Hi Laurawildlifelover,

A very warm welcome to our forum.

I notice that you have posted this in 'Ask the Nurses'. I am not a nurse, but I have had a couple of bouts of breast cancer and thought that you might find it useful to hear of my experience, as it seems average timewise. Most of us get post-surgery results back within 1-3 weeks. It can take longer in some busy hospitals. I suspect that you may have had to wait a little longer because of the Christmas holiday.

I know what an anxious wait this is. If you haven’t heard anything by the beginning of next week, why not phone your consultant’s secretary? All results go back to her first, then the findings are discussed at a multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting before the patient is told anything. These meetings comprise of the medical team who will be involved in your future care, and they will have a treatment plan in place for you by the time you see the consultant again. Patients are often not given a return appointment for results until they are back. At this stage, you may get a phone call to give you an appointment.

I do hope that you get your results soon and that all is well. As far as radiotherapy goes, you are unlikely to get an appointment for this until you have fully healed from your surgery – usually at least 6 weeks. Hope this helps.

Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Thankyou much appreciated 

Hi Laurawildlifelover and thank you for your post.

I am sorry to read that you have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

It’s very normal to feel worried while waiting for your results. After a lumpectomy and lymph node removal, most people get their pathology results in 2-3 weeks, because the laboratory needs time to prepare and check everything carefully. Sometimes it can take longer—like 3 or 4 weeks—especially if the hospital is busy or if extra tests are needed or over bank holiday periods.

Usually all biopsies are discussed in an multi disciplinary team meeting (MDT). This may add an extra week to receiving your results.

MDT meetings  usually happen once a week and if there are too many patients on the list a patient can be deferred to the following week.

The MDT will recommend the most appropriate treatment for you, based on the best evidence available.

Once your biopsies have been discussed at the meeting you will be given an appointment to discuss your treatment plan.

If you haven’t heard anything yet, it’s fine to ring your breast care nurse or your consultant’s secretary. They’ll be able to tell you when your results might come and can help calm your worries.

People often experience a whole range of emotions when waiting for results. We know that talking can often relieve some of the distress and anxiety. There's some useful advice about talking therapies and how to access them on the NHS website. In the meantime, Anxiety UK has a good website with helpful tips on how to deal with anxiety in these situations. 

Maggie's are also a great source of support for patients and can also provide counselling and talking therapies to help people process what they are going through and help people move forward.

I can understand how anxious  it can be to get results back and I do hope you hear more soon.

Please get back to us if you need any more information or support

It might help to talk things through with one of our nurses on the helpline. You can call for free on 0808 800 4040, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Kind regards,

Tina