To probably, one of the worst days of my life,for me and my family.
Im putting this 'out there' just in case any of you dont check your breasts for any lumps often enough.
Last thursday,I discovered a lump in my left breast,and it wasn't small,I could not understand how I could of missed it,due to the bank holiday I had to wait until tuesday before seeing a doctor,in which time,the lump grew.
I saw a locom doctor at my practice,who after examining me sat down at his desk,and said,i'm sorry to tell you that i think this lump is a nasty,i think you have breast cancer,and im going to refer straight away ,im sending a fax immeadiately.
At this point,my world fell apart,i managed to ask how long for an appointment ,to which he said 2 weeks,i told him that I had private healthcare and that I did not have to wait,he then said that he doubted very much that I could get to see the right person any quicker and that if I were his wife he would want me to go to a nhs breast clinic.
I do not know how I managed to hold it together,but i just said im going home,i need to talk to some people and then if i want a referral from you can i have it today and he said yes, anything you want.

As it turns out,he was wrong on both counts,firstly i do not have cancer,and secondly,i got an appointment that day at a private hospital, with a breast surgeon had xrays,had ultra sound and finally had a small procedure(involving a big needle ) to remove a cyst.
I could get very angry about how this doctor treated me and that he never should of scared the living hell out of me,my husband(who rushed home from work that day) wanted to bash him,but i can't gain from doing any of those things,as when at the hospital i was finally on my feet,i said to the two most wonderful doctors in the land,i cant believe my doctor said he thought I had cancer,they both replied that I couldn't blame him too much as they both thought I had cancer as well when i first arrived.the differance is of course they managed to hide it, and never would of said so until all tests results were in.
Those two ladies both put thier arms around me,hugged and kissed me, and it was then I realised that the relief was theirs aswell.
so the moral of this is,just keep checking and if you dont like your doctors advice just look for an alternative.
If i wasn't lucky enough to have private healthcare,that day would of cost us £1,600 pounds, and we have all paid vets bills over the years that are more than that.
ash.

Wow! Glad everything is fine for you, what a terrible bank holiday you've had. I cant imagine the strain you were under. xx

thanks,it took a couple of days to get over the whole trauma thing,i kept waking up thinking it wasn't ok,i think we all know someone who has been there with breast cancer and me and my husband thought a lot about the families that this has affected and felt we knew what terror they go through.
I have been very spoilt in the last few days though. x

What a trerrible time you have had but so glad you are ok.
I can understand how you husband must feel towards the locum I guess some just dont have the right manner  although he di have you interests at heart

Thank God your story had a happy ending ashlee but thanks too for telling this story, it may help someone to seek early advice which we all know is so important in finding and beating breast cancer. x

Sooo glad things turned out ok for you, what a scare.  A reminder to us all to check ourselves regularly.
Mel

what a horrible time for you, glad the outsome is good.

I am so pleased all is well but I can't really understand your anger at the GP.  Maybe it is the way he told you but personally I would have wanted to be told exactly why I was being referred. 

Phew! Glad it was ok in the end. Sometimes these doctors have no idea! A few years back my hubby had a scare, a mole on his back which was looking nasty, the doctor that saw and removed it said it looked nasty and was even talking about whether he had life insurance and informing him that 'in these cases' they will often pay out straight away!!! Luckily when he went back a week later for the results it was ok after all, but the doctor then said he had considered calling to tell us it was ok but hadn't bothered. Lucky for him I wasn't in the room or I'd have said a few words....

Ashlee, what a horrible scare {{{hug}}} I agree Dr's generally do not call it, just say that further tests are needed to find out what it is, I suppose it was the sheer speed of growth that made him believe so, but even so, he scared you to death.

So pleased you had that happy ending,  I've had a few friends diagnosed over the years, yes two had breast/s removed but 10+ years on they have never had any other problems,  it doesn't have to frighten you to death, not today, caught early it is treatable, but as you say it is so important to catch it early and self examinations are very, very important in order to do so.

It's always good to remind us all of this, enjoy being spoilt, after what you have just been through, lap it up. :-)

Before i had got very far down your first post I knew it wasn't going to be cancer as it had grown too fast.  The doctor should have said that it could be one of many things and that cancer is one of them.
This doctors bedside manner was disgusting but things like this happen too often nowadays.

Glad you are OK, and as you say a good reminder to us all to check one or two days after your period has finished, or on the same day every month if you don't have periods.