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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Breast Cancer / January 2004I spoke too soon
I posted a few days ago on good news about my results... I guess I spoke too soon. I had a follow-up doctors appointment yesterday. He was not satisfied with the lump being ruled out as a lymph node. ME: What could it be then? HIM: I don't know, but I have never felt a small sharp hard lump like you have. HIM: Do you want to wait 6 months like the other dr. said to do or do you want to get this taken care of? In my opinion, it should be removed. ME: I want to get it taken care of... Could this be a lymph node? HIM: I really don't know what to tell you. I have never felt them to be so sharp and hard. ME: Okay what do I do now? HIM: I am sending you to a surgeon to have him feel it and see what he thinks should be done. So, I have an appointment with the surgeon on January 26th. I am just curious if anyone ever heard of this type of lump before? Then I am also curious as to why this lump did not show up on the mammo or the ultrasound? Now the fears are running through my mind again! To top off everything, I came down with the Flu last night and I had my Flu shot! It never ends! Dharma Good to have a surgeon evaluate the lump...in all probabilty it isn't cancer. Sending you positive thoughts. Alex > I posted a few days ago on good news about my results... I guess I > spoke too soon. I had a follow-up doctors appointment yesterday. He [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > Dharma Sorry you got the flu bug. Personally, I think all lumps should be biopsied, even though 80% of the time they are benign. My breast surgeon didn't really think my lump was cancer, and gave me the choice of having it out and biopsied or not. After waiting a couple months I decided to have the biopsy and the results were malignant. I was shocked because no one in my family had ever had breast cancer and it had not shown in my mammogram. Anyway, you can see from my experience why I recommend a biopsy. Shirlene > Good to have a surgeon evaluate the lump...in all probabilty it isn't > cancer. [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > > > Dharma Shirlene, I am so sorry to hear that the lump was malignant. It is the same with me, no one on either sides of my family ever had breast cancer, but that doesn't stop me from not worrying that my lump won't be malignant. Over the weekend I called my Dad and told him what was going on and he told me that his Aunt had breast cancer and I guess from what he said that she was cured for a while, but after 20 years of being cancer-free she had gotten brain cancer and later on she died. If I remember right, I was very young when I used to visit her, but I never remember cancer ever being mentioned. So, I would say that breast cancer DOES run in my family even though my Dad says No. I don't mean to be a pain, but after you got the results on your lump what was the treatment? I know I am getting way ahead of myself right now, but I want to know what the outcome will be like. Of course, I have never really taken good care of myself. I smoke and drink a lot of coffee and I think after all of this ordeal, I am going to quit smoking and maybe switch to drinking tea. Even if my results come back negative, I am still going to quit smoking. Thanks for reading, Dharma > Sorry you got the flu bug. Personally, I think all lumps should be > biopsied, even though 80% of the time they are benign. My breast surgeon [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > > > > > > Dharma Dharma, Keep in mind that 80% of biopsies yield benign results and try not to cross any bridges before you have to. In my case, I elected to have a mastectomy and some lympth nodes removed. The lympth nodes were negative for cancer. That was 18 years ago and back then it was pretty standard to not have any further treatment with negative lympth nodes. That was even before the days of tamoxifen. I feel early detection is the best cure for breast cancer, so that's why I push for a biopsy of any size lump. Don't beat yourself up over smoking and drinking a lot of coffee. I never smoked and drank a moderate amount of coffee and it happened to me. Most of the time there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for getting breast cancer. I heard another cancer survivor say, "It's a crap shoot!" and I think she was right. Anyway, don't blame yourself! I will be glad when this is over for you because waiting and wondering is the hardest part. Shirlene > Shirlene, > [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > > > Sending you positive thoughts. > > > Alex Thank you for responding Shirlene... I really appreciate it :-) I talked to a friend from Australia over the weekend and she went through this 12 years ago what I am going through now. She explained to me what her lump was like and mine is exactly the same as hers was. This was a relief to me. BUT, I also talked to a sister-in-law over the phone yesterday and she gave me all kinds of negative thoughts! She told me seeing the lump didn't show up on the mammo or the ultrasound that this wasn't a good sign. She said that I should wait to have it removed and to see if it does get bigger. She went on about the lump maybe something that should be there and