How did you find yours?

Found during routine mammo.  (was not 3D).  I hadn't had one in a couple of years.  I didn't feel any lump, and no doctor could feel it either.

Mine was SO super itchy, especially during ovulation and my period that I checked for anything weird.   No lump but weirdly shaped thickening which turned out to be palpable DCIS.  

Both my primaries were found by me. 

It was a year ago, on 10/12/13 that I felt my lump in the shower. I was 39 years old and had never done self exas or had a mammo. I went to the doctor and she sent me for a diagnostic mammo. The day of the mammogram I had an US and the radiologist came in and told me that he suspected it was cancer. I was floored. I had never felt the lump previous to that day, it literally seemed pop up over night.

I found it myself when I tucked my cold hands under my arms.  It was at the 11:00 position.  The next day, I went to my GYN.  Ten days later, I had a diagnostic 3D mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy.  3 days later, I was diagnosed with IDC.  I have since had a BMX with immediate implants and the oncotype DX testing.  I start chemo on Friday based on a score of 23.

Mine was found on a routine mammogram. It was a digital mammogram (2D, not 3D) that was compared to my previous screening. The lump was not palpable and was in a spot that was also difficult to capture on mammogram.

I had a routine mammogram and dexa on Thursday, got a call back on Monday scheduling me for a follow up mammogram and US on Tuesday. The US didn't look good to me, then the radiologist showed me the images and pointed out the suspicious lymph node as well. That really shook me, badly. Due to a holiday my biopsies weren't until over a week later, got the results 2 days after that, so all told it was two weeks between the first mammogram and the biopsy results.

I've had two, 9 years apart, and I found them both myself in the shower.  The first one was 6 months after my first (clean) mammogram; for the second one, it had been almost a year since the last mammo.  Both were high on the breast, as well as aggressive, so I'm not sure whether they were just missed by the prior mammograms, or whether they hadn't been there at the time.

I was woken up in the middle of the night by a shooting pain in my breast. It felt like someone stabbed me and sliced down the outside of my breast. I found the lump in the area the pain started. It was about an inch in diameter from what I could tell. I waited a couple weeks, wishing it away. Finally went for a mammogram (my first) and was told it was nothing. I didn't know I should have pushed for an ultrasound. Why should I have to know that? They're the experts, right?

The shooting pain continued. It could be several times in one day or I might not feel it for several days at a time. After two years I went in for an adoption physical (my husband and I were adopting our 4th child together) and my PCP found a lump on my OTHER breast, but by its location she wasn't really concerned about it. Just encouraged me to get it checked out when I had time. I had her look at the other lump that was still there. She thought it should be fine since I'd had it checked out previously but again encourage me to get that mammo "when you have time."

I decided I didn't have time because I was going to Serbia to get our daughter. I came home on March 19th and had my mammogram on the 20th. (brand new daughter home and here I was dealing with this BS!) I went to a breast center this time. In one hour I went from mammogram, to ultrasound to biopsy and "I expect this will show you have cancer."

Once I had my lumpectomy the shooting pains were gone. Then in August I had the same shooting pain, only in the other breast. I just had BMX 5 weeks ago and finally got my pathology reports back. There was no IDC or DCIS, but there was 'atypical hyperplasia" so I'm sure it was only a matter of time. 

Crazy how that one day changed my life so.

noonrider-I had a pain in my breast about 2 months or so prior to feeling my lump. It was one time in the evening and it was painful enough for me to have to lay down. It was a burning feeling, very hard to describe and I remember feeling around my breast and nothing being there. I never felt that pain again and forgot about it until I felt the lump.

Routine mammo found a small cluster of calcifications in July 2012. Come back in 6 months. Something told me it was BC so scheduled an appointment with a BS at Yale rather than my smaller town. She agreed, come back in 6 months but come there as they had 3-D so in Jan last year, went to Yale. Mammo showed cluster of calcifications had quadrupled from 4 to 15 so scheduled core biopsy. Sure enough, DCIS but it was smaller than originally thought at less than a cm when originally they said closer to 2 cm in size. Was surprised even though I had a lot of itching and some unexplained pains that came and went cause who isn't surprised when told "You have cancer"

On s routine mammogram. Knew it would be bad when they called me back weeks later. Never happened b4. Nurse said one breast was bigger than the other. Game over. I remember thinking that morning I hadn't gotten my all clear card in the mail. Bad feeling then. Sister has BC too - she found her's as did my mother. 

Never had pain but did have rapid weight loss. Thought it was because I had given up sugar. Obviously that wasn't it. 

Doing well almost 4 years out. So so far, so good. 

Diane 

Regular annual mammogram. Totally unexpected. Every year I go and they call to say all is well. Not this year. They called to say something looks suspicious, please come in for another. Went in for the second one and the mammogram center said, let's schedule you for a stereoscopic needle biopsy.  Before I know it my doctor was calling me to tell me I have invasive breast cancer. That was Sept. 29th. Since then it has been a blur, met w a surgeon, an oncologist, have an MRI and genetics counseling set for Tuesday-my mother died from breast cancer 8 years ago, but neither of us were diagnosed under 50, so I doubt my insurance will pay for BRCA testing anyway. Just one more appointment I guess. Second visit w first surgeon on the 3rd of November and a consult with second surgeon on November 4th. Then I guess I better choose and start really getting something done. When I'm not going crazy, I'm exhausted just thinking about everything that needs to happen. One foot in front of the other, right?

Sitting at the breakfast table in my nightgown, it felt wet, and I realized there was a huge bloodstain on the front. I was bleeding from my left nipple.

I'd had annual mammograms for the previous 20 years, all coming back with a cheerful postcard "Congratulations! No sign of breast cancer!" In fact, I'd just had a mammo 7 months prior.

Even with dense, heavy, fibrocystic breasts, my then-PCP always denied me an ultrasound or an MRI. He insisted they were NOT screening tools.

The bleeding was a fortunate accident. BS thought it was a papilloma, but Radiologist suspected BC. She was like a pit bull, determined to either find or rule out anything suspicious. After seven different procedures, she confirmed multifocal DCIS, and multifocal IDC..... AND said she could see the beginning of the changes in the past two mammograms I'd had (which were not read by her.)

Ironically, I never would have felt the tumors - they were 1.5 millimeters, and half a millimeter..... less than a grain of rice.

I found mine while watching a rerun of Sex and the City, where Samantha goes in to have an exam so she can get a boob job, and her doctor finds a lump instead, which turns out to be bc. I decided I hadn't done a breast exam in a few months, and found it. Ironic, right? I never, ever watched another re-run of SATC. True story.

I found mine by accident in the shower. It popped up from one day to the next. After neo-adjuvant chemo and careful contemplation about surgical options, I chose to have a double mastectomy. Some people viewed that as extreme, but multiple areas of DCIS were found by the pathologist after my surgery.

I had a clear mammogram in June and found my lump in November. I somehow knew it was BC from the start. I'm so glad I followed my instincts throughout this entire experience. I feel that listening to my inner voice saved my life