Mammogram tomorrow and concerned

kdholt

Last April I had a mammo done-the first since my breast cancer treatments had ended(8 mths previous to that). Of course it showed a suspicioius spot. One radiologist recommended a biopsy but asecond radiologist, my surgeon and onc recommended waiting six mths and doing a follow up mammo then. They felt strongly that what was showing up was landscape changes to the breast due to radiation and surgery. Plus it had only been 8 mths since treatment ended and there are no lumps that can be seen or felt. In fact the 2nd radiologist told me if it were his wife he would tell her to wait 6 mths for a follow up mammo. I decided to wait and tomorrow is the big day. This is my question for those of you who have been through this before. What can I expect? Should the "dense shadowing " look that much different in 6 mths? It has only been 14 mths since radiation ended and they always say there can be changes to the breast for up to 2 years following radiation. So what do they look for? Should I panic if an MRI or sonogram is recommended or is that to be expected? If you had these suspicious landscape changes to your breast and that is all the were I would love to hear from you and learn from your experience. Thanks!(by the way, did I mention I am nervous that it could be a cancer recurrence - I am hoping all my second opinions were right, but they're not God and I find myself worrying)

Debbie

jancie

Debbie - I don't know the answers to your questions but like you I am scared to go in for testing and more than likely will go into total panic mode if they want to do an Ultra Sound after doing the mammo.  My appointment is for December 21st - 1 year after being diagnosed.  I plan on taking a few valium before I go in.