Palpable Lump not visible on scans..what now?

I am not a breast surgeon, but as a BC patient, that was my next step.
What I can say is that you shouldn’t just take no for an answer if you can see and feel something abnormal. Keep trying until someone can give you a reason for it. In my case the needle core biopsy came back negative, but my doctor did an excisional biopsy, removing the lump and doing a biopsy on it.
I would hate to think this has been sitting there for 6 months. Are you comfortable asking your doctor for a closer look?

I have three breast masses, none of which were palpable. They were all the same cancer and the oncologist told me that when he looked at my scans and did a physical exam, knowing exactly where the masses were, he was maybe been able to feel a little something, but without the skin in front of him, would’ve given me a clean bill of health. So not fair.

My battles mainly was with insurance and finding a doctor that had availability. The doctor I have now I just got 3 weeks ago. Now im just waiting for her to call me to go over the US and mammo results that I see online, if she doesn’t say anything about a biopsy I’m definitely going to ask.

I am going through the exact same thing. I've done the mammogram and the ultrasound and they have found nothing but it's there, a lump, and it hurts so bad. Woke up today and in a lot of pain. I'm not sure where to go from here either sadly.

It’s 10 years ago almost to the day. I felt something on my left side but had just had a mammogram w/ ultrasound. I saw my doctor. She sent me for another US. Nothing showed. The following year, I needed to go for my mammogram at a later date because of my son’s wedding plus her calendar was never open. When I finally got my screening I had micro calcifications on my right side which hadn’t shown up before so had to go back. US showed they couldn’t make out something on the other side. Mammo couldn’t se what was on the left and ultrasound cannot see micro calcifications. Core needle biopsy and some other mammo with contrast showed cancer on the right, it lit up green everywhere and MRI showed a tumor on the left right where we both felt it 2 years prior which was also cancer. All of it was early stage but needed a bilateral mastectomy. End result with that doctor was that “I” was the one who was late getting my mammogram! (less than 2 yrs). At some point when my data was finally put into electronic health records, the original “suspicious” ultrasound was actually written as “inconclusive,” so I should have had an MRI 2 years prior. If the doctor can feel it and you can feel it, step 2 is US and then MRI and I hope your insurance will cover it and that you can advocate. There are codes that the doctor can use if they feel the need in order to get the next level screening. I have buried it because I couldn’t believe that 1 year before I felt something was followed by micro calcifications on both sides plus a cluster which made a tumor. Something was not right with those earlier screenings.

I would continue to rattle their cage. Last fall during Breast Health Month, The Wall Street Journal ran a profile of a breast cancer patient and her experience was similar to yours. Nothing showed on the mammo or ultrasound. Finally when she'd gone back to her second mammogram, she had the tech feel the mass and that changed everything. (Her cancer turned out to be lobular, where initially there often is no mass). It's troubling that we have to be so persistent...but we have to advocate for ourselves. In the article, she concluded that if her concerns had been listened to earlier, her treatment and recovery would have been a lot easier ( and less costly for the insurance company.). It sometimes comes down to insurance. However, treating BC at a later stage is costly and I think that should be one of our messages. Good luck to you. Carry on!

I had a strange feeling in left breast, constant slight pain, my GP examined it and said she felt nothing, but ordered a mammo, took time to get results, but which revealed nothing. I continued to worry and knew something was causing the pain so had to go back to another Dr in the clinic who said she thought she felt something and ordered an US. The US definitely showed a suspicious lump and it turned out to be cancerous, so lumpectomy. But I resent the fact that my GP brushed my concerns off, even though I really wanted an US from the beginning, all this wasted precious time. You really have to be your own advocate. I knew something was there in my left breast.

Hoping to get some of you chime in in September I felt a lump. I have pash so this is pretty normal for me they did mammogram showed up on mammogram as a 3 cm irregular focal asymmetry with an indistinct margin in the right axilla. So we go to ultrasound, shows nothing. Then they order MRI only shows skin thickening. Area also has discoloration. 3 months later another mammogram can still see area but they say no change, go to ultrasound still can’t see anything. Saw breast surgeon they told me they think it’s scar tissue I’ve never had a surgery there or an injury didn’t make sense to me they said another 6 month mammogram. 2 days ago washing my armpits I noticed the lump was bigger and much harder so I call pcp to feel it cause I feel like I’m going crazy she agrees and feels it orders ultrasound I had ultrasound this morning still shows nothing, but radiologist says again he can feel it and see it. So I’m having a biopsy tomorrow morning but we are doing it by feel because we can’t see it by ultrasound and mammogram isn’t option due to axillary location. Has anyone seen or heard of this? He thinks it’s fat necrosis but again no reason to have that and from what I’ve read it shows up on ultrasound. ILC seems more likely based on mammogram image comparison and with skin thickening discoloration and irregular periods. Would love to see if anyone has been through something similar.

@eddyscissors very many of us have unfortunately had a very similar experience. It feels like getting diagnosed is way too hard when you “do” have breast cancer.
I had multiple mammograms, multiple ultrasounds, and even two biopsies, and I kept getting told there was something there but it wasn’t important, and I was too young to have breast cancer. 🙄
When the most amazing surgeon said he would just feel better if he cut it out and sent it to the lab. I jumped at the chance, and sure enough it was a really aggressive form of IDC.
There is no way to know for sure until a biopsy or a lumpectomy tells you for sure if it is cancer and what kind of cancer it is, but don’t quit until you feel you have the answers you need.
Are you having a needle biopsy, or an excision biopsy? Will you come back and let us know what you find out?