Hi Carblyf,

A very warm welcome to our forum.

I am sorry to hear about your concerns, but you are just as well to get them checked out. You will usually wait up to 2 weeks from referral to get an appointment at the breast clinic. It is unusual for pain to accompany breast cancer. A cancerous lump starts off as a very small lump which increases in size as it grows. 

There are also other reasons for breast lumps, such as benign cysts, fibrous and hormonal changes. Of all the people referred to the breast clinic, only 1 person in 8 will get a cancer diagnosis. The fact that you cannot find these lumps yourself augers well for you. This could indicate that there is nothing to worry about, or it could mean that you have caught it very early on. The sooner you find it, the easier  and more effective treatment usually is.

I have had 2 bouts of breast cancer in the past 12 years and still lead a busy and fulfilled life, so try not to panic. Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Thanks Jolamine! 
 

Im so pleased to hear you made such a great recovery!

the doctor did say that the fact I feel tenderness is probably a good sign, so I am feeling hopeful. I am also lucky enough that cancer doesn't particularly run in my family (only one case of bowel cancer) but I know that doesn't mean I should assume it's not the big C!

i will update this after the 23rd November when I hopefully get some good news.

Hi Carblyf,

I may be wrong, but I believe that you have to have 2 or 3 close family members with breast cancer to increase your genetic risk. You don't say what age you are, but painful breasts are often associated with hormonal changes.

Keeping my fingers crossed for good news.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

That's what I thought, so I am looking on the logical side and hoping things are in my favour. I'm convincing myself they're cysts until I have the ultrasound - otherwise I'll panic when there's nothing I can do.

I'm 28 so not sure if it would be hormonal changes. I had a very early stage miscarriage in April, which is the only thing I can think might affect my hormones other than normal monthly activity.

Hi Carblyf,

I am so very sorry to hear about your miscarriage. There have been cases where women have had similar symptoms as a result of their monthlies, so hormonal changes are still a possibility. Let's hope that it turns out to be nothing untoward.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi, I have had a similar thing. Pain in exact same area and extremely tender if knocked or touched. I only have small breasts so this tends to be when changing or lying. I don't know if connected or not but I also have an armpit lump on the same side and shoulder pain and then pins and needles in hand. The pain varies from burning to shooting pain to aches. All very strange. I got referred to the breast clinic by my GP but went private for an ultrasound and also saw private breast consultant. The breast consultant was not at all concerned before scan. I am still waiting on the 'official' results but the radiologist said verbally that I have a large number of cysts in the same area. He thinks I have an auto immune disease and it's not the cysts causing the pain. It's all very strange and I have lots of questions at this stage as it doesn't seem to make sense. I'm not sure if this helps or not? At the time I visited my GP I only had located one lump. Then later found the armpit one and another one in the same breast so was shocked the consultants found so many. 

Hi both,

I just wanted to update you as I said I would (and hopefully this will give reassurance to others)

I went for my ultrasound yesterday and the doctor did an examination and she said she could feel several small lumps in both breasts but didn't think it was anything to worry about - an instant relief. She still wanted me to go for the ultrasound just to be sure. 
 

I went to the ultrasound and they checked both breasts entirely, not just where the lumps were, and he said he the ultrasound wasn't picking up anything bad and said they look perfectly healthy. He explained that sometimes we can feel lumps but the ultrasound (or mammogram for older people) is the best way to be 100% sure. They reckon the lumps they could feel were just tissue and maybe I had a couple of cysts that my doctor felt and had gone now. I felt mortified that I had wasted there time but I am so thankful I went for the peace of mind! 
 

now I will be checking for lumps more often so I know what is unusual for me!