Re: Good Advice?
 

Yes, I did find mine while in the shower doing a SBE.

Karen

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I also had a clear mammo and found a lump myself 6 months later. By then it was almost 4cm with satellite nodules and a positive IM node.

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I had a clear mammo, then 5 months later found a lump in shower, by chance. I sat on it for 6 weeks thinking, well, I had a clear mammo so it can't be cancer, I won't bother anyone about it!

Decided to mention it while at GP's for something else and went on to find it was an aggressive stage 3 and had gone to 2 lymp nodes.

Mammograms are crap!

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I found my lump myself too while applying sunscreen. I had a clear mammogram 8 months prior.

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Age 45- found mine in my sleep at 2 am. Woke up ran to the bathroom and located it again. I was having a very vivid dream about Robin Roberts. This 10 months after a mammogram! Later, I was told they could see traces of the tumor in that mammogram but choose not to mark it as a watch.

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Hi Joe
I found mine...6 weeks after I stopped breast feeding which I am fairly sure suppressed its growth. By the way my recurrence which I felt 4.5 yrs later did not show up on ultrasound and only a tiny microcalcification showed up on mammo. A core biopsy showed it was however a malignancy.
Cheers
Jackie (down under)

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Elizabeth Edwards also found her own lump in the shower (described in her first book).

My own was found in a routine clinical exam by my primary doc.

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One has to wonder what the agenda is that fuels this kind of bunk within the organizations that are supposed to be our advocates.

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I found mine in the shower also at age 46!

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Yup, me too. Found mine at age 31. My doctor told me it was probably nothing to worry about and come back in a month if it's not going away. Had ultrasound two months later and immediate biopsy and by that time was stage IIIa Her-2 +++.

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Me too! found my first lump at age 36 in the shower. Found
my second at age 44. Laying on my bed doing self exam.

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Me too, although I had nipple discharge before I found a lump. I was 43 and had not had a mammogram since baseline at 38 (had thyroid cancer, fibroid, hysterectomy, and Crohn's surgery in those intervening years, I swear mammogram was next on my list!). My gyn had done a physical exam 6 mos earlier and felt nothing. I was stage 3.

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I forgot, I wanted to say - they say the same thing about PSA screening for prostate (that they shouldn't bother, it doesn't help). Somehow the numbers must work out that way -- but if it's your life that gets saved, it clearly is worth it.

And with self-exam, there's not even any expense for them to worry about!

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Yes, I found my 4.5cm lump while showering; 3+ months after a clear mammogram.

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What? I can't believe this. Outrageous! And dangerous. How do they expect them to be found? Especially in younger women who don't go in for routine mammograms.

I found my lump myself as well. I was lying awake in a hotel bed the night before my best friends wedding. Don't know what prompted me to do a self exam but I did. Imagine how difficult it was for me to put on a happy face at the wedding the next day as her maid of honor. I was scared out of my mind. I had just turned 30.

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This is SO irresponsible for a national organization to parrot such nonsense.

I also found my lump in the shower - just 3 months after an "unremarkable" mammogram. I had been warned that since I had dense breasts, there was perhaps a 10% chance sonthing was missed. Therefore, my letter suggested that self checks were advised.

Joe, this was a good question to ask. I think there was a similar thread some time back.

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I found my first lump at age 25. It turned out to be a cyst. After 12 years of regular ultrasounds and one biopsy, I had a baby and stopped the checkups. At age 44 I felt a new lump, so I had a mammo. The radiologist didn't like the looks of my old cyst, so did a biopsy. It looked okay, but both the pathologist and the radiologist had a funny feeling about it. So we decided to remove both the new lump and the old cyst. New lump turned out to be b9, but the cyst held a 6 mm. spot of IDC and there was some DCIS as well. Thank God for BSE and Thank God for doctors who trust their gut feelings.

My sister (an actress and singer) was invited to a Pink Ribbon Gala last week and we grabbed the opportunity to tell the press how I found my lump by BSE. And how important it was for younger women to know their own breasts.

Here in the Netherlands mammo's start at age 50, which would have been too late for me.

Jacqueline

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I found mine while I was dressing myself (3cm, node invasion). I had had a mammogram 12 months before. The next one was scheduled for a few days later.I had a mammogram every year since age of 40 because of my family history. It was a shock not to have discovered the tumor smaller despite the mammograms. And they always told me my breast were easy to read because quite transparent.
It seems that there is a problem with the mammograms for some tumors. Or the machines or the setting? There are more failures than what they admit and this is dangerous because women might only rely on mammos and not do enough self exams.
Michka

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I found my 'lump' 30 hours before a routine (my first one? can't remember) mammagram. After I pointed it to the technician, I was taken to another room for the ultrasound. For the recurrence, the mammagram never detected it - because the doctors just thought it was 'scar tissue'. Eventually I was feeling very sick and felt it right before I went to a weekend clinic (supposedly just so I could get a doctor's note because I had missed three days at work.) I contacted my surgeon and scheduled a mammagram. After the procedure, the technician made a comment: "It's just scar tissue." We were relieved on our way home.

But the surgeon finally paid attention to it. Turned out they had misread the films and missed my recurrence 4 years straight. Unless 'we' are vigilent, 'human errors' and 'machine malfunctioning' will continue to make this disease a No. 1 killer.

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I also found lump myself aged 45, 10 months after clear mammogram it was 2.75cm, grade 2 with one node involved, also seemed to come from nowhere. I was having mammograms every year due to family history, but now know I'm not BRCA 1 or 2 +. In the UK you don't go for screening until 50........