This morning in the shower I noticed a lump under my right arm near my breast. Now I’m really freaked out by this. I phone my doctor, and he’s closed on Wednesday! UGH!!! I’m trying to stay calm and not get myself all in a tizzy - but Cancer runs in my family (my father passed away from it) and I’m going a little nuts. I figured I would just jot down some of my thoughts to my fellow Dopers and hopefully that will help.
Carry on…
Sorry skittles 
I hope everthing turns out for the best!
cancer in the family line is certainly a worrisome thing, and it’s good that you check yourself for, er, troublespots.
but there are also several other things it could be, besides the big C–cysts, benign lumps. even if it should prove to be A Bad Thing, you may well be catching it early enough where it’s not going to turn out to be that big a deal.
we’ll keep our fingers crossed for you.
Get yourself to a doctor, but keep in mind there is normally a harder area of the side of the breast near your arm. IANAD, so maybe one can back me up.
Don’t panic. Call your doctor, and please let us know what happens.
I discovered a lump once long ago, and had a mammogram, and they said, “It’s just normal breast tissue.”
End of story.
Lumps don’t mean “you’re gonna die”, they just mean “have this checked”.
Thanks for the good wishes.
I don’t think I’m gonna die (at least not today) Duck Duck Goose. I will admit that it is worrying me a bit.
Prayers for you…((((hugs too)))))). Hang in there, okay? Good luck…
skittles, big deep breaths. it’s gonna be ok.
(and unless your dad had breast cancer, don’t sweat it about the family history)
THINKING GOOD THOUGHTS FOR YOU
Please go get it checked. My sister-in-law was in denial about hers. She let it go until she could actually see the lumps in the mirror. Needless to say, she had to have a mastectomy. It’s nothing to mess with, and there’s so much they can do now if you catch it early. Good luck!!!
But don’t stress overly about it. Welbywife occasionally gets lumps in the same area when her…um…womanly time starts. There’s nothing “wrong”, just breast tissue.
Get it checked, but don’t spaz until you have to.
Thanks again for the lucky wishes. The one thing that has me totally going crazy is that I CAN see it “bubbled” from my skin. Like I can see that there is a bump, and it is extended from my skin.
Skittles it could also be a cyst. “Scary” bumps tend to be very hard. I once had a firm, pea sized bump on my left booby beside the areole. I could also see it if I smoothed the skin tight with my fingers.
It turned out to to be a “subcutaneous pustule.” Translation: It was a big zit that happened to be in the deeper skin layers. This can happen in areas where there is more likely to be thick hair growing, like around the areolae or near the armpit.
Some people also have more fibrous breast tissue that feels kind of lumpy, and sometimes, as Welby pointed out, areas can become more swollen and pronounced, and tender (ouch!) if you are closer to your menstrual cycle. (I sometimes get node-like sore spots near my armpits when my cycle is approaching – I’ve had it checked out and it is indeed just fibrous breast tissue that sore from the ever-fun “retaining water” stage.)
So yes, it’s good to get it checked out ASAP (especially if it’s hard), but there’s no reason to get alarmed just yet. Don’t be worried and get stressed out, until you have a more certain reason to do so.
** Eats_Crayons** thanks for more information. I think one thing that is bothering me is that it is tender to touch, or basically to anything, and it is semi-hard.
I can call my doctor in just about 1/2 hour so I’ll be doing that ASAP!
Oh, <b>skittles</b>! I second/third all the good advice here about not panicking, but it’s still gotta be one of those “stomach-dropping” moments.
My fingers are crossed for you!
Skittles
I found my first lump when I was 23. One day it wasn’t there, the next it was. It was tender and definately visible. Ended up to be a fibroid. I had it removed and have the 3 inch scar to prove it. Last year, at 29, I found my second, again a fibroid and had it removed.
Don’t panic. Fibroids are tender, semi-hard masses. They do grow if you don’t get them removed, but they are not life threatening.
Good luck!
Oh yeah, I’ve been there. In my case, it turned out to be due to a staph infection from my previous weekend of scuba diving (climbing in and out of wetsuits a lot). Scary as hell at the time, but I do remember one thing the doctor told me: If you get a lump the appears suddenly (instead of a gradual build), changes are EXTREMELY good that it’s minor.
Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.
OK - So I have an appointment for this afternoon. That is if I can get out of work in this snow storm and make it there!
** Beadalin** that is very good to hear about the instant appearance of the bump. That is what this was. Went to be - all good, woke up - ALL NOT GOOD! :eek: