Diagnosis

Hello and welcome .  Sorry yiu find yourself here but we will support you.  Your appointment will soon be here and at appointment they will do mammogram, ultrasound and possibly biopsy with results in a week or so.  BC is not always a lump .  I had no lump Judy picked up on routine mammogram.  There are benign causes of lumps as well 

if it dies need removing your don't normally wait long for more tests or surgery.  It's not like needing a hip replacement where you wait months/years .  It's weeks .  

This uncertain period is the worse .  Look on ongoing discussion thread at Awake thread if you fancy a chat x

Hi Emma, I found my lump on 4 August and didn't get to see a consultant until 22 September which is when I had mammograms, ultrasounds and biopsies.  Cut a long story short, I had 2 lumps, 4.4 cm  and 3 cm and had a mastectomy on 3 December.  As Grogg said, not all lumps are breast cancer.  The majority of breast cancers are slow growing so a few weeks will probably not make much difference.  The waits between appointments do seem interminable but at least now you have found your lump something is happening.

Hi , and another warm welcome. Sorry you’re having this horrible anxious time, I think we’d all agree that the waiting is tortuous. Do try to keep in mind that as Grogg has said, not all breast lumps are cancer, in fact the majority aren’t. So it’s good you’re having the tests but fingers crossed that will be the end of it. But if it does turn out to be cancer, try to also bear in mind that breast cancer is very treatable these days. 

I have had many false alarms over the years, including lumps that were initially deemed very suspicious but turned out to be a fibroadenoma and cysts, all benign. But I had to go through mammograms, ultrasounds and a lumpectomy to find out. Finally I did have a cancerous lump but have had surgery and radiotherapy and now just take a daily pill to keep the beast away. 

Re time scales, it’s really hard to say as even pre Covid there were differences between areas. In my case, 2 years ago, I had surgery within a month of the initial breast clinic appointment, then radiotherapy 10 weeks later. The gap worried me but looking back I was probably glad of the healing time. 

Re filling the time up to your clinic appointment I can only suggest ‘keep busy’ whether that’s work, walking, watching tv..... easier said than done I know. I did keep busy at work but had little choice as I was a special needs teacher and every day was full on. I was also helping my daughter prepare to go abroad for up to 2 years so that was another distraction! 

Wiishing you well and sending love and a big virtual hug, HFxx

PS - stay away from Dr Google, often old info or simply wrong! 

Hi.  Well done for finding this online community.  It really does help to hear from others going through the same sort of thing.  I know what you mean about going mad while waiting for appointments/results.   It is the pits.  I was diagnosed on 16 November and am booked for mastectomy on 20 January (covid permitting).  Up until 23 December I didn't know how bad/good the news was going to be and it was the most upsetting, anxious, nerve-racking time of my entire life.  I did keep busy - sewing is my thing and I just threw myself into making lots of Christmas decs!  Only 1 more week to wait for you and hopefully the news won't be as bad as you are imagining.  Whatever the news is remember breast cancer is so much more treatable nowadays.  Try not to google too much - just use this online community - lots of good advice and support here.

Will be thinking of you on the 9th.   Do let us know how you get on.  Sending lots of love and virtual hugs.   Hold your nerve and try and stay busy.