Please Read. Worried Sick!

Before I reply to your post, I should tell you that I am a retired doctor of 53, who worked as an anaesthetist, during which time I had a great deal of experience in the field of breast surgery and reconstructive breast surgery.  It probably gives me some knowledge, but I am also very likely to be out of date.

Also, last year I had an invasive breast cancer picked up on my first routine mammogram.  After this was removed, the pathologist found another one in the biopsy material, so I returned for more surgery to remove this.  I was fortunate, in that the lymph nodes were spared, so I only needed radiotherapy, and not chemotherapy. 

You may undestand that I know exactly how much anxiety is generated by fear of breast cancer, and partly because of this I am determined that in the future I shall volunteer for Breast Cancer Care.

This is a wonderful organisation that you can contact via breastcancercare.org.uk.

You can phone them during office hours, and they are highly informed, compassionate people, most of who have had breast cancer themselves.

According to Breast Cancer Campaign research, in the UK the life time risk of developing breast cancer is 1 in 8.  That is 12.5% of the female population, over an entire lifetime, not all of which will be the cause of mortality. 

The incidence of its occurrence in the under thirties is 1 in 1,900.  That is 0.05% of women in that age group, again who develop the disease, but do not necessarily die from it.

It is a minute amount of people! 

You will now understand why your four different doctors, and the nurse from the cancer awareness group were not particularly concerned.

However - the fact that they are not concerned does not detract from the anxiety and fear that you are experiencing as a result of your symptoms. It is perhaps inevitable that you are frightened, since you say that you have health anxieties, and of course it is entirely understandable that any woman would be so where it comes to any suspicion of breast disease, because most of us are so aware of the risks.  You ca nbarely open a newspaper or magazine without reading something about it - not necessarily accurate information, I have to say, but as with Dr Google, I think is probable that without some degree of training in nursing, medicine or allied professions it is difficult to decide which entries to believe, and which to discount as nonsense.  I always advise my non-medical friends to try to resist looking things up on line, as they always end up worrying themselves, usually needlessly.

If you want to find health information from a reliable source, that tagets the lay population, try the Mayo Clinic in the States - they have loads of info. and it is reliable, and not written in a condescending way (doctor knows best - hummpphh).  Just go to Google and look up Mayo Clinic and then breast cancer symptoms.  You may well feel reassured.

Mammograms are not usually offered to people under their late forties, as if there are malignant cells present, they tend not to calcify until that age, and the xray diagnosis relies on this to identify a potential problem.

Ulstrasounds may be more reliable in younger women, and when there is increased density of breast tissue, which may disguise the findings that might be made from a mammogram.  This was not my area of expertise, but I have had a coupe of ultrasounds myself.

As for referal for a private appointment, I don't know if you have been involved with the private sector in the past, but it is conventional to have your initial appointment made after a referral by a GP.  It is possible that if you went to the most sympathetic of the doctors that you have seen, that he/ she might agree to refer you. 

Perhaps one way of approaching this is to ask yourself whether there is a logical reason for you to have developed itchy nipples.  It isn't uncomon for women to experience this - some causes might be - jogger's nipple - usually when running without an adequate or soft enough bra, washing with different soaps and using perfumed products and so on, and breast feeding.  It might be constructive to go back to your doctor, and ask if they could help relieve the itching, rather than expressing your fear of it being a sign of something sinister.  Get rid of the itching, and hopefully you should feel relief from the fear.

Having said that - it is very important for you to develop a routine of self examination - if you look up Sniffy Wiffy on line - they sell wonderful products that also come with a card for you to locate a site that tells you in very clear terms how to do this.  You don't have to buy anything - the information is all there on the site.

I really hope that this has helped you in some way. 

It is far more likely that you might suffer a car accident, god forbid, but I'll bet it never crosses your mind when you get into a car.

Take care

Manda x

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