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Odd question: Did your gut tell you?

marie5890
marie5890 Member Posts: 111
edited June 2014 in Just Diagnosed

For those of you who were going thru the whole "waiting and agonzing" process of getting a diagnosis one way or the other.

Any just have the gut feeling that yes, it was cancer and were right?

How about those of you who had a feeling of "no, my guts says it's benign"? and were right about that?

How about those whose gut told them one thing, but the end reality was different? 

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Comments

  • cd1234
    cd1234 Member Posts: 40
    edited December 2010

    As soon as I found my lump I knew I had cancer. My mom told me after my diagnosis that she also knew I had cancer.

  • worldwatcher
    worldwatcher Member Posts: 46
    edited December 2010

    I've never had cysts in my breast, so the minute I felt the dime-sized lump, I knew it was BC.  It had been about 2 1/2 years since my last mammo and ultrasound. They were always calling me back for US because of "dense" tissue only to find nothing, which was irritating and I had none of the risk factors so I wasn't worried....HA!

  • momof3sofar
    momof3sofar Member Posts: 12
    edited December 2010

    Yes and Yes!

    I did have the feeling this time it was cancer and was right.  I did not have the feeling 2 years ago and was right then as well.  Oddly enough I also have had visions since I was a kid of a mastectomy scar on my chest......I had immediate reconstruction so I thought that was just one of those wierd things.........until the DIEP flap failed and now I have such a scar.  Freaky...yes...but I don't consider myself to be a fortune teller or anything..if that were the case I would have won the lotto years ago. :D

  • o2bhealthy
    o2bhealthy Member Posts: 1,089
    edited December 2010

    I also knew the moment I found my lump that it was cancer so when the dx came in it just confirmed my suspicions.  The same thing with my thyroid cancer dx, I just wasn't sure if it was a new primary or mets...thankfully it was a new primary. 

  • LtotheK
    LtotheK Member Posts: 487
    edited December 2010

    I knew the minute my hand brushed past the classic "pea" hard lump that it was cancer.  I tried all week waiting for biopsy results to imagine it was another fibroadenoma, which I'm prone to. Truth is, it didn't feel anything like that.  In fact, my fibros are not really palpable to me.

  • badger
    badger Member Posts: 24,938
    edited August 2013

    Edited to redact a post with personal information.

  • littletower
    littletower Member Posts: 44
    edited December 2010

    To echo the others...interesting question. I had a biopsy in March of 2009 that was clear. The next morning woke up with the phrase "It's not over", clearly in my head. In June of that same year, was diagnosed with BC.

  • Marple
    Marple Member Posts: 10,154
    edited December 2010

    When I felt the lump I said to myself "#*%#, I have breast cancer".

  • moyapeter
    moyapeter Member Posts: 2
    edited December 2010

    When I got the call that they wanted me to come in for a repeat mammo after my regular annual mammo, I knew....

  • gillyone
    gillyone Member Posts: 495
    edited December 2010

    I "knew" when I saw the U/S image before anyone told me.

  • Lowrider54
    Lowrider54 Member Posts: 333
    edited December 2010

    When one has lumpy breasts, you are always looking for 'changes' in the lumpies - when a pea-sized lump became a walnut in what seemed like overnight, yep, I knew.  Even though it hurt - they say breast cancer doesn't 'hurt' - I couldn't imagine having it could be something other than bc.

  • Laurie08
    Laurie08 Member Posts: 2,047
    edited December 2010

    I knew too.  I had been called back on other occasions for more images and I never thought anything of it.  This time when they called me my exact thought was "shit".  I told my husband right then and there I had cancer, he told me I was being silly, they were just being careful, then they wanted the biopsy I asked, am I still being "silly"?  He said yes, 80% of the time they say it is nothing.  When they called me to tell me he was sitting next to me when I listened to them say it was cancer,  I nodded my head and said to my husband "see? I told you it was cancer." 

  • InTwoPlaces
    InTwoPlaces Member Posts: 54
    edited December 2010

    Yes, I knew it was cancer. I remember the morning I woke up and stretched my arm and happened to touch my underarm and found the lump, my whole body went cold.

    It was a time when I thought I might be wrong, but during the biopsy I was very clear that it was   cancerous lumps I looked at.

  • spendygirl
    spendygirl Member Posts: 21
    edited December 2010

    Yes, I knew something was very wrong and although hearing "you have cancer" sent me into some sort of alternate universe for a couple of days, I wasn't surprised a bit.  I just knew.

  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 388
    edited December 2010

    Mine is a yes/no answer.  I found the lump and didn't worry about it for about 2 months knowing I had an appt for a mammogram coming up.  When I was called back for (several) biopsies I think I was in denial, but knew something deep down.  I didn't mention it anyone, which is unlike me and when I saw the ultrasound and was told that it was a solid mass I knew......still in denial, but deep down I knew.

  • cathmg
    cathmg Member Posts: 12
    edited December 2010

    Interesting question regarding intuition and the diagnosis. At first, when referred for an ultrasound after a mammo showed "nothing," I wasn't too worried. While waiting for the biopsy, I had a dream that pretty much said I had cancer. In my dream little blood sucking bats were on me, and I was trying to tear them off (interestingly, my son was also helping take them off), but I never was able to get them all off. I basically knew then.

    Best of luck,

    Cat

  • barbaraa
    barbaraa Member Posts: 3,548
    edited December 2010

    I knew when they called me back after the mammo. I didn't want to know but I knew. I had no palpable lump and the mammo found it.

  • beesie.is.out-of-office
    beesie.is.out-of-office Member Posts: 1,435
    edited August 2013

    This is a breast cancer website so most of us who hang around here were diagnosed with BC.  The women who knew in their gut that they had BC but ended up with benign results aren't here.  And that ones who sensed that it wasn't breast cancer and were proven to be correct also aren't here.  We are not exactly a representative sample of women who find abnormalities or have biopsies. 

    In my case, I was diagnosed after years of call backs and benign biopsies.  None of those led to my diagnosis but I always figured that my luck would run out at some point.  But did I actually know that this was the time that my luck would run out?  No.

  • nwest125
    nwest125 Member Posts: 69
    edited December 2010

    Yea thats when I knew

  • DiDel
    DiDel Member Posts: 733
    edited December 2010

    Wow I feel the same as all above, the second I felt the lump I knew it was cancer. My grandmother had the same kind in the same breast...she just ignored it until it was 5cm.

    Then the way the US tech and radiologist were when I had the biopsy just confirmed my feelings. I cried for two days just saying I know it's cancer...until my doc called with the results and confirmed it. That seems like just yesterday although its been a year. An unbelievable year!

    Diane

  • Makratz
    Makratz Member Posts: 1,605
    edited December 2010

    Me too.  I knew.  It was small and hard, not like a mushy cyst.  Wishing for the best for you.

  • dfwgal
    dfwgal Member Posts: 4
    edited December 2010

    I will have to say, when I felt the lump, I KNEW it was cancer. Everyone else said it was probably fibrocystic changes but my gut knew.  Unfortunately, I was right.

  • brazos58
    brazos58 Member Posts: 109
    edited February 2011

    I had a premoniton of it.... I knew b/f my core biopsy on the right.. the entire slant of the world and colors were different...... I also decided on my gut feeling that having a prophy on the left and it had ALH.....and that is how my BMX happened.

  • meme31
    meme31 Member Posts: 5
    edited January 2014

    I'm not diagnosed with anything but have been hanging around after some tests and i go back to the bs in March for a check up.  She says she cant feel the lump and nothing shows up on tests-mammo and us.  She says what she is feeling, if  it is what i am feeling and two doctors before me are feeling that it doesn't feel like cancer. Because cancer has a different feel.   It feels like a fatty something she called it.  And ran the us machine over it again and still nothing big and black as she says will show up if its cancer.  Just a little white thing. She went so far as to say you don't have bc-then popped her head back in and said that is the thought you need to keep in mind(instead of i have it and have to wait to find out).  I did not care for her, Anyway i try to stay off these boards more now as to the suggestion of my sister and the bs.  But everywhere i look it is shoved in my face.  Everywhere!  It's hard to forget about when it keeps showing up all around me.  I've already told the lord it is in his hands now and if there is something wrong he needs to make it show up clearly because i have done all i can do to make someone listen.  So we will see.  My point is i feel i have something wrong but can't prove it.  But maybe as people and women we automatically think the worst.  I keep trying to believe i should forget about it all and there is nothing wrong but almost daily now i am reminded about it somehow.  Not by getting on these boards though. Obviously that will make you think about it more.  Sorry for the rant and if this isn't the appropriate place but thanx for listening.

