I remember feeling a small lump, on a morning in Oct/Nov 2022, when I was laying down in bed. I felt a shiver down my spine but I had to go to work and I just brushed it off. I tried to look for it in the shower, later on, that day, but I could not find it again. I thought it was just a cyst. I'm 51 and I was waiting to get my first invite for breast screening (received automatically in England between the ages of 50 and 53). In February I decided not to wait for the invitation letter in the post and I went to the local NHS breast screening service to book myself a mammogram. And it was booked for the 1st of March. After that day, everything happened so fast...On the 9th I received a letter inviting me to come for further tests at an assessment clinic. My appointment was booked for the 16th of March and the tests included more mammograms, an ultrasound scan and a biopsy.
I started to get really worried and then I remembered the small lump...I entered the shower and looked for it but I could not feel it and then I laid down and I could feel it, bigger than before (but smaller than a grape) just under my breast near the ribcage...my C...
Despite the breast screening letter saying that "most women who come to the assessment clinic DO NOT have breast cancer", only 4 in every 100 women need further tests. That's a small percentage. I had a bad feeling.
On the 16th of March, I went to the assessment clinic alone and after a mammogram, I sat down with the medical radiologist who explained the findings of the x-ray. Some minor calcifications in a cluster seemed suspicious, so she recommended a biopsy. She said it was all detected very early and it was in situ. Relief...there is no tumour.
And then I laid down for an ultrasound scan and asked about my lump. She seemed surprised and asked me to show it and then there it was...my C...visible on the US screen, hidden in the mammogram. Apparently, I have very dense breasts...
She put a marker on the lump, did the biopsy, and I had a few more mammograms. And I left with the results appointment booked for the following Thursday, 23/03, with the recommendation to bring a friend/partner...I was deflated on that bus when I returned home.
