Good Advice? - Page 2

Karen W · 10-09-2009, 11:56 PM

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

Karen

Brenda_D · 10-10-2009, 01:29 AM

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.

momo · 10-10-2009, 02:50 AM

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!

Susan · 10-10-2009, 05:10 AM

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

freyja · 10-10-2009, 02:49 PM

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 +++.

Lien · 10-11-2009, 02:35 AM

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

michka · 10-11-2009, 02:43 AM

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

cafe1084 · 10-11-2009, 03:43 PM

I found my lump also and had I not, it may have been found too late. I was only 35, low risk, and no recommendations for an annual mammo because of these reasons. I say in 10 years they do another study, only they poll women who took them seriously and stopped doing monthly BSE's and find out how many did NOT find their own breast cancers. Of course, the damage is done and they can't take it back and say "OOPS! We may have been wrong."

I thank God daily I had the good sense to check mine. From the day I was diagnosed I have told everyone, from the gas station clerks, to co-workers, to random announcements at several meetings, to do BSE's. Yes, some of them think I am crazy (or stupid), but if I can enlighten that one woman out of 8 who will get breast cancer, I feel like I have done something spectacular from the horror that was my breast cancer experience.

DarleneM · 10-11-2009, 05:48 PM

Mine was actually discovered by my husband. I was 28 and had never had previous lumps or mammos. I'm all for self exams, especially for young women.
Darlene

Catherine · 10-31-2009, 11:17 PM

Hi Joe,

I was 58 years old, when I found my lump while in the shower. I was never good at self exams. This was just a long, slow shower and there it was. Saw my OBGYN the next day, she felt it too. She sent me straight for a MRI. I was at an imagining clinic who could then do the ultra sound and the biopsy. It was a whirlwind of a day. Routine mamos every year. Mamo 11 months earlier had never found it. Count on yourself and believe.

Hugs to you and everyone on this site.
Catherine

Carolyns · 11-01-2009, 12:47 PM

I was finally diagnosed at age 33 (the first time after changing doctors to get a prescription for a mamograhm). I had stage I and learned that my gyno of 14 years said I had an obsessive fear of breast cancer. I found the lump and he pretended to follow me for a year.

The second time I was also stage I and 43 years old. That time I did not feel a lump.

At age 49 I was diagnosed with mets after finding the lumps. Both my oncologist at the time and surgeon blew me off. My OB/GYN ordered the ultra-sound that diagnosed me.

I am puzzled by this message. When I went to their conference in DC I met several leaders of grass roots efforts in the African American community. I learned that these women had a much greater risk of death from breast cancer. The reason as they explained it to me was due to a lack of awareness and the fact that most African American women were diagnosed much later and many at Stage III.

None of this ads up. I agree that more money needs to be spent on finding a cure but this message seems to translate into "awareness in not helpful in fighting this disease" and that translation is maddening.

Joe,
How can we get the Her2 Support group on that board? They need people like you and Christine. I was very saddened by their focus and lack support for metastatic women. I learned a great deal but it just seems like this is an extremely powerful and effective lobbing group with a narrow scope. They need a broader perspective. That said, I greatly appreciate the work that they do even if most of it will not benifit me or others with mets. They help keep breast cancer in the forefront of the leaders in DC and fight for funding from the defense department for research.

Love, Hope, Peace, Carolyn

weety · 12-27-2009, 08:18 PM

I found my own lump as well. I was breastfeeding my 3rd baby and just felt it one night when she was done nursing. It felt different than a clogged milk duct. It was very small (7 mm) and kind of felt like a little jelly bean.

lyce · 01-01-2010, 11:26 AM

first found on my first mamm in 1986, second, 2003, i found a month after a clear mamm...both invasive, second in other breast. knowing it was there it still didn't show on mamm..........and i read that self exam isn't worthwhile. these days from so many surgeries and radiation it is hard to tell what i feel. best, lyce

DanaRT · 10-10-2009, 05:15 AM

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.

jhandley · 10-10-2009, 06:29 AM

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)

Jyber · 10-10-2009, 10:27 AM

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.

hutchibk · 10-10-2009, 01:34 PM

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

tricia keegan · 10-10-2009, 02:05 PM

I found mine in the shower also at age 46!

Laurieanne · 10-10-2009, 03:00 PM

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.

Cannon · 10-10-2009, 04:49 PM

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.