mastectomy?

Question

my name is Sherry not Bill, how would I know what a lump feels like .No one ever show me in 47 years what to look for and how to check for a lump in my breast.

Answer 1

First, lie on your back. Place your right hand behind your head. With the middle fingers of your left hand, gently yet firmly press down using small motions to examine the entire right breast. Then, while sitting or standing, examine your armpit (commonly skipped) because breast tissue extends to that area. Gently squeeze the nipple, checking for discharge. Repeat the process on the left breast.

Use one of the patterns shown in the diagram to make sure that you are covering all of the breast tissue. You are feeling for any lump or thickness that stands out or feels new.

Although some women find it easiest to do the exam in the shower, when the skin is soft and wet, you are more likely to examine all of the breast tissue if you are lying down.

Next, stand in front of a mirror with your arms by your side. Look at your breasts directly AND in the mirror for changes in skin texture (such as dimpling, puckering, indentations, or skin that looks like an orange peel), shape, contour, or the nipple turning inward. Do the same with your arms raised above your head.

Discuss any changes you find right away with your doctor. It is helpful to know that all women have some lumps. If you do monthly exams, it is important to do them at the same time in your monthly cycle. Know that the value of monthly exams is controversial.

Answer 2

Well you need to schedule an annual exam with your gyno or doctor then and they will do a breast exam, and you tell them at that point, if they could explain it while they do it because you are not sure how to do it. At your age you should have already had some other tests for breast cancer. Have you had a mammogram yet? IF not then you need to run, not walk to your doctor and schedule these things. Also, ask for a cholestrol screening. Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women, not breast cancer as the media would have you believe. The symptoms of heart disease are different in women so please learn how to take care of yourself.

Answer 3

You people are going too far in the begining itself. If you are not able to check up the lump yourself please go to an Oncologist and he will check up and have a mammogram test done to detect if you have cancer or not. Masectory (Removal of Breast) comes afterward, when once it is confirmed. ASAP see the doctor for evalluation.

In the meantime I am giving below the symptoms of breast cancer for your information and checking up yourself.

Breast cancer is a cancer of breast tissue. Worldwide, it is the most common form of cancer in females, affecting, at some time in their lives, approximately one out of nine to thirteen women who reach age ninety in the Western world. It is the second most fatal cancer in women (after lung cancer), and the number of cases has significantly increased since the 1970s, a phenomenon partly blamed on modern lifestyles in the Western world.

Symptoms
Early signs of breast cancer.Early breast cancer causes no symptoms and is not painful. Usually breast cancer is discovered before any symptoms are present, either on mammography or by feeling a breast lump. A lump under the arm or above the collarbone that does not go away may be present. Other possible symptoms include breast discharge, nipple inversion and changes in the skin overlying the breast.

Screening
Due to the high incidence of breast cancer among older women, screening is now recommended in many countries. Screening methods suggested include breast self-examination and mammography. Mammography has been shown to reduce breast cancer-related mortality by 20-30%. Routine (annual) mammography of women older than 50 is encouraged as a screening method to diagnose early breast cancer and has demonstrated a protective effect in multiple clinical trials.

Normal (left) versus cancerous (right) mammography image.Mammography is still the modality of choice for screening of early breast cancer, and breast cancers detected by mammography are usually smaller than those detected clinically.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been shown to detect cancers that are not visible on mammograms, but it has several disadvantages. For example, although it is 27-36% more sensitive, it is less specific than mammography. As a result, MRI studies will have more false positives (up to 5%), which may have undesirable financial and psychological costs. It is also a relatively expensive procedure, and one which requires the intravenous injection of a chemical agent to be effective. Proposed Indications for using MRI for screening include

Answer 4

http://www.komen.org/bse/
this is a great interactive site to show you exactly how to do a self breast exam. If you are 47 yr old and have never had an exam from your doctor. Make an apt as soon as possible. Also at your age you should start getting yearly mammograms.http://health.yahoo.com/topic/breastcancer/symptoms/article/pdr/breast_cancer_bca_dealing2aiv
Check out both sites and make an appointment with a gynocologist.

Answer 5

Hopefully you've been doing self exams every month or so. That's recommended because you become familiar with your breasts and you are therefore the best person to detect a change. I'm sure you can download a pamphlet illustrating the method, and you should be getting mammograms by now. If you haven't had one, they don't hurt.

Answer 6

please go 2 the doc right away! dont delay! i just lost my mom from cancer and its nothing 2 mess around with please gooooooooo!!!!!!