The family was on her case constantly to get it checked but I am sure she scared herself out of going. You know if you dont go then you wont know when now its if you dont....and maybe they can fix it. diane

mstrouble16 · April 2013

Every year I have/had gyn visit, mammogram then ultrasound. In 2011 it went gyn, all good here's the paperwork for mammogram and ultrasound see you in a year. Mammogram all looks good we'll call in a few days to verify. Ultrasound something just doesn't look quite let do a core biopsy just to be sure, .5mm object showing on ultrasound. Day of the core biopsy imaging place call read film all good see you next year, told nurse I was actually on my way for a core biopsy, nurse was floored asked if I would let her know results. Positive for bc after mastectomy tumor size was 2.1cm, tumor was hidden by my dense fibrocyst.

placid44 · April 2013

I got mammograms at 40, 41, and 42 (2 that year as they were watching something on the other side that turned out to be nothing). Skipped 43 and found it myself at 44, 3 cm. TNBC.

sarajaneevans · May 2013

I found mine-- one day it was not there the next day it was- A quite large lump, left breast- I went for my physical - My primary did not feel the lump on examination- but it was right there for the feeling if one did the touching- she told me I was clean and gave me my persciption for a screening mamogram- when I went for the screening and filled out the paper work I answered yes to the question, have you felt any lumps? From that answer they told me I needed a daignostice screeing and my primary would have to reorder for a diagnostic and I would need to go to another facility for it-- so that is what I did -- after the mamogram I was told I needed to come back for a biopsy, Rt breast, and an ultra sound biopsy left breast-pathology was positive for cancer left breast,precancerous rt breast--

What I am wondering is how are we supposed to catch a lump early,if it cannot be detected on a mamaogram? My surgeon said this lump has gone undetected for probably two years. I have my yearly mamograms and it was not detected in 2/2012.

Anonymous · May 2013

sarajaneevans ~ To respond to your question, I guess "early" is a relative term. Early as in before it spread? Early as in before it got to Stage IV? And mammograms are not infallible. There are always going to be some cases that "slip through the cracks", or are so aggressive that "early" doesn't matter. I think the media misleads the public into thinking that getting yearly mammograms means you won't die from breast cancer.

But I suppose it would not be very "warm and fuzzy" for them to say "Get your yearly mammogram, but unfortunately for some of you it won't detect it anyway and you could be screwed. Good luck!"

sarajaneevans · May 2013

Thanks Susans, I applaud your post-and agree

re: the media- heaven forbid they just report the facts...My husband was diagnosed with melanoma several years back(fortunately the surgery got it all)- BUT I was shocked and angered to learn that there is NO TREATMENT for melanoma-if surgery doesn't get it all.. there will be no follow up treatment b/c there isn't any, and you will die!!! Tell it like it is, so people can maybe hear the seriousness of it....

Anonymous · May 2013

Holy smokes. I honestly didn't know that about melanoma either! The only treatment is surgery? Wow. I did not know that. I knew it could be serious, but it's good to know WHY.

sarajaneevans · May 2013

Yep, scary stuff--I remember being completely shocked when I heard that- when we got the Melanoma diagnosis I just thought ah, we will have the surgery, treat it and get on with our lives..wrong sister-if it is still contained, you are in luck - surgery is your treatment- there is nothing after that- no chemo, no pill, no radiation.nothing..if it has spread, that's it-- I was furious. I said the media needs to make a big deal out of this. There is no TREATMENT BEYOND SURGERY for Melanoma...

Chrisrenee77 · May 2013

I did breast exams monthly and never found anything. Went to my Gyn every year since I was 18 and she didn't find anything in Aug 2011. She told me to get a baseline mammo on my 35th birthday. Did as I was told on 5/21/12, got a call the next morning 5/22 to come in that day for bilateral ultrasounds because I had a mass on both breasts. 5/23 was scheduled for bilateral biopsies lt breast sterotactice breast bx and rt breast sono guided bx. 5/24 waited for results 5/25 @1130 dx'd with breast cancer.

I made the comment to my Gyn that i should have found it, i was told that it was too far down in the breast tissue for me to find it. I'm coming up on my 1 yr cancerversary and I don't like it. I have changed so much in the last year.

flatpikr · May 2013

Routine mammogram showed calcifications whice weren't on the previous one done 2 years earlier. There was no palpable mass and nothing showed on ultrasound.

Anonymous · May 2013

I found mine. I'd been on a diet (healthy, lo-cal) since August and had lost 50 lbs. I was also about 4 months late for my yearly mammo. This little inner-voice kept nagging me to do a self-exam, since my breasts were now smaller and I could feel more, so I did--found the lump right away, made an appontment the next day...and the rest is history.

Interestingly, I looked at my prior mammo as well as the new one and, now that I knew where to look, you can actually see it in its early stages, probably while it was still DCIS. They obviously missed it at that time. Ultimately, it didn't make any difference as far as treatment goes, since I was able to catch it at 1.7 cm, still (barely!) stage 1. All I can say is that I'm grateful I listened to that inner-voice!! Also, I'm sure my next yearly mammo would've picked it up, but I was 4 months late--no extra money to pay for one at the time it was due.

I will be eternally grateful to the Komen Foundation. I'm a part-time faculty member and the reality is that part-time faculty aren't usually provided with employer insurance, so I had no insurance. I called Komen and within an hour I was hooked up with someone for screening, 3 days later I had my mammo & ultrasound, and a week after that (had to be off some meds for a week first) I had my biopsy, all covered by a Komen grant. Once it turned out that I did have cancer, they immediately hooked me up with a state-sponsored treatment program that I qualified for. I feel SO lucky!

Ibethewife · May 2013

When I was 35 I found blood in my bra, and that's where it all began. I had papalomotosis. They removed the mass and was watched closely for 14 years. I got to skip one year in the early years but once I hit 40 it was yearly. There was always something showing up and in both breasts. In Dec. of 2010, my GYN felt something g under the scar tissue from the original surgery. It ended up being nothing. So in March 2012 he felt if again, as I was overdue by a couple of months on my mammogram I did not remind him that was the scar tissue we checked the year before. I am very glad he had it checked again as it is where the cancer was. My cancer surgeon told me it probably started from the original problem all those years ago. Had we not been vigilant and had I procrastinated longer it would not have been early.

dltnhm · May 2013

Sarajaneevans

RE: Melanoma

My father had melanoma. It had spread to lymph nodes. He had surgery and radiation. He has since died - but not of melanoma. Perhaps if he'd not died of something else, he would have eventually died of melanoma.

But surgery is not the only treatment option: chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and radiation therapy are therapies used for melanoma based on the stage of the cancer and other factors. Chemotherapy is not as effective in melanoma as in other cancers, but it is used.

I'm surprised you were given that information when your husband was diagnosed.

sarajaneevans · May 2013

dltnhm

re: melanoma

I should have said, no treatment that will cure melanoma that has spread- the doctor did say that while it is ineffective, chemo and radiation can be used to relieve the symptoms and prolong the inevitable.. The doctor was very clear with his facts, and did not beat around the bush sharing them with us- I remember still being in shock when we went to see the oncologist who confirmed what the doctor had told us-

How was your BC found? By doctor or you?

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