Terrified

Itsok

I am 50 and perimenopausal. Paternal grandmother and aunt both had breast cancer and eventually died. During usual annual ultrasound/mammogram, screening they found a very small (under 1cm) , oval, well circumscribed lesion. so have to have biopsy. not able to be found on self examination. Already convinced I am dying and Doctor has put me on Atavan and sleeping pills....someone answer pls...

Afraser

Breathe! You are not dying. It’s not an unusual reaction to finding a lump, or anything else suspicious, but it’s way premature. The lump may not be cancerous. Even if it is, it’s small, treatable and the prognosis may be very good. It’s not remotely what you want, and your family history will naturally make you a bit nervous, but well done for keeping up annual tests. It puts you ahead of the game - early diagnosis and the many advances in treatments makes a huge difference. Have you family and friends who can support you, particularly right now? Any help to get your mind at least temporarily onto something else would be good. Temporary help
to reduce anxiety and let you sleep is a good thing. Just keep breathing slowly......

June1952

Hi @Itsok.  We all eventually die, with or without any signs of cancer.  😀  Do remember that medical knowledge and treatments have possibly improved since your grandmother and aunt had treatments.  No good thinking that you are dying as we all are and most will do so from age related illness.  You only hurt yourself with those thoughts so do try to find something positive with which to replace those thoughts.  Just take things one day at a time, try not to Google as much of the information you find won't be relevant to your cancer or your treatment, trust your medical team as they are the ones who will be committed to keeping you alive and as healthy as possible for as long as possible.  Wait for the rest results and the treatment plan provided to you.  Is this the sort of response you wanted ?  Perhaps if you put your area in your profile a lady of similar age in your area will make contact and support you.  Thinking of you.  💖

Julez1958

Hi @Itsok
Love your pen name!
as terrified as you are right now ( we have all been there one way or another) , the statistical likelihood is that you will go on to live a long and rewarding life.
Breast cancer has one of the best life expectancies of any of the cancers and the  smaller the lump the better the prognosis.
Take it one day at a time and remember we have a health system that is one of the best in the world.
Post any questions you like here on the forum - we are all here to help and support 🌺

Abbydog

You are jumping to conclusions. And panicking, but you are expecting the worse.
It may not be all that bad. It sounds like you have got this early.
I'm hoping that this is true for you.
It shouldn't take too long before you know more and have a plan.
It's the waiting that is hard.

Cath62

You are not dying @Itsok. It is normal to be frightened of getting a biopsy. It's the unknown. I had family who died of breast cancer after dealing with it for 20 yrs. That was some time ago. Treatment is great these days and most women survive breast cancer. 

I could not feel the lump I had either. I am so glad it was found early. My lump was 18mm so a bit larger than yours. Early breast cancer is treatable. I was diagnosed in 2020. I had treatment and now I am on hormone suppression therapy. 

At this stage you don't even know what it is. Waiting to find out is hard and stressful. Breath deeply and often. Keep busy so you don't think about all the what ifs. It may be a cyst or it may not. But at 1cm it is it has been found early and that is a good thing. Stay away from Google. Do things you like.

When is your biopsy? Do you have someone to go with you for it and to get results. It helps to have someone there because if you are stressed then processing medical information can be difficult.

Take care, breathe 

Rdc2022

Hi @Itsok, 

The hardest part is waiting for a diagnosis and thinking the worst but as many have said, it may be nothing. And even if it is something, you will be okay. I went for a mammogram eight months late because of Covid lockdowns and was called back in: I knew something was not right when I had my mammogram. Fast forward to diagnosis and it was 7mm, about the size of a peanut and hadn’t spread to the lymph nodes. This was in February. Since then, I’ve had a lumpectomy and 15 rounds of radiation. I’m now on hormone medication. In between all this, I got married in April. Life goes on and as each month passes, things are getting better. I really believe that as each year passes, the treatment for breast cancer will get better and better and hopefully one day we’ll pop a pill to kick it to the kerb. Take care.