AKA – how I found my lump.
April 2nd 2020. The Coronavirus was in the UK and the country had began it’s first lockdown. I was about a week or two in from working from home, using my work laptop to take part in meetings using MS Teams. I was a bit screen bored and fed up during one meeting, my webcam was off as my internet was lagging, so I took the opportunity to stretch and readjust my bra that was digging in a bit.
I felt something a bit odd on the side next to my armpit by my underwire.
I poked it some more and it felt pretty swollen.
I called my GP surgery and they said they’d get someone to call back. I went through and told my husband who was working in the next room, said it was probably nothing, but I’d speak to GP. Whilst I was nervously waiting for he callback, I texted a friend who’s ex-partner had recovered from breast cancer to ask what hers felt and looked like. I remember not being able to concentrate on anything. I felt so nervous, but kept telling myself that I was being silly, everything would be fine, it’s probably a cyst or something. The GP thankfully called back within the hour and gave me a face-to-face appointment 30 minutes after that.
The doctor examined me and said it felt smooth, which was a positive thing. She was reluctant to send me to the hospital to check straight away, as the message they were getting from the hospitals was to only send people if absolutely necessary as we still didn’t know the implications of COVID at that time.
“Leave it a couple of weeks and see how it is. If it changes, call us”
I tried my hardest to distract myself from it and avoided poking and prodding and checking for the next few days, but over the bank holiday, it hadn’t changed and had started to have a dull ache. I called 111 and the doctor I spoke to said to contact my GP again on the Tuesday and to ask for a referral to my local breast unit, I’d waited long enough with no change.
It’s funny, I’m usually rubbish with dates. I can’t really remember the dates of chemotherapy or the end of treatment, but this date I do. When I returned to work after surgery and during chemotherapy (which is a story for another time), I had a good old cry when I saw that the last message I’d written to my boss was:
“Just a quick message – I have an urgent GP appointment in half an hour. Not virus related. I should be back later.” (2nd April 2020, 14:35).
I didn’t realise at the time how my life would take such a sharp turn from the direction I thought I was heading.
I’ll go into more detail in another post about my first time at the breast unit, the subsequent biopsies and how Belinda (my cancerous lump) was evicted from my body.
Advice on lumps, bumps and irregularities
It would be remiss to write a blog post on how I found my lump without sharing some information about checking yourself. I’m not the expert here, but the NHS, Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel are.
Perform self checks regularly and if you spot anything irregular get it checked out. Better to check and it be nothing than to miss something because you didn’t want to bother a medical professional. That’s exactly what they’re there for.
Life After Cancer 