Found a lump in my breast.. Doctor is blowing me off

Hello everyone.

Thanks for having me here.

I am a 27 year old and unfortunately slightly obese woman and a week before my last period I found a lump in my right breast in the upper outer quadrant. I had lost some weight recently so the lump might have been there awhile and just appeared?

I have breast cancer in my family, my dads sister had breast cancer quite young, in her 30's. My aunt (not related) just developed breast cancer last year. She went to her doctor with a lump, they said it was a cyst and to come back in a year. Thank god she didnt wait because the cyst turned into three cancerous lumps! She had a mastectomy and is doing ok. I know three women, all under 50, who are dealing with BC right now so of course I am concerned. So far the stories are all alarmingly the same... doctors brushed them off, they demanded ultrasounds, found BC.

My doctor completely brushed it off, didn't ask for an ultrasound to be done, said I didn't have fibrocystic breasts but that I was too young for cancer. Did NOT like hearing those words from his mouth!!! "Too young for cancer" should not be a reason to not run some tests!

Where I got the cyst, I have had bruising in that area for a very long time, probably years. I tend to sleep on that side and as my breasts are large I always thought the pressure I was putting on it was causing random bruising. Well the bruising is getting slightly worse and I can feel that the cyst is getting bigger or getting closer to the skin. Last night when I lay down a certain way I could feel that the cyst is much larger than it seems.

Last night I began having hot flashes, followed by shivering. I felt dizzy and whenever I would start to feel warmed up, the dizziness would get worse and I'd start to feel "out of it". I called a nurse hotline last night and this morning when the symptoms persisted, and both times they told me it was probably anxiety and not to go to the ER as I would be wasting my time as theres nothing wrong with me.

I am having aches where the cyst is, slightly less now that my period is gone but the cyst has gotten larger after my period if anything. My arm above where the cyst is is sore. i can feel a lump in my arm, thought it was lymph node but doctor said lymph nodes are fine and the sore spot I felt was a muscle.

Why I am posting this is because my doctor cannot see me again until April. I am obviously very concerned and can't imagine leaving this untested until then!! Especially if I am having anxiety about it.

Here in Canada, apparently the only way I can get an ultrasound or testing ordered on this lump is to go through my GP. Since he is GONE for most of march and has no openings for me, I'm not sure what to do.

I hate to be a worry wart but so far I have heard terrible things about doctors brushing off breast lumps only for them to end disasterously.

I also have rheumatoid arthritis, low body temp (94-95 all the time) but apparently my thyroid function is fine.

I've been getting chest pains and nausea around my period for the past while and the symptoms seem to improve after my period goes away. This last period the pains were particularly bad but my doctor believes the pains are occurring in my breast muscle and said my heart sounded just fine. He ordered an ECG just in case. But ordered no diagnostics on the lump.

Please forgive me for this wall of text and please forgive me if my worries make light of anyones cancer diagnosis. Not my intention at all!

I guess I'm also wondering... if I can't get my doctor to take me seriously and I don't see him til April 7th... if this is cancer, is that way too long to wait? Will it be too late by then?

April 7th is fine. It will be hard to wait but nothing earth shattering will happen in such a short time. If you had symptoms of one of the aggressive cancers it would be different, but you don't, so you can relax a little. Your doctor is wrong...young women do get breast cancer...just not as often. It's statistically more likely in women over 60, so it's not the first thing doctors look for in someone your age. The family history you state is not a factor. The only family history that counts is a first degree relative- mother, father, sister, brother. Having other relatives with breast cancer does not affect your chances. However, you don't have to have any cancer history in your family in order to be diagnosed. (I had none, but my daughters will now have a first degree relative to add to their chances.) Women's breasts go through tremendous changes at certain points of their lives and lumps, bumps, and soreness are common in your 20's. (Particularly when you are having changes in your monthly cycles.) Your doctor may be right but since you are getting so upset, he should order a screening mammogram, not an ultrasound. They are not routinely offered to women under 40 in the U.S. and sometimes insurance companies won't pay for them before then, but they aren't all that expensive so you could pay for it yourself if you need to. There are organizations online that offer reduced cost or free mammograms. Google and see what is in your area. Good luck.

sandra4611 said...
Patsy, this is not an emergency so you are just going to spend hours and $ in order to be brushed off again. Can you find another doctor who can see you before April? Breast cancer is not an emergency. It grows very very slowly...sometimes for years...before it can be detected. Most lumps are benign.

