Back in August, I went to my GP because I noticed thickening in my breast and a strange red/purple bruise that didn’t make sense. One doctor examined me and said, yes, something definitely isn’t right. Another doctor completely dismissed my concerns. I still got a routine referral, but the mixed messages left me confused and anxious.
Fast-forward to the end of November and things have not improved — they’ve worsened. I now have:
Dull, constant pain through my breast and into my arm
Thickening over a much larger area
And a strange mass-like feeling underneath my breast
This time it was classed as a red flag referral.
It has now been 7 days since that urgent referral was sent and I still haven’t had any acknowledgement from the hospital. No letter. No call. Nothing. I can’t sleep properly. My mind doesn’t switch off. I keep running every possible scenario through my head, and the waiting is honestly torture.
I don’t know what the outcome will be yet — but what I do know is how deeply unsettling it is when your body feels wrong and you’re stuck in limbo. Feeling so so scared right now.
It's natural to be feeling as you do when you're waiting for an appointment. Has one come through since you wrote this?
You haven't said which clinic you're being referred to but I assume from what you've written that it's the breast cancer clinic. If this is right, then you might like to join the breast cancer group as you'll find others there who are also waiting for tests and referrals.
If this is something that you'd like to do, just click on the link I've created and, once you've joined, you can start a new post in the same way as you did here and join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
If I've assumed wrongly then drop me a line to tell me which clinic you've been referred to and I'll give you a direct link to that group. Alternatively you can look through this list to choose the right group for you.
I hope you don't have too much longer to wait.
Anne
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