if I have it removed than this will cause me more problems in the future! Hmmm, I always thought a lump should always be removed! I believe that I am right anyway, but this is my sister-in-law, and she has never liked me, so I figure this is her way of keeping me upset! I just wanted to share with you what I have to go through. It's not very pleasant right now. Thanks for reading :-) Dharma > Dharma, > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Shirlene Sorry posting this again... It did not go through to my server. Shirlene, I am so sorry to hear that the lump was malignant. It is the same with me, no one on either sides of my family ever had breast cancer, but that doesn't stop me from not worrying that my lump won't be malignant. Over the weekend I called my Dad and told him what was going on and he told me that his Aunt had breast cancer and I guess from what he said that she was cured for a while, but after 20 years of being cancer-free she had gotten brain cancer and later on she died. If I remember right, I was very young when I used to visit her, but I never remember cancer ever being mentioned. So, I would say that breast cancer DOES run in my family even though my Dad says No. I don't mean to be a pain, but after you got the results on your lump what was the treatment? I know I am getting way ahead of myself right now, but I want to know what the outcome will be like. Of course, I have never really taken good care of myself. I smoke and drink a lot of coffee and I think after all of this ordeal, I am going to quit smoking and maybe switch to drinking tea. Even if my results come back negative, I am still going to quit smoking. Thanks for reading, Dharma > Sorry you got the flu bug. Personally, I think all lumps should be > biopsied, even though 80% of the time they are benign. My breast surgeon [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > > > > > > Dharma LOL! Sorry about the name change! A friend of mine checked the groups earlier on my computer and she used a different name.... Sorry I should have checked the accounts before I posted. Dharma > Sorry posting this again... It did not go through to my server. I'm seeing two copies separated by 26 minutes. Maybe your server was having a bad hair day. I know things usually pop up in seconds, but queues can form at peak times or in event of hardware malfunction, and I'd give it a couple of hours before worrying a post might be lost. The system is quite resilient and rarely loses posts (or emails) on transmission. Tim Jackson Hi Tim, Thank you... I sent the posts yesterday and I still was not seeing them today, so I sent them again... I figured it was maybe the server having the hiccups.... Sorry, I guess I worded my message wrong by saying it didn't go through to my server. Dharma > > Sorry posting this again... It did not go through to my server. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Tim Jackson Sorry, my mistake, they were on consecutive days, both at around 2pm. Looks like there is a problem with them getting served back to you. You are posting through Supernews, that usually means the posting is subcontracted by your own ISP (unless you actually pay for a Supernews account yourself). In that case the delay is probably because of the two-stage process - you send to your ISP for broadcast, they send to Supernews who broadcast it and send it back to the ISP for reading. The transfers are probably done periodically or during (otherwise) idle time, leading to some delay. If that is the problem then you will probably see the replies coming back late too. One way to check independently if your posts have gone out is to check on http://groups.google.com/groups?q=alt.support.cancer.breast although that tends to be fairly slow to update too. You can also look at the "date/time received" which should show when the message arrived at the server. If you look at the headers (right click & select properties, details), some posts also include the time of sending (mine do, see the header "NNTP-Posting-Date:") so you can see how much transmission delay there has been. If you often get long delays like that, complain to your ISP. Tim Jackson > Hi Tim, > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > > > Tim Jackson Ah huh! Now I see how the ISP's work with the newsgroups, at least my ISP. Yes mine is through the ISP, which they use Supernews for newsgroups. This can get confusing. Are you a network guru? Just curious because you explained that quite well :-) > Sorry, my mistake, they were on consecutive days, both at around 2pm. > [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] > > > > > > Tim Jackson > Are you a network guru? Just > curious because you explained that quite well :-) I will be whatever you want me to be. ;-) In my day job I am an electronic engineer. I know about Supernews because my ISP used it as a stopgap when they had problems with their server. Tim Thanks Tim :-) I plan on studying and getting into Networking after I am all finished with the ordeal I am going through right now. I am a certified computer technican, but out of work right now. Dharma > > Are you a network guru? Just > > curious because you explained that quite well :-) [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Tim Hi Dharma, So sorry that you have to worry all over again. But