The Clinical Psychologist Dr Olivia Donnelly runs a clinic within the Bristol Breast Care Centre on a Wednesday.
Your Clinical Nurse Specialist or your Consultant can refer you to her.
Some patients benefit from additional psychological support on a 1 to 1 basis, and often these sessions will go on for a few months dependant upon individual needs.
Keeping Abreast is a breast cancer reconstruction support group.
Their support meetings, held at both Macmillan Wellbeing Centre, Beaufort House, Southmead Hospital and Gloucester, are informal, relaxed and open to those who wish to gain more information on Breast Reconstruction after a mastectomy.
Family & friends are also very welcome.
Find out more at www.keepingabreast.org.uk/breast-cancer-reconstruction-support-bristol
Bosom Buddies meets as a group on the first Tuesday of every month at The BAWA Club, 589 Southmead Road, Bristol BS34 7RG.
For more information visit the Bosom Buddies Bristol – Breast Cancer Support group website.
Breast awareness is about becoming familiar with your own breasts and how they change. It is important to know how your body normally looks and feels. Being breast aware is about knowing the usual shape and feel of your breasts and being able to recognise any changes.
There is no such thing as a standard breast and what is normal for one woman may not be for another. Your breasts will also look and feel different over time depending on the time of the month and your age. If you find any changes from what is normal for you go to your GP without delay.
It is important to know that most changes are not cancer. But, reassurance and advice will always help, and the sooner a possible cancer is reported, the more simple treatment is likely to be.
Changes to look for:
For more information visit NHS Cancer Screening website.
The Breast-cancer Unit Support Trust (BUST, Charity No. 1117508) is run by a volunteer committee, who have all been breast patients.
Come and join the BUST Members Support Group. The group is held four times a year and includes refreshments and a talk by a professional on the latest developments in technology, diagnosis and equipment.
Everyone is welcome; partners, friends, family and those just interested in coming and joining in a very relaxed evening.
BUST also fundraises to buy advanced medical equipment for the Bristol Breast Care Centre (BBCC) based at Southmead Hospital.
They are able to give talks to groups about Breast cancer and how to examine for breast abnormalities and have spoken to students in schools, retired people and all ages in between.
The Prosthesis fitting Clinic is offered once a week on a Monday morning at the Macmillan Wellbeing Centre, Southmead Hospital, for all patients that require a breast prosthetic/bra fitting.
Run by our experienced fitters, Helen Lewis (Trulife) and Tracy Emerson (Amoena), every patient is offered a prosthetic post-mastectomy free of charge.
Approximately 5-6 weeks post surgery, dependent upon wound healing and the fact that any post–operative swelling has settled, you will be offered an appointment for the fitting clinic. Prioir to this a temporary very soft form prosthetic is available to all patients undergoing mastectomy surgery without reconstruction – these soft prosthetics are fully washable, and can be worn as as soon after surgery as is comfortable.
If a problem should arise with your prosthetic, please phone through to the Bristol Breast Care Centre and have the relevant information to hand – we usually ask for the make, Amoena or Trulife, and the number and size of the prothetic you have been suppled with (these are usually clearly printed on the box it will have been suppled in). We can then reorder a replacement to be delivered straight to your home address.
Similarly, if at any point the prosthetic becomes too big or too small, usually due to weight gain or weight loss, we can rebook you to the fitting clinic for another fit.
The Breast prosthetics usually get a replaced approx. every 2 years.
Our Consultant Radiologists run their own radiology clinics for patients who have already attended the unit for a diagnostic test/scan and as a result further evaluation has been recommended, usually in the form of a focused ultrasound scan and/or additional mammograms/biopsies.
This can be quite common in ladies whom we have sent for an MRI scan of the breast tissue, which as one of the more sensitive ways of looking at breast tissue, often highlights additional areas that require more close evaluation to determine their nature.
Our Radiologists work alongside the Consultant Surgeons and are an important part of the Multi-disciplinary team approach.
Bristol Breast Care Centre
Beaufort House
Southmead Hospital
Westbury-on-Trym
Bristol
BS10 5NB
Telephone*: 0117 4147000 or email familyhistorybreastcare@nbt.nhs.uk.
* 9am - 5pm Monday to Thursday, Friday 9am - 4pm
The Bristol Breast Care Centre New Patient Clinic is for women and men who have been referred by their GP and includes patients with breast pain, lumps and/or bumps, breast changes or discharge.
Patients are usually over the age of 16 years of age, although we also see children.
With eight consultants, the clinic runs every day of the week at Bristol Breast Care Centre, Southmead Hospital.
At your first appointment, if appropriate you would usually have a mammogram, potentially alongside an ultrasound scan and possibly a biopsy, all performed on the same day at Bristol Breast Care Centre - this can mean being at the clinic for up to three or four hours. We request that patients attend their appointment alone, unless a care giver is needed. If you feel you need a care giver with you at your appointment please contact the department in advance on 0117 414 7000 to discuss this. We need to reduce the footfall into the Breast Care Centre to reduce the overall infection risk to patients.
