Does Breast Cancer Hurt - honest truth from bc patients

JC....I am thinking of you today!  Yes sometimes the rollercoaster of this beast gets rolling fast!  It is hard to take it all in!  So fast at times & others so slow!  I'm not sure where you live but yesterday my BS=Breast Surgeon talked about more things that I may have to go through.  He said get the big picture....know ALL your options before you make a desicion.  If you have a Cancer Nurse Navigator at your hospital talk to her or see if your hospital has one.  She is a wealth of information.  Get a second opinion especially if you are not comfortable with your Dr's.  It's your right & most insurances allow them.  When you have time come ask ?'s.  There is a thread for just diagnosed here do some reading as they have a lot of infor.  Let us know how your doing!

It sounds like things are moving along!  Waiting for those tests are hard!  I'm glad you have a little time off before surgery.  I had 6 days off.  My SIL came over & between her & my DH we cleaned the house MAJORLY!  It was one less thing to worry with.  Also if you Dr. prescribes pain meds get them before surgery & any other regular meds you might take make sure you don't need any refills.  Prescription or other wise.  That way you aren't scrambling to get them just after surgery.  Stock your refrig.  Make sure you have some ginger-ale or coke to settle your tummy after.  Or any other little things you might like or need.  I'm sure on the surgery Before & After forum here there might be many other suggestions too!  Good Luck!  Sending super healing thoughts your way!  Also have a big soft pillow for your ride home from surgery!  To put between You & the seat belt! Works wonders!  Also to help support your arm on the couch at home too!

First time no pain......no clue.....SURPRISE!  Second time lots of pain.  Pain so fierce I would grab my breast tightly and sqeeze hoping that would help.  It hurt all the time....kind knew but was in denial......SURPRISE!

Doctors should never tell women that if it hurts it isn't BC!  That's criminal.  Just my 2 cents. Namaste'.

I HAVE A LUMP IN MY LEFT BREAST, VERY CLOSE TO MY NIPPLE. IT'S A HARD LUMP AND PAINFUL TO THE TOUCH. MY MOTHER HAS HAD BREAST CANCER 2 TIMES ALSO CANCER OF THE UTERUS AND NOW ADENOID CYSTIC CARCINOMA . MY GRANDMOTHER ALSO HAD BREAST CANCER

i can relate to the bee sting feeling

i have radiating pain also, feels like its all the way to the bone, sharp and burning. 

lots of pain in my shoulder and shoulder blade

My DCIS was so close to the chest wall, I felt nothing.  It showed up on an MRI.  Had a uni mx; my follow up MRI in May was clear. Now have been having pain in my remaining breast.  Saw my BS, had an ultrasound, they want to biopsy it.  Waiting to be called to schedule biopsy; fearing the worst.  Does it ever end?  If it DOES end up being cancer, I will say that the pain helped find it.

I have a teeny tiny lump in my left breast that I discovered just a week or so ago. The thing that brought me here was the micro calcs found on my mammo in July (they are clustered) and the "wait and see approach" come back in 6 months yada yada EVEN though I have a lot of cancer in my family history (not BC but ovarian, colon and liver) and had carcinoma in-situ in my cervix in my mid 20's myself. I also had a needle biopsy on this same breast in the same spot for fibroids in my late 20's!

  I have been having some shooting pains in this breast for a few weeks and I thought that it was due to the imaging and the flattening of my breast but it keeps happening even though this was July 30th. And, a stinging sensation in my nipple, like a bee sting keeps happening too. The night sweats really have me worried as well.

I pray that this is all in my head. I am being pro-active and seeing a BS on 10/1 instead of waiting for another mammo at the end of January. I tried to get an earlier appt but this woman is the expert in micro calcs and DCIS so I am sticking with the Oct. date as she is also located in the only BCC in my state at Yale Smilow center.

Pain is an indication that something is NOT right in our bodies. How dare any doctor negate our feelings and not check out anything that gives us concern. I am not going to let this go even if they think I am crazy. I want a biopsy or at the very least an MRI to alleviate any concerns I have that this is something more than just something to "watch" closely. I have too many risk factors.

I pray that this thread allows everyone to know that pain is NOT normal and it is our body's way of making us sit up and take notice. We are NOT crazy. We pay their salaries (the medical profession) and they are not God. They need to do what we ask them to and not poo poo our very educated fears about our own bodies. No one knows our body like we do.

Thanks for allowing me to vent. My boob hurts. That is not normal and I need to find out why.

Hi, I am hoping you can reassure me that I'm not going mad. I was diagnosed with dcis high grade, in my right breast, in December last year, I'm 49. I had a partial mastectomy followed by a full mastectomy and diep reconstruction in march. Recovery seems to be normal so far. I also had a reduction on the left side at the same time to try and match up the old with the new a bit better. Here is where I am concerned, I am experiencing quite a lot of pain in the left breast. I have hormone related pain in it (used to be them) the week before my period usually, but this is a week past my period and this has not happened before. What should I be thinking about this? Could it just be cysts playing up?

I didn't have pain, as such, but it was a feeling, as though a needle was pushed into my breast. I immediately put my hand there and felt the lump!

I know many people who were dx without any incklings beforehand. Everyone is different.

Although I checked myself regularly, I was thankful for the needle-like feelings otherwise I never would have spotted it. I still wonder how I missed it.

I'm here nearly 5 years later and doing great. It's a distant memory.

Take care. 

This has been a fantastic thread to read. I have not been diagnosed with BC but I have had 2 incidences of "unusual" pain, both times in my right breast. I live in the UK and am lucky enough to have private medical Insurance. When I have gone to the GP and you tell them this they will at least write you a referral if you push them. I had a mammogram and US last Dec that came back clear (although the breast consultant manually discovered a lump in my left breast which came back benign from biopsy). This time (I have posted elsewhere here) I had stabbing pains and more worryingly a rash and itching. No swelling or thickening but Im still worried. An US with another clinic recommended an MRI as I have very dense breasts so I went back to the original clinic and had this done along with a further US on right breast only. Both clear. I also had a punch biopsy on the rash which has come back ok. Rash and pain still ongoing - have been told most likely hormonal as underarm pain I have is linked to all the breast changes. My consultant also said what someone else here clarified (but said in a bit of an inflammatory way by her) that most pain is not cancer. That is different from saying that cancer is not painful and I agree that many doctors and sites are totally wrong if they say this.



Incidentally, I also took a punt and emailed images of rash with history to Dr. Cristofanilli at Fox Chase. He is AWESOME and replied saying he thinks it's a skin thing (obviously has not seen me in person)



From all of this I will say that you have to keep pushing until you feel your questions have been answered. If my rash is no better in a few weeks I'm getting a second opinion. And pain is what sent me on my journey - I now know I have very dense breasts which is helpful to me for the future. I would alway check out pain that is not normal for you.

I went to see my GP but as she was off on maternity leave I had to see a new doctor, I normally wouldnt mind but as she didn't know my history it was a bit off putting. Anyway she thought I had a breast infection but also found two lumps, so put me on antibiotics and anti inflammatories and said she would send a fax to the hospital breast clinic to get me in for an urgent mammogram. A week later I hadn't heard anything so rang the clinic only for them to say they hadn't received a fax. Phone call to the Drs, they sent another fax, still no appointment. Phone call to the breast clinic and finally some action though they want me to have an ultrasound instead. So tomorrow, three weeks after seeing the doctor I'm off for my 'urgent' scan!