How many found their own BC as opposed to a Mammogram finding?

lndsmom said:

I found mine..
..I had a GYN visit in January, a mammo in February, found a lump in May, and was dx'd at the end of June '09. At that time, it still didn't show up on the mammo. It was about 6 cm when I started chemo.

Both
It was time for my mamo when I noticed the lump in the armpit. Then I found the one in my breast and then I panicked for a few days before calling to sit up my appointment

I found both of mine, but I
I found both of mine, but I wouldn't give up my mammos for anything. Just shows that this disease can progress quickly, and we need all of our resources, high-tech and low-tech, to beat the beast.

First time I
had an abnormal mammo,they wrote it off as fibroid tissue. A few months after that,one of those spots started getting rock hard-but I let it go. A year later after every one including me felt a definate lump-they did a mammo and ultrasound followed by a biopsy and after a lumpectomy it was determined-cancer.

ladybug22 said:

inflamatory breast cancer i found it.
Inflammatory bc, just showed on me one night, 3 weeks later i was taking chemo. i was told it would not show up on mamo..

lYmph node swollen
I had a swollen lymph node under my arm and neither the gyn nor I felt anything in the breast. BUT, I had the mammo and there it was! 1.5 cm. and already in 8 lymph nodes.
I guess the lymph node involvelment saved my life.

I woke up one morning and
I woke up one morning and the first thing my hand did was go straight to it. Like I was meant to find it right then and there. It was actually kind of strange.

Mandi

LadyParvati said:

I couldn't get comfortable sleeping on my stomach
and finally got up to do a breast self exam (which I rarely did). Found the lump. Had skipped a year on my mammogram. 1.9 cm IDC.

Mammo showed density not the lump.
A week after my annual check-up, I had a routine mammo. My doctor and I both missed it. The radiologist noticed that my right breast was denser than my left and called me back for an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed the lump which was lobular not ductal. I was told by my sugeon that this type of cancer rarely shows up in a mammo and is often missed in self exams because it is a ridge rather than a lump. So the mammo lead them to find the lump that would have been missed long enough for it to have invaded my lymph nodes. The lump was 1.8 cmm and my lymph nodes were clear. That mammo saved my life!

Roseann

scout5000 said:

I found mine.
I had my yearly mammogram 4 month earlier, all clear. While lying in bed I felt a ping sensation on the side of my breast, that was when I felt the .7cm lump. Primary care doc could not feel it and it did not show up on the following mammo or MRI. It did show up on ultrasound.

scout
What do you mean by ping-like a sharp pain?And I know that I may be opening up a can of worms here and I'm sorry. Just curious!

Found my own

always did repeated self breast exams. Found mine in June, waited a couple of months thinking it would go away just like the other lumps in my breast have however it didn't. i had no other symptoms of breast cancer so i thought it was cyst. Waited another couple of months before I went to the doctor. she even thought it was likely to be cyst and ordered a mamo and ultrasound. Low and behold it was cancer.

I always tell women get as familiar with you breasts as possible. You don't want to wait a year to find out you have breast cancer.

W0uld be great if someone could compile this information.

tasha_111 said:

Mammo's
Just to add that mine did NOT show up on the Mamogram at all, even though it was visible and large. Jxxxxxxxxxxxxx

found it on my own 2.5 cm

found it on my own 2.5 cm

padee6339 said:

Me
I missed my mammogram in 2007 and 2008 and in September 2008 (please don't get grossed out) I was getting ready for bed, sitting buck naked on the john and just happened to run my hands over my breasts. I thought I felt something and later asked my Mom who was visiting if she felt it. She did. Called my primary who wanted me to come in first before mammogram and he felt it. Mammogram clearly showed it. Within 3 weeks it was removed. Now i tell everyone to check themselves and not forget their mammograms!!!!
Pat

I found mine too
I was in the shower lathering up my armpit and I felt it, I went to feel the other side and there was nothing....so I went back to the 1st side to make sure I was feeling what I was feeling. I called my sister to have her check it and she assured me that it was a lump. Luckily, I was getting ready for a doctors appointment for something completely different. I went in that same day and was checked, the next day I was scheduled for a mammo and ultra sound then the next day I had a biopsy, soon after had a lumpectomy...now I am on tamoxifen and just started rads.

I think that if I didnt have a doctors appointment that same day I found it, I would have held off going to have my lump checked. Because I didnt wait, my tumor was 1.8 cm and was a stage 1.

I am too young to have mammo's. My sister recently went to have a mammo and something showed up so now she has to go in for an ultra sound. I pray that she doesnt have to go through what I am going through.

Aloha to all and Mahalo for sharing your stories.