Breast Cancer

Aye Im 47 and about 3 or maybe 4 year ago now. I had a concern regarding my breasts.
I went to my GP and they were great.. I was referred for a "urgent" mammogram. It was done within a month tops..
Saying that . I t hink sometimes it a postcode lottery and when i hear bad stories about NHS treatment a lot of it seems to be coming from the NHS Englad side of things.. Just my experience.
So maybe things are better up here in Scotland or maybe they just seem to be..
Bottom line is if you are concerned and don't feel you are being listened to .. you can either see another gp in the practice.. demand action from your current gp(doesnt sound like that would work)
Course you could always.. walk into any A&E with your symptoms and they would HAVE to do something about it. I know sneaky thinking .. but hey sometime you have to be VERY proactive.. lololol.. You didna hear that from me tho ..

I agree, go to your local A&E if you're getting no joy with your GP. A woman I worked with found a lump in her breast and popped into A&E on her way home. She got all the tests done straight away and it turned out she had a malignant tumour. They said she'd done the best thing by going there - if she'd gone to her GP she could have been waiting months for a mammogram.

Good point about A&E, Kaylesh and Shahbanou. I really have a nightmarish GP office... and am now feel much better that I can go to A&E if there's a REAL problem... My GP office cannot be trusted to get much done at all... (sigh)

Aye
That is honestly  that is what i would do if i didn't feel i was getting anywhere.. Like I said..in A&E you may have to wait eons but hey if it gets things done it would be faster than waiting for your GP to do something. There is awalys the avenue of writting a complaint as well if you  are really unsatisifed with your care and wanted to go that far..

good advice from everyone. many thanks!

Just an update incase anyone was curious.

I dont have breast cancer (thankfully!) the  reason for the problems (shrinking breasts,aching,discharge and etc) was due to me losing a lot of weight in a short period of time.

But just want to echo what was said here, you can be any age and get breast cancer, its not just the "over 40s", I tried to explain this to the GP over and over again, (bit ironic that i was the one doing it!)

I'm very glad to hear that you are OK and have had your symptoms checked out.

Glad everything turned out okay - but you're advise is good. It doesn't matter how old you are - if something's not right get to a doctor!

its not the just the aching breasts bit. My breasts have changed A LOT in size and shape, I originally put it down to having my daughter,but she is 4 years old and they are still changing. i also have discharge and crust from the nipples,and originally i put that down to have my nipples pierced last year,but something doesnt sit right with me about it all,and rather then keep making excuses,i figured i would get a mammogram to be safe, and as previously mentioned i have a medical condition that makes me prone to tumours, I grow them quite easily unfortantely.so I guess the only option is to do it privatly!  theres 3 doctors (all males) at the surgery, and none of them speak english that well (this isnt a racial comment,my surgery has been on the news for that reason)

Have you discussed these issues with your GP? I had similar symptoms (recurring mastitis) and they sent me for a few ultrasounds at the breast clinic with no problems. They didn't recommend a mammogram, though. I guess the ultrasound is enough? Either way, maybe its a problem with mastitis like I have that is causing the swelling.

They usually don't do mammos on younger women because the breast tissue is too dense.  Ultrasounds are the way to go. 

They usually don't do mammos on younger women because the breast tissue is too dense.  Ultrasounds are the way to go. 

I've also heard that they don't do mammos on younger women because the breast tissue is too dense so it's pointless.

My sister in the US said that US insurance companies are considering raising the minimum age to around that of the UK for this reason.

it really is pointless.  They basically do a mammo and then do an ultrasound later anyway, unless you are one of the few young women who it actually works on. 

So glad you're Ok, Ah-Loom. What a relief for you!
I know about the difficulty of breast density in younger women, but I think women in their 20's and 30's should be aware of possible risk and get clinical exams once a year at least. It's very easy at that age to think you are immune to all that.

They don't do them in the UK at all that I have seen.  In the US they did one with your annual, but even when I had my every three year exam they didn't do it.

The advice I got when I went in for a core needle biopsy for a lump was that even nurses trained to do exams where wrong 9/10 times in younger women, so the best bet is to look for changes, as opposed to doing a lump check every month.