Referred to Breast Clinic, Concerned About IBC

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JasmineSky
JasmineSky Member Posts: 4
edited February 2018 in Not Diagnosed But Worried

Hi,

Just here as a way to express my current anxiety about being referred to the breast clinic at the hospital by my gp. She referred my yesterday, and I got a phone call from the hospital booking me in for Saturday morning.

From what I've heard my local hospital does a 'one-stop' clinic, and so it's most likely that I'll have a physical examination, an ultrasound, and possibly a biopsy, so I'm quite happy that I should have some answers (and some peace of mind!) by the end of the week which is much quicker than I expected.

I don't have the typical concern of a lump, but my left breast has been considerably swollen and sore for the past six weeks (no redness however) and I've had a persistent itchy nipple. Last week I noticed what I first thought was a bruise on my breast, but I quickly realised it was actually a shadow caused by a small 'dent' in my breast, that has a thickened patch of skin above it. I already had an appointment booked at the doctor's for something unrelated, but mentioned it to her to stop myself obsessing over it. She checked it out and referred me to the breast clinic.

Realistically at my age (24), and with no family history of breast cancer, I shouldn't have anything to worry about, but because this has similarities to the symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer I'm letting myself get anxious about it! Hopefully having a thread to talk about how things go will help calm me down and find some people to talk it through with.

Hopefully I will be able to update on Saturday with good news, and I'm worrying about it for nothing!

Jasmine

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited February 2018

    Dear JasmineSky,

    We are sorry that you find yourself here and in this situation with breast changes but we are so glad that you reached out. It sounds like you are doing all of the right things with regards to advocating for yourself and being aware of what will help you to cope with the uncertainty that accompanies new symptoms. We hope that you will quickly learn the cause of your swelling and soreness and that the cause will not be attributed to cancer. Please update us when you learn more. We hope you will hear from others here as well. Keep us posted. The Mods

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  • Georgia1
    Georgia1 Member Posts: 1,321
    edited February 2018

    Hi JasmineSky. You're right that odds of breast cancer are very low, but I completely understand your concern. Wishing you all the best and let us know what you find out and how we might help.

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  • JasmineSky
    JasmineSky Member Posts: 4
    edited February 2018

    Thank you for your responses Mods & Georgia1. I'm going to try and put it all out of my mind until tomorrow now, last night I was over-analysing my breast to figure out if there was anything else I could see... I realised there's no point, I was just stressing myself further, and if you stare at anything long enough you'll start seeing problems!

    Time to relax and enjoy spending time with my friends this evening. I'll see what's going on breast-wise tomorrow!

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  • JasmineSky
    JasmineSky Member Posts: 4
    edited February 2018

    I meant to update yesterday but after spending the day at the hospital I was exhausted!

    After the doctor checked me out he said that skin thickening in young women is usually hormonal, but he sent me down to get an ultrasound to check there was nothing else going on. Thankfully nothing concerning was seen on the US and when I saw the doctor again he said I had nothing to worry about and he didn't need to see me again.

    I'm so glad there's nothing serious wrong, but I can't help but be a little frustrated that I don't have any answers as to how long I can expect this pain/itchiness to last and what (if anything) I can do to deal with the hormonal issue. The thickened area seems to be getting larger day to day and my veins are becoming very prominent. It's disconcerting even if it's nothing to worry about. I'm going to make another appointment with my GP, hopefully she'll be able to give me some more information/advice.

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  • MelissaDallas
    MelissaDallas Member Posts: 7,268
    edited February 2018

    I'd see a dermatologist if I had an itchy skin issue

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  • JasmineSky
    JasmineSky Member Posts: 4
    edited February 2018

    Hi Melissa,

    Thanks for the advice! I'm not sure if a dermatologist would be appropriate as there's no sign of a rash, and the itchiness almost feels like its below the surface of my nipple if that makes sense at all? Haha

    In the UK we can't refer ourselves to specialists, our GP has to make the referral, so if I see her and she thinks it may be a dermatological(?) issue, then she will refer me.

    Thanks,
    Jasmine

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