There are refreshments available in the centre so please ensure you bring sufficient change.
You will then be seen by a Breast Care consultant on the same day, and offered an appointment which will be around 1-2 weeks later for your results.
If further tests, for example an MRI scan, are required, they cannot be done on the same day and you would need to return at a later date.
Bristol Breast Care Centre
Beaufort House
Southmead Hospital
Westbury-on-Trym
Bristol
BS10 5NB
Telephone*: 0117 4147000 or email familyhistorybreastcare@nbt.nhs.uk.
* 9am - 5pm Monday to Thursday, Friday 9am - 4pm
Your mammograms are reviewed and the results will be sent to you within two weeks. Your GP will also be notified of your results.
Your x-rays have shown no signs of cancer and you will be invited again in 3 years’ time for your next routine screen. If by then you are over 70 then please contact us for an appointment nearer the time.
The mammogram needs to be repeated for technical reasons only. Occasionally not all of the breast tissue can be seen on the x-rays or the pictures may be blurred. The mammogram is repeated to ensure all the breast tissue can be clearly seen. Approximately 3 out of every 100 women screened will be called back for a technical repeat to get a good quality mammogram. You will be invited to attend the screening unit at so that your repeated x-rays can be checked for technical quality before you leave.
Sometimes we need more detail about an area we have seen on you mammogram before we can decide on a result. If this is the case you will receive an appointment to attend our assessment clinic. This additional appointment is part of routine screening and for most women invited back nothing of concern will be found. Approximately 5 out of 100 women who have breast screening will be asked to come back to our clinic for a further examination. 4 of these 5 women will be found to have a normal result. Any women invited to an assessment clinic will be able to speak to a breast care nurse if they want more information before attending.
Bristol Breast Care Centre
Beaufort House
Southmead Hospital
Westbury-on-Trym
BS10 5NB
Telephone: 0117 4147070
Email: abs@nbt.nhs.uk
A mammogram is an X-ray examination of the breasts and is a method of finding breast cancer at a very early stage.
A female mammographer will compress your breasts, one at a time between two special x-ray plates and take the x-rays. The compression only lasts a few seconds and does not cause any harm to the breasts. Compression is needed to keep the breast still and to get the clearest picture with the lowest amount of radiation possible.
Any x-ray involves radiation but mammograms only require a very low dose. It is about the same as the dose a person receives by flying from London to Australia and back. The risk that such a low dose could cause a cancer is far outweighed by the benefits of early detection of breast cancer.
Yes, but please be aware that there is limited space at some of our screening sites particularly the mobile screening vans.
Some women find mammography uncomfortable and some find it painful, as the breasts have to be held firmly in position and pressed to take a good X-ray.
If you do experience pain it usually only lasts as long as the mammogram, although it may continue for some time in a small number of women.
No. Breast screening aims to find breast cancer at an early stage when it may be too small to feel. Finding breast cancer early greatly increases your chances of successful treatment.
A mammogram takes a few minutes, however your whole visit to the screening unit will take about half an hour.
Please contact us to discuss your appointment, as we may need to allocate more time for your screening. Your appointment may be made at our static unit at Tower Hill, Bristol or Bristol Breast Care Centre, Southmead Hospital, where we have better disabled access.
Yes, it is safe for you to have a mammogram. It is helpful if you can tell the mammographer where your pacemaker is sited.
Your pacemaker may hide the small area of breast tissue behind the pacemaker, preventing it from being seen on the X-ray. The film readers will only be able to report on the breast tissue that they can see on your mammogram.
Yes because you still have breast tissue, which should be screened. There is no evidence to suggest breast implants are damaged by mammograms.
If you have been invited to one of the mobile vans then please contact us to discuss your screening appointment as your appointment will need to be changed to the main unit so we can allocate more time for your appointment.
Breast implants appear as a solid white area on a mammogram. This may hide some of the breast tissue preventing it from being seen on theXx-ray. The film readers will only be able to report on the breast tissue that they can see on your mammogram.
If you have implants and have been made an appointment at the mobile screening unit please contact us as your appointment will need to be changed to the main unit as the films will need to be checked for image quality before you leave.
You will be asked to undress completely down to your waist so it is a good idea to wear separates instead of a dress.
Your results will be sent to your home address and this should be within 2 weeks. You will be advised of any expected delays at the time of your screening.
Your mammogram will be performed either at a mobile screening unit or static unit within a building, at one of our local screening sites.
A female mammographer will always perform the X-ray.
Bristol Breast Care Centre
Beaufort House
Southmead Hospital
Westbury-on-Trym
BS10 5NB
Telephone: 0117 4147070
Email: abs@nbt.nhs.uk
This a short information film about having a mammogram. The film has been made by and for women with a Learning Disability.
It also speaks to a wider audience.
It is a collaboration project with Avon Breast Screening; North Bristol Trust, Public Health England, NHS England and produced by Biggerhouse Film.
See the video below or please visit: https://youtu.be/aziJMYMui3s