Page 1 of 1 [ 11 posts ] 

CTCD
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 28 Jan 2007
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 139

22 Jul 2007, 12:12 am

This is mature and I need help with this.

Just a few minutes ago I noticed something awful. There's a bump on my right breast and I'm scared out of my wits that I may have breast cancer or somthing like that. It doesn't feel like anything suprisingly and it's softish, I wouldn't have even noticed it if I haden't felt it and it's almost inposible to see unless you know to look for a lump or feel it.

I don't want to get freaked out about it being cancer when it could be something else. Unfortunatly it's almost 1:00 in the morning and everyone is a sleep. I'm 16 and hopefully you guys can understand how difficult it's like to tell your parents you have a lump on your boob.

Also can anyone give me some pointer to it possible being anything else?

I'm insanely scared of the idea of getting cancer and going through all those things they do when I'm still a teenager and the risk of dying.

I honestly don't know what to think.



Jainaday
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Jul 2007
Age: 40
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,099
Location: in the They

22 Jul 2007, 8:48 am

Breast cancer has pretty good survival rates, even if that is what it is. If you know and like your primary care physician, just call them in the morning and ask for a recommendation; depending on their specialty, they may be able to do a biopsy. I'm afraid this falls into the category of really difficult things you actually do have to tell your parents. . . I know for me, it'd be much easier to tell either one alone than both together, and you may want to try that. . . Probably nothing? yes. A risk worth taking? No.

And if you really, really can't sleep tonight, perhaps you could spend some time reading up on it- from the perspective, not that you have it, but that you're becoming better informed, a good thing in any case.

Hope everything comes out OK.



girl7000
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 10 Mar 2007
Gender: Female
Posts: 659
Location: Somewhere in the Atlantic

22 Jul 2007, 9:36 am

Hi,

So sorry to hear about this. The best thing you can do is make an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible.

I know it's the weekend, so you might have to wait a day or two before you can see a medical practitioner, but even if it is cancer (and hopefully it is not) having to wait a couple of days will not have any significant negative effect.

But the priority is to see a doctor as soon as you can and ask that he or she refers you for the required tests as soon as possible.

Good luck, I wish you well.



0_equals_true
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Apr 2007
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,038
Location: London

23 Jul 2007, 9:30 am

Jainaday wrote:
Breast cancer has pretty good survival rates, even if that is what it is. If you know and like your primary care physician, just call them in the morning and ask for a recommendation; depending on their specialty, they may be able to do a biopsy. I'm afraid this falls into the category of really difficult things you actually do have to tell your parents. . . I know for me, it'd be much easier to tell either one alone than both together, and you may want to try that. . . Probably nothing? yes. A risk worth taking? No.

And if you really, really can't sleep tonight, perhaps you could spend some time reading up on it- from the perspective, not that you have it, but that you're becoming better informed, a good thing in any case.

Hope everything comes out OK.

Why do you have to tell your parents? I'm not necessarily saying you shouldn’t but if she has her reasons not to (like not scaring them), there is no reason why she couldn't go for a check up with out them. Some people have difficultly booking an appointment so you many have to get someone to help you, but some places have walk in clinics so you may not have to.

I didn’t tell my parents when I was to have an operation on my skull to remove a benign cyst. My parents are very nervy people. They would have made me more nervous in the months leading up to it. It would have caused them considerable worry. Being there during the operation is not going to help. Even if something was to happen there is nothing they can practically do. It wasn’t high risk anyway. I left them a note before I went to the hospital. They rang up was a bit shocked but agreed to come after. The operation went fine. My parents soon got over it. Even though my mum finds it really hard to understand neither of them disagree that it saved them considerable amount of worry. It is probably one of the best decisions I’ve made.



Claradoon
Supporting Member
Supporting Member

User avatar

Joined: 23 Aug 2006
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,964
Location: Canada

23 Jul 2007, 9:41 am

You're 16 - that's not a high-risk group. Listen, I would see any doctor that'll look at you (your own, clinic, emergency, any) because it's probably nothing. I hope you won't do the biopsy route until you get a general doc to refer you, because that's not a simple thing. When I was 16 (40 years ago) I had the same fears, but there was nothing wrong. I hadn't had breasts that long (lifetime-wise) and hadn't investigated the exact anatomy. There are soft bits in both breasts that are normal. One doctor said that looking for a tumour was like looking for a pea in a bag of tapioca. Anyway, do not wait, see a general doctor right away, but I think you're ok. Go anyway, though. Good luck. And write when you come back! Hugs.



dawndeleon
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 Jul 2007
Age: 48
Gender: Female
Posts: 695

23 Jul 2007, 1:18 pm

dont worry... have a doctor check it out. He may send you to a specialist and have an ultrasound mapping of them. It shows every lump and bump in your boobs. It is also possible that you are still developing more. I didnt stop that until i was 16. Either way, no panicky.



ghostgurl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Nov 2006
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,328
Location: Orange County, CA

23 Jul 2007, 3:49 pm

Might as well see your doctor, just to be on the safe side.


_________________
Currently Reading: Survival by Juliet E. Czerneda
http://dazed-girl.livejournal.com/
Vote Kalister 2008


rosered
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 May 2007
Age: 46
Gender: Female
Posts: 967

23 Jul 2007, 7:56 pm

I wouldn't worry to much, lumps and bumps are pretty much part of the course. The important thing is learning what is normal for you, but go and see your doctor if you are unsure.


Try this website



tygereyes
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Gender: Female
Posts: 104
Location: Georgia USA

24 Jul 2007, 8:26 am

At sixteen you have very little to worry about with the lump. A cancerous lump will most often not move because they are attached to something at thier base...making them wiggly but not moveable.

You need to go to your mom and say..."Mom, I have a lump in my breast". She may want to look at it, so be prepared for that ahead of time, and let her look. If she says it's nothing, and you are not ok with that, then you will have to tell her that in order for you not to perseverate on it, you will have to go to the doctor. Quit touching it, or you will make it sore:0).

hugs without arms,
tyger



Fiz
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 29 Jan 2006
Age: 42
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,821
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom

24 Jul 2007, 9:38 am

I take it from the fact that you didn't notice the lump before your self breast examination that it doesn't hurt then?

I suggest that you go and see a doctor as soon as you can really, and don't panic. I doubt you have a cancerous lump as they tend to feel hard, not soft, and they don't tend to move, as tygereyes said, because cancer seems to have a base from which it grows. I once found a painless bump on my right breast and it did start to hurt, all it was was a blocked milk duct. This can happen at your age and if it turns out to be that, they will give you some meds to unblock it is all. Nothing to worry about.


_________________
The only person in the world that can truly make you happy is yourself.


LKL
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Jul 2007
Age: 48
Gender: Female
Posts: 7,402

24 Jul 2007, 4:25 pm

Cancer lumps are usually hard, like a BB or a frozen pea. If it's soft, there's a good chance that it's just normal underlying connective tissue (breasts are made up of multiple bits of different kinds of tissue, not just all the same type spread evenly) or an abcessed sebaceous gland (sort of like a zit, but bigger).

Any time you feel something on your body that seems wrong, though, it's not a bad idea to go to a doctor.