i had never had a mammogram and found a lump , op to remove it uncovered loads of DCIS which hadn’t shown up on the mammogram or ultrasound. Breast tissue can be so dense that it seems to be impossible to find every case via mammogram which is why we are all still told to check our breasts.
Really sorry to hear you’ve got breast cancer , have you got a treatment plan yet? You’re mind will be a whirl for quite some time with all sorts of things.
yes, me! I had a recall after mammogram but they said on closer examination everything was fine and about to dismiss me I said I had been having weird pains in armpit and side of right breast , please could they check? I had been fobbed off for over a year as no lump found , but the ultrasound found the lump right at bottom edge of breast where it meets chest wall, I had been examined by gp and another specialist earlier in the year,,,nothing found, told it was hormonal. I knew it wasn't, wasn't at all surprised to be told it was, indeed cancer and it had gone into 5 lymph nodes, it almost a relief as now we could do something about it. no good being bitter, I did all I could but I did feel let down, lumpectomy and full node clearence done, waiting for radiotherapy to start xx
Hi I didn't find a lump I had some pain and felt a disc shape in right breast thought it might have been a muscle. Wrong it was lobular BC, invasive, as had a small lump under breast too and 10/14 lymph nodes. So level 2 clearance, mastectomy, chemo x6 and radiation x15. Now clear annual mamagram and hormone meds Been a long haul. A bit miffed as missed a mamagram due to Covid a nd unsure if Lobular cancer shows that well in mamagrams. Good luck with your journey my friend x
Yes. Initially found DCIS in right breast and because of more testing an MRI showed something in my left breast. Biopsy showed I had stage 1 invasive cancer in left breast. No lump and nothing on ultrasound. That goodness for MRI.
I found a lump and the breast cancer clinic sent me for mammogram and ultrasound. The mammogram did not see the lump at all - and it was almost 4cm! But the ultrasound did and they took a biopsy.
Mine was very far on the outside of my breast so even when they knew where it was and the marker was inside, they still struggled to get it on mammogram.
I raised this as an issue for yearly mammograms and they said that I should be checking my breasts regularly - the mammogram is just a catch all. I was worried about a lump and got seen straight away (same day!) to have an ultrasound and it was just scar tissue - so they do look after you and take you seriously.
I also had dense breasts and these are likely to get less dense now that I'm in a medical menopause so mammograms may be more worthwhile as the years go on.
I didn't realise until my yearly mammogram that the surgeon left the marker inside so that the yearly mammograms will always find where my tumour had been.
I had 2 mammograms that didn’t show my breast cancer, it was found after having an ultrasound, when I asked why it wasn’t found, they said I had dense breast tissue and this probably masked it, I had had breast problems before being diagnosed and the dense tissue was mentioned then, I get quite angry when I think about it, maybe if dense breast tissue is noticed it should be routine to do an ultrasound alongside a mammogram x
Hi Halley, I understand your frustration about the mammogram not picking up your breast cancer. I too have dense breasts and the DCIS was picked up on mammogram but the stage 1 invasive cancer in left breast was not picked up on mammogram or ultrasound; found on MRI. I know there are guidelines on dense breasts but I was never offered any other test except mammogram until I was diagnosed with DCIS. Since I had lumpectomy, off HRT and now on anastrazole wonder if my small breasts are less dense? I am going to ask my breast surgeon when I see him next week. I am so happy today as had first mammogram since going through surgery and radiation and it was negative. Lots of ups and downs but this is an upper for sure. So we keep on going and gain more knowledge everyday. Take care of yourself.
