How it all started

Shanghai, China

I woke up on 28th Jan (wed) morning with something like a sprain under my right arm-pit. Initially, I thought I might have slept in a wrong position and sprained the muscles under my armpit.

On 30th Jan (Fri) morning, I woke up to find a painless lump (the size of a Sg 20-cent coin)on the upper part of my right breast. Sensing that something was not right, I quickly emailed my 4th aunt in Sg to ask her to help arrange for me to see a doctor in Sg, since I had planned to return to Sg in the following week to spend CNY in Sg. My aunt used to work in a hospital in Sg, and I was pretty confident that she would be able to help me find a good doctor.

Soon, I started having difficulty stretching and raising my right arm. It was difficult to even do simple tasks like reaching the can of soda on the upper shelves in the fridge, putting on my winter clothes like pullovers, or even using my fingers to press the pump for the shower foam. Then, I started to feel this unbearable tightness in the lump, it was as if the pressure building up inside the lump could cause the lump to burst anytime. On 31 Jan (Sat), I decided to call up Parkway Health Clinic in Shanghai to arrange to see a doctor. I had wanted to see a female gynaecologist initially, but was told that I could only see her a week later due to her busy schedule. In the end, the staff referred me to see a locally trained Chinese male doctor who was supposed to have 15-year year of experience with breast CA.

On 2nd Feb(Mon), I went down to Parkway's Xintiandi branch to see the doctor. After examining my breast, he told me that I might have some infection and he would have to give me antibiotics(in the form of an IV drip) over the next 3 days to fight the infection, and he also recommended that I go for a mammogram and ultrasound scan the next day. However, both hubby and I were not very comfortable with him, as we felt that he was very reticent. I also didn't quite like the clinic (as it was located in a dingy local hospital) and the room where they put me on a drip(as it seemed more like a storeroom), so I asked to continue with my next treatment at their branch in JW Marriott Hotel which has a more conducive environment.

On 3rd Feb (Tue), I had my second drip at Parkway's JW Mariott branch. The nurse who administered my drip could not get the antibiotics to flow smoothly and she had to manipulate the needle several times to get the liquid flowing. It was one of the most unpleasant experiences I ever had with needles poking in my body. Then, I was told to go for lunch and come back in an hour's time for my mammogram and ultrasound. By then, I was having some reservations about doing a mammogram as I did not like the idea of exposing my left breast to unnecessary radiation. The nurse called my doctor in the Xintiandi branch and he told me that an ultrasound would suffice. Hence, I only went for an ultrasound scan after lunch. The sonographer (ultrasound specialist) showed me the scans she made, highlighting to me a cyst and fibroadenoma (both of which are supposed to be benign) on my left breast, and a cyst as well as the lump on my right breast. She felt that the lump could have been an abscess(of less than 2 cm) which has caused the area around it to be infected. She also highlighted several affected lymph nodes underneath my right armpit. She even went to the extent of suggesting that I be put on drip until Friday so as to lessen the infection.

On 4th Feb(Wed), I went for my 3rd drip. By then, I could feel that the lump is not as tight as before, and I could raise my arms more easily. However, there is still pain and it is very sporadic. I could be feeling fine most of the time, but when it hurt, it really hurt badly. For example, I could not sleep one night as the pain was simply unbearable whenever I lay horizontally in bed. The gravity pull on my breast would cause pain to the parts of my breast where the lump and lymph nodes are located. I ended up sleeping propped up on my back and stuffing a cushion under my right armpit so that it would not hurt.

I went back to see the male doctor on 5th Feb (Thurs) for a diagnosis after my ultrasound results were out. The doctor felt that there could be 3 reasons for the lump and the infected lymph nodes, namely a normal milk duct infection, TB (which apparently can happen outside the lungs), or cancer( for which I was mentally prepared given my family history). He felt that for a better diagnosis, doing a fine needle aspiration on the infected area would suffice. However, I was supposed to be leaving for HK on the following day, and the result for the fine needle aspiration would not be out till Monday, I asked him for a report as well as copies of my scan results which I could bring back with me to Sg for a second opinion with the doctor that my aunt had arranged for me to visit. The doctor also gave me antibiotics to be consumed orally over the course of next 3 days as I travel between HK and Sg.