Good luck, Lissa.
Lissa, in 1994 I had an “egg” in my breast. It had sprung up so quickly and was so smooth that no one really expected it to be anything but a cyst (I had a mammogram and nothing showed up), especially since I was only 39, had no family history of breast cancer and am childless.
They attempted to draw out fluid, but got nowhere. So we decided to excise the lump (it really was kind of like an egg, although it wasn’t visible by looking at the breast). The doc removed it - it seemed pretty much entirely self-contained, at about 4 centimeters. It turned out, to everyone’s surprise, to be a malignant tumor.
A week later I had 31 lymph nodes removed (a rather nastier surgery than the lump excision). There was no lymph node involvement whatsoever, but the tumor had been very fast growing, so they recommended chemo as well as radiation. I had four sessions of chemo with pretty much zero side effects (never lost a hair more than usual) except to put me into menopause - something about which I was not at all unhappy. After that, some six weeks of radiation, and six years of tamoxifen, a hormone blocker, which - hallelujah! - caused me to remain in menopause. Since the only bad symptoms I ever had from that were some mild hot flashes, this was a good thing.
All in all, had I been offered the deal - the short term nuisance of a couple of fairly minor surgeries, some inoffensive chemo and radiation, in exchange for getting rid of the long term nuisance of monthly periods, I would have (and still would, if it were an issue) jump at the deal! I’m the only person I’ve ever known who is honestly delighted that she had breast cancer!
My point? Even if it turns out to not be as innocuous as you have every reason to expect, it’s not necessarily a disaster. In my case, it was a nuisance, followed by a terrific side benefit.
Well, I went to the doctor’s office this evening. I told her about the lump, and pointed to the area. She started examining my entire breast.
“It looks like you have fibroid cysts,” she said, “Here’s one. Here’s another. yep, here’s a BIG guy, and here’s another.” She went to the other breast and said basically the same thing.
I told her that this is how my breasts had always felt, and all I was reporting was the change I had noticed. I guess my breasts aren’t supposed to feel this way. But how was I to know that? I’ve never palpitated another woman’s breasts, so I had no basis of comparison.
She thinks that what I felt might just be a bit of one of those fibroid cysts, but she’s scheduled me an ultrasound on Monday, just to be sure.
She doesn’t seem too concerned about it, but we’re playing it safe. This is why I have medical insurance-- so I can get the best health care, including those just-to-be-sure tests.
Yup, sounds like you have the same kind of breasts that I do. Plus I have a bit of scar tissue around the lumpectomy site.
Keep your mammograms current and don’t be surpised if they tell you to have an ultrasound along with the mammogram. It’s always better to be safe than sorry!
Good luck and best wishes with it all!
Hiya, I had a scare a few years back – when I was 25. My boobs are fairly lumpy naturally but my NP found one that hadn’t been there before and was tender to the touch. Then she found another one in the other breast. So, she scheduled me and exam and ultasound at the University of Michigan Cancer Center (I’ve felt for years there should be a “Probably Not Cancer Center” but that’s another story.)
There I was (fairly vigorously) examined by a doctor who was an expert in breast lumpage and went for the ultrasound. The ultrasound is not at all painful, it’s actually kind of interesting – then tech wheeled it round so I could see what was going on and he was pointing out what the various blips and blops meant. I found it nerve wracking to be the youngest person there by 15 years or so. And all the other patients looking at you like you’re going to drop dead any second. “And wouldn’t it be a tragedy” they’re thinking.
The ultrasound found that my lump was fairly solid (that’s bad-ish, it meant it was not a cyst which is the most common kind of benign lump) so on the spot they did a “fine needle” biopsy which is exactly what it sounds like. They insert a fine needle into the lump and suck out a cell sample. It hurt like hell, but apparently my extremely extreme reaction was very uncommon so don’t take that as gospel.
At the end they sent me home and the tests came back negative for cancer which was a HUGE weight off my mind. The lump was of a type called a fibroadenoma and will basically be there forever, unless it inexplicable disappears on its own.
PS - the what does a lump feel like: mine fit the “marble in a bag of jello” description – it was hard to the touch and sort of moveable – you could squish it around a bit – and not like my normal lumpy-feeling breast tissue.
I’ve also heard that many lumps are discovered by males. It makes sense. I’m sure I touch my GF there more than she and her doctors do…combined! 
My GF’s boobs are also “lumpy” but I don’t have any other frame of reference. At least she gets an exam probably around 3-5 times a week
Glad to hear it’s probably nothing Lissa!
That’s what I had 30 years ago. 30 years ago, they operated for stuff like this, at least in my case.
I’m in the middle of getting an appointment to get one of these checked out. I’m 28 and at my last annual she found something. She said it is probably nothing, especially since I have dense tissue, but better safe than sorry.
I’m really nervous, though…
This JUST happened to my mom. Meaning like a few days ago. She found a small lump, went to the doctor, and he had the fluid drained. Turned out it was just a cyst. breaths sigh of relief
The nurse practitioner who found it says it’s probably just a bit of fibrous tissue, and to be honest I can’t find what she’s talking about myself…but since I haven’t been good at all about checking them myself, that’s probably why. I had the girls reduced a few years ago, it could be related to that. It can’t hurt to get it checked, I just hope they don’t want to do anything too awful.
What surprises me is how nervous I am about this.
I’m going for my first mammogram at the end of this month. No lumps, but I’m heading down the back side of 30 and I need a baseline.
I always forget to check. Ivylad likes to do it anyway. 
I had my ultrasound done today. The diagnostic technician (I think that’s what he said his title was) said that it appears that I may have fibro-cystic disease.
He said a lot of women have it, and pretty much it boils down to having lumpy breasts. In some women, the lumps are painful, but in my case, they’re not, so unless there’s any growth or strange changes, I should be perfectly fine.
He did say that my doctor should probably order a mammorgram, just to be sure. He said that ultrasound is a great technique for looking at fibrous cysts, but a mammogram is much better at finding “solids”-- which he didn’t see in my scans. He said it will have to be read by my physician, but, as he put it, “If there was anything found, I would measure it, and I didn’t measure anything.”
Seems like everything’s fine, in other words.
Yay! Thats good news! Plus it gives Ivylass a chance to check a bit more often… should he so desire. :eek:
Sweet.
Good!
I’m going in Wednesday morning for an exam and an ultrasound. I’m nervous about it, but better to go ahead and do it than not. Anyway, ultrasounds are kinda cool.
I’m still nervous about it, though.
Yay! Glad it’s good news!
*The Breast Book * by Susan Love, MD
*More * than everything you ever wanted to know about your breasts.
Especially good if you know someone with a new diagnosis.
Please ladies – get your baseline mammogram when your doc recommends it (based on your history and the history of your maternal line) and then get them yearly without fail. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 because of a new finding on my mammogram from the previous year. I could not palpate the lump and neither could any of the clinicians involved in my diagnosis, including the breast care specialist.
I had a great outcome and have come to appreciate the way that diagnosis refocused my life and my priorties – but that is another story.
Good luck to all of you getting your tests…I’m thinking of you.