Lump on breast and swelling in armpit

I've had a hard round painless lump on my breast for about 3 months now which has been monitored by the doctors throughout that time. I am 3 months post partum so we originally wanted to see if it was a block duct. As the lump hasn't gone away, I was referred back in early December to the breast clinic. My appointment is on the 8th January. On Christmas eve, we noticed that I have now developed swelling in my armpit. I got an emergency appointment on christmas eve at the drs but it wasn't the usual dr who I have been seeing for this lump and they were understandably very busy so their concern was that it wasn't mastitis as im breastfeeding. Ive had lumps checked out before but this one is making me very anxious. I was just wondering, how common is it to have swelling in the armpit along side a lump in the breast? Is this a common sign of breast cancer. I dont seem to have any other symptoms but my mind is spiralling a bit. Im hoping its just a lump I've developed from pregnancy hormones but am quite scared. Im 32 years old. Thank you 

  • Hello BethBee and a warm welcome to Cancer Chat, 

    I just wanted to wish you the best of luck for your appointment at the breast clinic on the 8th of January - just three days to go and you will hopefully have some answers. I am so sorry to hear you had to have an emergency appointment on Christmas eve and if the swelling in the armpit hasn't been investigated, you should definitely mention it when you have your appointment at the breast clinic just so that they are aware of it and make sure you tell them when you first noticed it and that you had an emergency appointment on Christmas eve but that this wasn't looked into properly at the time. 

    It's normal to worry about breast cancer and for your mind to be spiralling but try not to anticipate the worst as there are so many other things it could be other than cancer and as you pointed out, with pregnancy and breastfeeding, your body has been through a lot of hormonal changes recently. To help you prepare for your appointment, I just wanted to share with you useful information from Breast Cancer Now on what happens at a breast clinic appointment and if you have any questions ahead of your appointment you would like to discuss with our cancer nurses, they have a free helpline you can ring on this free number 0808 800 4040 - it is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. 

    Best of luck for your appointment on the 8th I hope it all goes well and that you will get reassurance and that it ends up being nothing of concern. Keep us updated if you get a chance!

    Best wishes, 

    Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator