Axillary tale of Spence lump
hello everyone I’m new here after reading everything I could find I decided to finally join.
my mom was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer last year that has spread to her spine and brain, mom left this world a month after diagnosis. so that’s my family history, now here I am not yet diagnosed fingers crossed but I did find a lump, it feels different than the cist I’ve had in the past. It’s located between my underarm and my upper breast. I made a appointment to see my PCP who said it’s a worrisome/ high risk lump located on the axillary tale of Spence. She then sent out a referral for imaging. I’m attaching a photo of her notes from my patient portal.
I am absolutely terrified because now I’m also feeling like my chest bone is bigger on the left side than the right side. It’s the bone directly under my left collarbone and also the whole area is swollen by my chest underarm I can definitely feel it when my arm is down.
I do know that most lumps found are cist and other things but this is so different. It’s the size of a marble and kinda round at the top near my armpit but I can’t feel the bottom of it, I can’t tell where it ends but seems like i can definitely feel swelling inside going from the lump down to the bottom of my left breast then I can follow the lump from the armpit over to my chest. Its like it goes two split directions and I can’t tell where the lump ends and where the swelling starts but it kinda feels like it’s just a really long lump that splits off in two different directions. It’s not soft it’s very firm not rock hard but very firm. It doesn’t hurt but uncomfortable when I move my arm . I only found the lump when I had an itch under my arm and felt something. Im small in weight so I thought I’d always feel a lump easily but my underarm hid it . Now it’s all very obvious and I don’t know how I missed it or how long it’s been there. But I do know that’s a high risk area and my doctor felt of it and immediately said it’s not infection or a cist but can be cancer. So now I wait, I’ve been calling trying to get my appointment date for the mammogram and ultrasound but I still don’t have a date set. It’s been 4 days sense the referral was sent. A doctor who I work with at the hospital said if it was him he would highly recommend going to the emergency room to get images done and try to hurry things along but I don’t want to waste anyone’s time or waste time that could make a difference either. I’m attaching a screenshot of my doctors notes.
But what do you ladies think ? What would you do in my situation? Do you think I’m overthinking and should just wait? I’m so scared and can’t think straight. Anyway Thankyou for reading and any responses or recommendations are very welcomed. Thankyou
Comments
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acevedomom,
I am so sorry to hear of your mom’s passing. It is understandable that your current situation has you worried.
Did your mom have genetic testing done? I ask because genetic mutations that increase one’s risk of bc are actually not common at all (only about 15-20%). Most bc arises without genetic connections but it is a nice bit of info to have considering your mother’s situation. While you do want to get all of your imaging and any other assessments done soon, please note that bc is generally not considered an emergency, like a stroke or heart attack, because it is relatively slow growing. One thing I can suggest is that when you’re calling around for appointments, ask to be placed on a cancellation list so that you’ll be called if someone cancels. I don’t know what to say about the doctor who suggested you go to the ER. I have never heard that suggestion before as bc is not an emergency.
We are not doctors and although some are comfortable dispensing medical opinions, I am not. That being said, the notes suggest nothing more than further imaging is in order to obtain more information to determine what’s going on. I know that waiting is difficult, and imaging is not the final word on bc, but you are not in an emergency situation. You are in the assessment phase and nothing is confirmed. As a matter of fact, if the imaging warrants, a biopsy would still have to be done to reach a diagnosis but hopefully you won’t have to reach the biopsy stage (and the vast majority of biopsies are negative).
The waiting is often the worst part. Try to focus on what you know to be fact right now and try, not easy, not to go down paths you may never need to take. Take carePS: Despite 13 years on this site, I had never heard of Tail of Spence. It seems to be extremely rare, .3% incidence. Have you tried the search function to see if other members have experience with this? Use the spelling, tail, rather than tale!
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Hello @acevedomom. I’m very sorry to hear about your mom.
I’m really glad you decided to join here and share your post … this is truly a place full of caring and compassionate people. And most of us can remember the sense of urgency and rising panic we felt when we first discovered our lumps and while waiting to get appointments, tests, results, etc. It is agonizing having to wait. I’m sorry you are experiencing all this worry.
Once you discover a lump it’s amazing how “aware” you become of all sensations in the breast, and I found it hard not to keep pressing my lump, making it even more tender. Be gentle is what I would suggest, until you know more. Keep persisting with your phone calls too … everyone seems short staffed and extra busy these days so sometimes we have to be the “squeaky wheel that gets the oil”. Please let us know how things turn out. I’ll be thinking about you and hoping for a good outcome.
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