  • mdg
    mdg Member Posts: 1,468
    edited December 2010

    When I found my lump I freaked out.  I had it checked by mammo and u/s and they said it looked like a fibroadenoma.  THey said they would follow it on a recheck in 6 mo's.  I felt confident they were right.  The 6 mo recheck happend and they kept saying "it no longer looks benign on u/s".  I knew......6 days later it was confirmed (last week).  I wish I had been more aggressive 6 months ago. 

  • baywatcher
    baywatcher Member Posts: 50
    edited December 2010

    I am the odd one out.

    I didn't feel anything. My cancer was found on a mammo. When they called me to come back for more images, I wasn't concerned. I never expected to have cancer. My gut never told me.

    I really think that if I had felt something or had some sort of intuition about it, I would have handled the whole situation much differently (better). I am not convinced that it wouldn't have disappeared if I would have never discovered it from the mammo. Who knows?

  • gutsy
    gutsy Member Posts: 26
    edited December 2010

    As soon as I felt my lump, I knew it was cancer. There was still some hope it was not, but I can tell you in my case, I never bought the 80% benign theory.

  • misfit
    misfit Member Posts: 4
    edited August 2013

    I had been feeling a weird tingling sensation in my left breast that was annoying so I started massaging around the spot to try and make it go away. That's when I felt the lump (must have been near a nerve), and everything seemed to come to a stop...including time and my heart. I still vividly remember that stillness, and how clear the realization was that I had cancer. After that I just felt panic but I was pretty calm by the time I went through all the tests. It's strange but I kind of liked that I knew before the doctors did. I still cried a lot when I got home from the official diagnosis though.

  • mom3band1g
    mom3band1g Member Posts: 87
    edited December 2010

    Interesting question.  I was walking around IKEA last December with my 3yr old dd.  I felt an odd 'zing' in my right breast.  I barely registered the feeling, I felt it again and the feeling traveled a bit more into my conscious.  I felt it a 3rd time and acknowledged to myself that I felt it.  I was in a store....I couldn't feel myself up in IKEA!  I told myself I'd check it out when I got to my car.  Never had the sensation again.  I finished my shopping and got into the car.  Felt my right breast and there was a hard pea-sized lump right next to my nipple.  Exactly where the 'zing' was.  My stomach dropped and I knew it was bc.  I called my dh but not my Dr for a few days.  I needed to digest the info.  My lump didn't show up on mammo or ultrasound even though everyone could feel it.  Very small breasts.  The first mammo place told me that since they couldn't find it on imaging it must  be nothing and come back in 6 m.  My Dr was not happy with that and sent me to a breast specialist who did a biopsy.  In the end of the 6+ cm of DCIS only 1cm showed on any testing (MRI).  I know my body very well and I know it was telling me something was off. I do think I found the lump when it first appeared.  I had had a gyn check-up 3 months prior to finding the lump.  It wasn't there!

  • sunangel27
    sunangel27 Member Posts: 234
    edited December 2010

    I had missed two years of mammo's due to no insurance. I kept telling a friend at work, I just realy really NEED to get this done. Now, having insurance.  I made my appt. with GP to get a physical and told him I needed a mammo. He set it up in Aug., this year. Ok..so I go in, they said you need US. I know..I ffigured. But have had to have them before because of changes due to fibrocystic cyst. After, the tech said yes there are changes But we want to check this one spot in three mths. Come back in Nov. Ok, still didn't think anything, until I was laying on the table and a weird feeling came over me that there was something just "not right". She left the room and the radiologist came in then. He said it looks like a fibroadema, but we need to check more. Set up with GS. Went to have biopsy. GS said, it looks like it will come back fibroadema, don't worry  this will be over soon and you can go on with your life. Yeah right, I didn't believe it and told him then.  I was to get results the next day, they didn't come. I went to his office cause the glue came undone. He didn't have results. Told me he wanted to check the spots on Monday.. When I went in he looked so somber, then after checking me told me he wanted me to get dressed and talk to me in his office. I looked at him and said.... I knew. He said, I'm sorry, I was so sure it wasn't.

    I go in for the excersion tomorrow morning. I still have the feeling they will find something "more"...something worse than what was found at first. feeling like they will not get the "good margin" We will see.