Thank you for your response so very much.

My family doctor is a new doctor to me, I have only seen him three times. He has really dropped the ball on some things, such as neglecting to put my RA in my file and neglecting to tell me a blood test from SEPTEMBER showed high cholesterol. I suppose its these things that are making me second guess him. I also didn't like to hear "you are too young for cancer", as someone who watched her ten year old cousin die from brain cancer, it is almost offensive to hear.

I am in Canada and where I am, I cannot see anyone but my family doctor. There are no walk in clinics. My only option is to drive two hours to another province and pay out of pocket for a walk in clinic there, which I can and probably will do. I will have to lie to them and say I do not have a family doctor so that they will hopefully refer me for more testing. But then all that testing will be very costly and all out of pocket for me.

I desperately want an ultrasound done and I so appreciate you guys saying it can wait til April!! I guess it comes down to I know I will be very worried and probably anxious til then. Apparently I had an anxiety attack last night and this morning. (What a nurse hotline told me)

I can give it some more time and if it continues to grow bigger and harder then go to the ER? I know the ER is for emergency situations but I am quite desperate to be referred to a specialist. Where we are there are "mini hospitals" that are not busy at all and since its rural, I'd be in an out in an hour. If I were to go to the hospital in the nearest big city my wait time would likely be 10 hours+.

Hey guys, I ended up going to the ER yesterday morning. My nausea is near constant, but worse in the morning. He ordered a full bloodwork but said I'd need to go to my family doctor for a mammogram. I'm really not happy to wait that long.

I've been feeling randomly weak and dizzy, have NO appetite, due to the nausea. Have not vomitted though. I am getting the shakes as well in my arms and weak in the knees feeling.

Doctors think it is all anxiety related. It's hard to imagine having anxiety symptoms last for 5 days at a time?? Non stop?

I feel strange and not myself at all.

Everyone is absolutely freaking me out, I have friends that are telling me ALL about how their friend died of breast cancer at the age of 28 and stuff like that and its definitely not helping me to hear this stuff.

I'm sorry to hear you're going through this. I have something going on with my left breast. Three weeks ago I started having pain and swelling. There was a little lump under the nipple area. It was sore, hot, and vey red.

I went online and read about mastitis. This seemed to be the symptoms that I was having but it also mentioned a fast growing type of breast cancer, inflammatory breast cancer.

I started taking antibiotics right away because I really thought it was mastitis. It has gotten better a little every couple of days and now all the swelling, redness and soreness are gone.

I still have a little heavy feeling and some pain in my left arm and back of the neck area but I also have arthritis and fibromyalgia so I think that's what's going on there. I had an appnt. last week with my gyn. but they had to cancel due to snow and icy conditions. I'm going on Thurs. am. however. I am hoping to get good news, that it was only mastitis, but I'm still quite nervous about it.

I read that this type grows fast, in a matter of weeks. This is scaring me. It's not like the kind with a lump and no pain that grows slowly. I had never heard of this before. I am praying that you and I both get really good news. I know exactly how you are feeling.

I had some antibiotics left from a tooth infection so I've been taking them till I can get to the doctor. It's Erythromycin and it's one that's used for mastitis.

It started to get better in a few days and gradually improved in two weeks. This is the third week and its' mostly gone. My appnt. is tomorrow. Weather problems cancelled my last one.