Breast lump or PG blood vessel...?

Hello, I've had these two strange lumpy bits on my breast for a few weeks now. First time I went to the Dr I suggested I thought it was probably a vein and she agreed. But all the what ifs have been niggling me - what if it's a "real" breast lump. So I went back today and insisted on getting an US done NOW...as I figure waiting until I finish BFing for the breast tissue to settle down to see if it goes back to 'normal' could be waiting too long.

Just wondering if anyone else has had what they thought could've been a breast lump in PG which has turned out to be a bulgy vein...

*bump*

MD - have you had the US yet? I had a cyst last year that reappeared this year, is it a solid lump or something long like a vein would be?

Umm, there's a longish bit (has 3 sort of lumps along it, this is the bit that looks the most veiny and it's sort of a bluish colour) but there's another one, just a single lump a bit higher, doesn't look as veiny. It's sort of softish but I can feel it, it's just under the skin. I have a sort of puckered area near there (a scar from an enthusiastic but inexperienced lover...!) so it's hard to tell. Scan is on 3 Sept (monday) - insisted for peace of mind's sake.

MD, good on you for insisting. When my breast lump (pre-cancerous) was picked up by mammogram, it was after my thorough GP referred me "just in case" despite feeling fairly certain nothing was wrong. Thank goodness he did. The clinic called it a "great pick up".

I am sure your lumps are nothing to worry about, but with my history I think everyone should have every suspicious change checked just to be sure. A few hours for an u/s or mammogram is a very small price to pay. Best of luck with it. You're in my thoughts.

so good you insisted MD and I hope it goes well on mon, let us know!

MD - good luck for Monday, fingers crossed it's nothing serious. Good on you for insisting to get it checked out thought, far too many people just push it to the back of their minds and don't want to think about it.

Ok, definitely nothing serious, she switched the US over to the mode where the blood flow shows in blue & red and you could see it pumping through the lumpy bit - obviously a blood vessel as suspected. However the sonographer gave me a little speech as how I'd done the right thing to get it checked and to ALWAYS get any changes checked out no matter how insignificant or unlikely it seems. :)

MD, so glad to hear that all is well. But in case you haven't been nagged enough, you did do the right thing to have it checked.

OMG I just found this thread.

Turns out, 2 years later I found out it *was* breast cancer. At the time I had 2 lumpy structures, one of them was a blood vessel (as above) the other grew to a tumour measuring >10 cm. It was disguised while I was breastfeeding and the lump only became more apparent after I weaned DD2 at 16 mths.

An ultrasound alone is not enough information to rule out breast cancer unless a specific and identifiable structure (like a cyst) can be found to explain the lumpiness. I should have insisted on a fine needle biopsy or a mammogram as well. I am typical of many young women whose breast cancer goes undiagnosed because we are told our young breasts are "too dense" to make a mammogram useful.

The delay in diagnosis cost me my breast, the lump was so large I needed a mastectomy. My surgeon told me just last week how freakishly lucky I was that it was picked up when it was, since it was growing very fast and on the turn to being a very large nasty invasive cancer.