Hi and thanks for posting

I'm sorry you have had the extra stress of waiting for an appointment to be seen.

If the lump is of a size, it's not surprising that your breast may feel full and achey,  as there may also be some pressure on the nerves in the area. The size of the lump doesn't need to mean that it's more likely to be of concern, as some big lumps can turn out to be fibroadenomas(non cancerous lumps)

Losing weight and fatigue aren't symptoms as such of breast cancer and the altered blood cells also don't have to be linked to a breast lump. Hopefully you will hear more soon after your appointment next week.

All the best- keep busy if you can while you're waiting this week and if at any time you would like to have a chat, please do ring - the number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

Wanda

Hello there and thanks for the update

This is understandably a worrying time for you and needing to wait this long to be seen must be unbearable, but hopefully you will know more soon.

It sounds like your doctor is being thorough with running some more blood tests to give them further information about what may be going on and give pointers to other tests or referrals that should be made.

A ca125 blood test can sometimes be raised in some types of cancer such as ovarian but can also be high when there is inflammation in the pelvis region in or the female reproductive organs. If it comes back high they may wish to arrange a pelvic ultrasound as well to check these things out as well.

Fatigue can be caused by so many different things including altered blood counts and anaemia, so at the moment your doctor is trying to piece together the jigsaw puzzle to be able to get the full picture about what may be going on.

When cancer is in the family, people often assume that this greatly increases their risk of developing it, but this isn't necessarily so. Although the genes we inherit may influence our risk, other things do as well. No one is risk free and the risk of breast cancer increases for all women as we get older.

Family history can increase the risk of breast cancer but not always by very much. This can depend on how close the affected relatives were and how young they were when they developed the cancer. Breast cancer is common anyway, 1 in 8 women develop breast cancer over their lifetime, but mostly at an older age (above 50).

So, we all carry some degree of ‘population' risk. In the UK, routine breast screening starts from 50 for most of us although there is a study asking some women from the age of 47. Some women whose risk is above average can start screening sooner, but only a very few women are offered it in their thirties. All women registered with a GP will be called to mammogram through the breast screening service but for some women depending on the area they live may not be invited until the age of 52, which may be the reason for yourself not yet having one.

Please take it easy and try and take things one step at a time, do get back to us if you need to and you are always welcome to call us 0808 800 4040 if you prefer to talk over the phone.

Wishing you all the best

Naomi