Hi Mimo!

Im new here so it was nice but sad at the same time to read your post. I have just been diagnosed BC in R and had another biopsy (upright vac assisted) of L a few weeks ago. I have to say I have never been so conscious of my breasts in my whole life and yes, I had some strange sensations (not helped by the 'cracker' of a cyst the size of an egg in my L breast!) and also palpitations and sudden bouts of irrational tearfulness that is coming on all the time at work which is worrying me! (BTW, I had a huge cyst [another egg!] in my R breast originally, and I thought it was definieley late stage BC, psychologically prepared myself for the worst news, and so whilst i now have a definite diagnosis of BC in R and poss in L, without that big egg, I probably wouldnt have caught it in time!)

Positive breathing techniques help with the palpitations, and so focusing on taking long deep breaths when you feel the palpitations, rather than focusing on your heart rate, does really help! Still not found the cure for crying irrationally!!!!

I am very lucky, if my L is not BC and the R is operable, I am lookign at surgery, radio and meds +/- chemo. I hope your journy, Mimo, turns out to be a positive one! 

And Kiera, your reply to Mimo was very helpful for me too, and your kindness shines through! 

We are all in the same boat, its just that the rudder has a mind of its own!

Take care x

Hi Fibi

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and I'm sorry to read that you have also been experiencing palpitations and sudden bouts of tearfulness. I had my MRI 10 days ago and received my full prognosis today. I stopped thinking about it after the MRI and strangely did not have the palpitations so strongly but I discussed with my GP in the meantime and I have requested blood tests (I get migraines often and feel fatigue) and he is also asking me to do an ECG to be on the safe side. He also suggested I stop drinking coffee! Plus if I am going to be receiving treatment I want to be sure I am healthy in the rest of me.

Under the circumstances the prognosis is good - the MRI showed the lump to be slightly bigger than the U/S but since the biopsy I can feel it more than  before - pre biopsy I could only feel it lying down. I can't help feeling the reason it is bigger on MRI is because of the biopsy!

I do have the option to take tamoxifen to shrink it but ultimately I would still need an op to remove it. Fortunately the MRI did not show any further lumps or that it had spread. I know surgeons are always keen to operate, because after all that is their job and they have said to have surgery asap to remove the lump then radiation post op. The lump is only 19mm but even then the doctor said it is not entirely accurate and could be bigger or smaller and won't know for sure until after the op. I am due to go on a wellness retreat next month so ideally want to delay any treatment until after then. The doctor was not that reassuring that I want to wait. 

How are you doing? When do you start treatment? x

Hi Kiera

Thanks for reading my post and replying. I am sorry to not reply sooner but I thought it might be best to not think about things for a while until I had my full prognosis which was today.

It's interesting to read that you waited 8 weeks for surgery. I am due to go away on 10 December for 16 days and want to postpone treatment until I get back. That will be roughly 8 weeks for me from diagnosis too. The doctor was not very reassuring that I want to wait but said ultimately it was my decision. However, it would feel better if I knew he was ok with it.

When I asked him when I'm likely to get an appointment for surgery he said 2-4 weeks. Then if you factor in time in between to decide what to do (I have a couple of options) it kind of takes me to when I come back from my break anyway! I have already paid for my flights which were not cheap (over a grand) and I cannot get insurance to get the money back.

As for the palpitations they come and go. I never felt the lump before unless I was lying down and now I can feel it when I am upright. The doctor said it was likely to be swelling, even after 4 weeks? My GP is sending me for ECG scan this week just to be on safe side. x