I have a lump in my breast and need some advice. Please.

[Lynn49]

Better days ahead, Tara...I send up an extra special prayer for you and your hubby tonight...Blessings, Lynn

I hope you don't mind:

[secheltsaver]

if your doctor advised you against a biopsy, why on earth would you challenge him? and put yourself through more pain?

take his word, doctors are medical professionals and they're not going to jeopardize their license by giving patients false hope and information.

No doctor has ever jeopardized his license by going the extra mile to make sure his patients get the best care possible-and as for false hope?My mother got a second opinion after her trusted family physician gave her 6 months to live,and lived for 3 1/2 years more years.Too bad he hadn't referred her to the Cancer agency for further testing when the radiologist had first recommended it-5 years before she died!!!!!Tara's doctor is being negligent with his oh well,let's wait till it's blatantly obvious there's a problem attitude-and there is valid reason to challenge his opinion!!!!!!!!!!!!

[i_forget]

Tara, the only thing that I can suggest is that you find yourself a new doctor. With your history and his wait and see approach, it seems as if your best interest is not something that is being addressed.

Wish you the best.

[sjw80]

Ah Tara. I feel for you. I found a lump in my left breast last spring. It was diagnosed as invasive ductal carcinoma about a month later - breast cancer. Luckily, I have a great GP - I went in concerned with the lump and she referred me to the rapid diagnostic center at princess margaret hospital in Toronto right away. I went in for an appt - I had a mammogram (even though I was only 32 years old at the time), ultrasound and biopsy. Two days later, I found out it was cancer. The only issue I've had with doc's is that my surgeon wanted me to have a double mastectomy right away - since I'm so young (rare for someone under 35 to get breast cancer) he figured I had to have either the BRCA1 or 2 mutations. I'd done some reading on mastectomies and decided to wait on the genetic tests to see if I was positive or not before surgery (they rushed the tests for me). Turns out, I was negative for the mutations so I made the right decision for myself.

[vamospalarumba]

How old are you? I have over 20 lumps combined in both my breasts which were detected when I was 22. They're not cancerous or anything. I get annual ultrasound just to make sure everything's fine though.

[TaraF]

sjw, I'm so happy to hear that you had such a great Dr that referred you to where you needed to go. And that you're kicking cancer's ass! Congrats! All I asked when he received the ultrasound results was a biopsy but he keeps telling me they can't because of the size.


vamospalarumba, I will be 34 in April but I unfortunately have an old Dr and therefore an old school Dr who looks at me and says "you're too young to worry about that". I've always had denser breasts but as far as I've known they've been lump free. Until now.


Again I don't want to be all hypochondriac about things but I just feel uneasy and want some concrete answers instead of incorrect info, or being brushed off because "I'm too young for that". Since my brain tumour I'm a bit apprehensive. A bit cautious. Call it what you want but I just want to rule things out.

[Lynn49]

Tara, will a clinic or a nurse-practitioner refer you if you don't tell them your doctor has denied you the opportunity to have one?

[TaraF]

Well Lynn that's my move with my Dr. I'll ask for a deferral and tell him if I don't hear back about it by months end that I'll simply go elsewhere for a referral. My appointment is Feb 7 at 11 am, not Feb 11 lol So I think I'm being generous in giving him 3 weeks to contact someone or I'll go elsewhere.

[Lynn49]

Good luck with the old geezer, Tara, and please keep us posted.....HUGS!

[TaraF]

Good luck with the old geezer, Tara, and please keep us posted.....HUGS!

I will Lynn! Almost eveything I've read has said that a cyst can not be ruled such definitively unless it's biopsied, so why the resistance to do so? Meh. He isn't going to like me when he sees me.

[TaraF]

I just wanted to let everyone know that after much discussion with my husband we decided to not pursue a mammogram. Reason being that I don't want to venture into "over testing" territory. However I did ask my Dr that since it is bothering me (as in weighing on my mind) can we please revisit with an ultrasound in 6 months time unless something changes before that time. He agreed.

I also do have the ultrasound films in my possession from my last ultrasound on my breast. Now to get my hands on some equipment to read it! lol