you are very lucky that your doctor is willing to send you to a surgeon so quickly. In my opinion, the surgery is really not that bad, and best to have the lump removed and sent for biopsy to make sure. Now, having said that, it is probably not cancer. But it's best to make sure. Good luck and let us know? Marianne > I posted a few days ago on good news about my results... I guess I > spoke too soon. I had a follow-up doctors appointment yesterday. He [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > Dharma Dharma, I didn't respond when you mentioned the small lump before, but I, too, discovered a very small lump which feels like a BB just under the skin near the armpit. I was in the hospital the end of Sept. and 4 residents came in -- separately -- to "examine" me and also the surgeon that did the mast. in April 2001 examined the area and no one felt this lump. I didn't either then. But on Christmas eve I felt an irritation and when I put my hand to the area I felt this very small, round, hard lump (about 3 or 4mm). I'm 64 so it's probably not a cyst because I've read that mostly younger women get cysts. I have an appt. with the onc. next week and I hope I remember to have him check it. I say that because my memory isn't so great nowadays, and the appt. is more on the hematology side because I have a blood disorder that is monitored monthly. I have several things to ask him so I better make out list because he's one of those docs that gives me about 2 minutes of his time and no discussion. He's respected clinically, but he's an older man and I don't think he recognizes his patients as individual people. If it weren't for the internet and forums I wouldn't know what was going on. He doesn't even discuss with me the results of my tests. I went around and got all my reports and that's how I found out things weren't so good. Radialogists noted nodules in both lungs. Then he said "the breast has gone to the lungs", I'm biding my time with that because I'm not ready to get on the chemo train yet. Anyway, I was going to make an appt. with the surgeon because I value him more, but since I have the appt. with the onc. I guess I'll see what he says. I'm thinking it may be a local/regional recurrence but it must have come about rather quickly (within 3 months from all those "exams") so I don't know. The last six months or so it has been one thing after another and it's becoming pretty depressing. Kathie Kathie, I am so sorry to hear about your ordeal! My lump is also about the size of a BB, but mine is in my right breast. Mine is also sharp and very hard. I would be persistant with your doctor though. My doctor is great! I am so fortunate to have him be this way! I am glad I recently switched to him as to being my doctor. I had to be persistant with the doctors at the hospital though after the lump didn't show up on the mammo because I wanted an ultrasound done on that breast. The one doctor just laughed at me, but I didn't care. Then after the ultrasound was done and the lump still didn't show up, that same doctor came into the room, he seemed agitated and said "see nothing to worry about", well, I wasn't happy with this doctor at all, but at the time I was happy that the lump didn't show up on the ultrasound because I figured this was a good sign, but now I am thinking differently because I want the lump out of my body because we don't know what it is until it is removed. I wish you all the best of luck for when you go to onc. next week. Please let us know how you make out. God bless, Dharma > Dharma, > [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > Kathie Sorry, again, I am posting this... this too did not go through my server the first time. Kathie, I am so sorry to hear about your ordeal! My lump is also about the size of a BB, but mine is in my right breast. Mine is also sharp and very hard. I would be persistant with your doctor though. My doctor is great! I am so fortunate to have him be this way! I am glad I recently switched to him as to being my doctor. I had to be persistant with the doctors at the hospital though after the lump didn't show up on the mammo because I wanted an ultrasound done on that breast. The one doctor just laughed at me, but I didn't care. Then after the ultrasound was done and the lump still didn't show up, that same doctor came into the room, he seemed agitated and said "see nothing to worry about", well, I wasn't happy with this doctor at all, but at the time I was happy that the lump didn't show up on the ultrasound because I figured this was a good sign, but now I am thinking differently because I want the lump out of my body because we don't know what it is until it is removed. I wish you all the best of luck for when you go to onc. next week. Please let us know how you make out. God bless, Dharma > Dharma, > [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > Kathie Dharma, so sorry you have to go through this--no fun :-( I sure hope all turns out okay! My best thoughts and prayers are with you. {{{Hugs}}} Thank you Kaye! If things do turn out okay, you can bet that I will keep coming here! God bless, Dharma > Dharma, so sorry you have to go through this--no fun > :-( I sure hope all turns out okay! My best thoughts and prayers are with > you. {{{Hugs}}} |
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