Hi SJM82,

I too am currently experiencing similar. I found a lump under my armpit and the GP initially prescribed a weeks course of antibiotics. I then found a lump in my right breast and had flu like symptoms. I was referred to the breast clinic (my appointment is on 2nd March). Now I have lymph nodes popping up all over my body and I'm sore and aching. One night I had night sweats. The GP is now also concerned about Lymphoma so I have been referred for a CT scan too on 27th Feb. The first few days that I knew I was being referred for cancer tests I couldn't sleep, my anxiety was through the roof, and the stress was unbearable. I'm a mum too and I'm 37. All I could and still can think about is how it will effect my child if the worst case scenario was diagnosed. I'm now feeling slightly less worked up now that I have had time to think about it all week (still stressed by it but I guess that's normal and the waiting and unknown isn't nice!) Feels like a long few weeks. Wishing you all of the best for your test results, I hope that all is ok x

I too am struggling atm, I have a small child and I am wracked with nerves and upset at the prospect of anything happening to me.

I mirror probably exactly your situation, I too had the vaccine quite a while ago now and noticed after some weeks a swelling in my armpit - it didn't go and doesn't match my other arm pit so I called the GP - practice nurse over the phone said to wait and see if it goes down if not call back. I called back a week later to then be seen by a young doctor in Clinic. She said she too could feel the swelling so that she needed to refer me to the Breast Clinic under the 2WW. She gave very little away I asked her outright if she was concerned and there were any red flags from her which she just shook her head but left me very unconvinced.

i have had the Pfizer vaccine and I am sure that a rare side effect is arm pit swelling but all I can worry myself if that I have cancer and I am going to leave my little one behind and it's just effecting everything! 
 

Thanks

Hi [@SJM82]‍, thanks so much for posting.

I'm also 38, with a young child, am waiting for my breast clinic appointment after finding a lump, and literally just posted my first post about how I'm anxious about body ache (hip in my case) being some kind of sign of metastatic breast cancer.

So, you're not alone! And it did help me to see that I'm not alone either, so thank you. 

I don't know how to get through the wait. I'm trying my best to think of it as a positive though in some way, however my appointment turns out - and I'm not really expecting good news from how my GP responded to my lump. That maybe being forced to wait like this can help me to build patience, and  find a way to help determine what is the voice of my anxiety - which I've always had - and what's reality. How the VERY sudden reassessing of my body, my health, and my place in the world (job, family, etc) might help me to see things more clearly in the future, whatever the outcome. And it's certainly highlighted that I don't have the best coping mechanisms to date - surely after 6+ hours of googling, I've googled all there is! 

Hope all goes well for you and your appointment x

Hi Hezzy, 

Thank you for replying, my post probably made no sense.It was late at night and i couldn't see to type as was just in tears.This is when i worry the most.

It is most definitely the unknown that makes it all the more scary i think and the waiting i am finding really difficult.I feel numb and not present.

Wishing you all the best for your appointments and results, please let me know how you get on.X

Hi CB14, 

I too had the Pfizer vaccine which at first the doctor put down my symptoms to that but in the days leading up to the vaccine i noticed a tenderness in my left armpit that i was thinking i should possibly get checked out.

The other symptoms i developed roughly 3 days after vaccine.

It is documented that swelling and lymph node swelling can be one on the side effects of the pfizer vaccine so i hope this is the case for you.

Please keep me updated on how you get on.X

Mine too is left arm where I had the vaccine. I am 31 and appointment is at the end of the week, so fingers crossed as I am just reading everything online which I know I shouldn't but you can't help it can you. 
 

sounds like could hopefully be the vaccine for us both - so I'll hold onto that 

x 

Oh Iz rey, 

I feel I could of wrote what you have.

I struggle with bad anxiety on a daily basis which in the past year or so since covid and me putting on weight has turned more so into health anxiety.I see myself as a prime candiate to pick up everything and develop everything based on my weight, this is where i believe it comes from anyway....

I too have told myself and belive i have metastatic cancer down to the ashes i get in my arms and that it has spread from my having breast cancer that has gone unnoticed by me and that basically whatever they find i will be beyond help.I know that it sounds crazy but that's what i truly believe.

When i try and be positive i talk myself out of being positive for giving myself false hope and will be more devastated if my results are what i dread.

Regardless of the results i know i need help for my anxiety alone as after hours of googling all sorts over everything i don't think there is anything i haven't read on Google.

Please keep me updated on how you are getting on.X

Hi [@SJM82]‍ -

Big hugs, I hope it's all OK and just part of the vaccine. If you feel your anxiety is getting to be too much, remember your GP might be able to help too - that's what they're there for after all. 

I think it's important not to blame ourselves: our anxiety, our weight, anything. To some degree, waiting and worrying just seems to be what this experience is, and - for me - maybe accepting that is healthier than fighting it. Reading through this forum (plus about 1 gazillion google search results) made me realise that there isn't some sort of superhuman response to waiting to see if you have cancer or not, or that I'm somehow falling short of how someone 'ought' to respond.

I'm just trying to accept all possibilities are still open, and be OK with that. My GP felt my misbehaving breast was sucpicious enough to be frank with me about what it could be. He's probably felt a heckuva lot of lumps in his career, and may be right that it's bad news. He also doesn't have x-ray vision and might be mistaken. 

One positive of all my googling was realising that I might not know for quite a while exactly what's wrong (or not) and what it means. That's a HUGE challenge for me, a direct hit on like everything that I'm not very good at: lack of certainty, delayed knowledge, not being able to make a plan, or 'solve' a problem. So, it oddly feels like at this exact moment, my real problem is that - I'm just not very good at the skills needed for this kind of experience. Stuff like patience, restraint from googling every tiny thought that pops into my head, living in the moment, not treating every worry like it demands immediate action, etc. Maybe 'fellowship' is one of those skills, and what's why posting in the forum seems to help :)

Let me know how you're doing, I hope the stress of it all eases for you! x

Hi Iz rey, 

Sending big hugs back.

In your reply you certainly sound a lot more positive and in a  better mindset and hope that continues for you.

Your reply helped me to breathe and try to adapt to the same mindset.

The stress and worry is there still and what feels like a cloud hanging over me but i am doing my best to just breathe, be present and keep myself calm.

Just keep trying to tell myself that i can't control what is happening but i can control how i deal with it and it seems to be helping a little.

Let me know how you are getting on too.X