Went for the ultrasound...how much can a tech tell??? She said

flower123

that she didn't see anything at all. It was a very quick ultrasound and she was definitely on the right area. It was only about thirty seconds! She said that she didn't see anything at all. She said that everything looks great. I feel so stupid now. I guess this means that everything is fine...???

I do feel a lump, but I'm assuming that they'll just let it go since the test is fine.

Can the radiologist see anything more, or are the ultrasound sonographers usually as accurate as a radiologist? If she didn't see anything, then the radiologist won't see anything either, right? 

Thank you so much!!!!!

JennyB100104

They had a very hard time finding my lump on ultrasound, and in fact, when they did the ultrasound-guided biopsy, they couldn't find it and biopsied the wrong place!

If you can feel the lump, you really need to have it checked out by something that can "see" it. Good luck!

NativeMainer

If you can feel the lump get an appointment with a breast surgeon and have a biopsy done.  If the lump can be felt, it can be biopsied without ultrasound or other techniques.  Or call/write to the place where the ultrasound was done and tell them you don't feel you got an adequate exam and you want one with someone who has time to do a good job.  Remind them you can sue them if the lump should happen to be cancer and they didn't adequately look for it. Most places the tech cannot give any results info to patients, so you may need to find out if the tech is actually properly trained. Patients have a right to know the first and last name and credentials of every person providing services, so don't be shy about asking for that info. 

flower123

Thanks! My breast specialist is a surgeon. I don't know what she will say. She said it maybe it is a lobule, but according to what was told to me here, you shouldn't be able to feel a lobule. I don't know. I'm frustrated. I kind of wish a it were a simple cyst, so then I would have a definite answer. I'm in my early thirties. 

Jenny-I CAN'T BELIEVE that they biopsied the wrong spot! That's terrible! I didn't even know that was possible. I can feel the lump but it's in a weird spot--under my nipple. I wonder if it is not a lump but normal tissue...but it feels a bit hard. I, of course have been examining it it like crazy driving myself and hubby insane! How are you doing now?

 Native--Thank you. I felt like she was very disconnected. She didn't talk to me at all. I didn't feel comfortable and I couldn't believe that she did the test that quickly! It did bother me, but I DON'T want to be (I don't know) too worried and make a big deal out of something and have the doctors think that I'm bothering them or overly worried or bothersome. I don't want to be trouble to anyone. On the other hand, it is my body, and I have this bad feeling...

Thank you both so much for your support and input. I appreciate it more than I can express.

Flower 

LRM216

Can you request a breast MRI.  That should pick up what a mammo or US can't.  Best of luck to you, I hope it is nothing at all.

Linda

flower123

Hi again Linda. About a year ago, I went to the Gyn. He said that I need to tell my BS that I want a breast MRI. He said that I should be getting them because of my history/age. I told her and she said that I don't need to get them. 

What does a breast MRI show? Does it hurt to get one?

 Thanks,

Flower 

cbm

Flower123, it was because of a patient and experienced ultrasound tech that my lump was detected.  We could all see an unusual lymph node, but nothing was showing up on my breast.  She started at the lymph node and then edged very slowly while apologizing for pushing so hard.  Finally--more than twenty minutes later, she exclaimed, "There!" When she showed me the area I could detect nothing.  She said "It looks a lot like normal breast tissue, but there is something different about the architecture." It was a 1.6 cm lesion--the only one--made up of DCIS, IDC, and ILC, and hidden inside a fibroadenoma.  That is, the fibroadenoma encased it, making it almost invisible to the ultrasound.

My mom had breast cancer at 43 and died at age 60 from bone mets (this was in the 80's before current therapies were available; she never had chemo) and my brother and sister have had other kinds of cancer.  Nonetheless, my two youngest sisters have been denied access to mri and are regularly sent away from their annual screening after being told they are fine.  It makes me crazy.

I tell them both to change docs.  They tell me they like their docs.  I liked my gynecologist, too, but she missed a lymph node the size of a truck and never referred me for advanced screening despite my aging, exposure to DES, and family history.  The last few years before diagnosis, I had a funny feeling that I was being careless by not advancing a case, but we all like to be told we're fine, and I was no different.

There are different kinds of mri procedures, some that involve the injection of contrast, and some that simply use magnetic resonance to develop an image of the architecture of one's breast.  They involve laying still and entering a long channel. The resonator makes loud banging noises, but the procedure is not invasive unless they use contrast dye, which I think is for diagnostic procedures, different from screening.  (My other sister is screened with the contrast, because she has had cancer. Different centers do different things.)

If I were you I would get the most tests that I could, knowing what I know now.  Early detection is worth the extra stress, inconvenience, and the sometimes difficult self-advocacy.

It is only my opinion, but I might find a way to have that ultrasound repeated, just to be thorough. 

Warmest, 

Cathy 

flower123

Thank you so much.

Cathy, the doctor's office called today (not the doctor but the secretary) and said that the ultrasound is fine. I could tell she was in a rush and I left it at that. Thank you so much for sharing everything. I thought that a thirty second ultrasound was too fast. My doctor's appointments are literally I'd say two minutes. Maybe three, I don't know, but very fast. Well, my gyno. last year said that I should get breast MRIs, so what I did was I made an appointment with him for the middle of June to ask him about it and to ask him to check the lump. I will tell him that she said that I don't need MRIs and see what he says.

I am annoyed right now with my doctor. She never explains ANYTHING to me. The only thing that she told me about the atypia was that I'm high risk. It seems like she always has more important things to do.

Do you think that it's good that I made another appt. with the Gyn.? Will my breast specialist get mad if she finds out. I just have a funny feeling about this lump and I don't know why, but I do.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support. It means so much to me.

Flower 

cbm

Hi, Flower.  I think that the gynecologist has been your advocate, so I definitely would do what you did--make another appointment.  I would, in the meantime, write, call, or fax a written request to the other doctor(s) for copies of my records and reports.  Read through them, Google what you don't understand and pay attention to things you see in the articles and abstracts like risk statistics, likelihood of developing invasive or noninvasive breast cancer, and things like that.  You won't grasp it all, but you will get a sense of why this is all important and why it is wrong, very wrong, that you are being treated the way you are being treated.

Tell your gynecologist that you would like a referral to a different breast specialist in a different practice, would he like to make that referral?  Don't equivocate, tell him that you are not being treated properly in your current breast specialist's practice.  A 30 second ultrasound is not worth the trouble.  A two minute exam is insulting.  (He can order the mri, by the way).  Be insistent, but know that you probably don't need the referral anyway, you can call and make an appointment with someone else without his permission.

The fact is that if you have certain kinds of atypia, you are at an elevated risk of developing IDC or DCIS sometime in your life.  Not right away, necessarily, and maybe not at your young age.  But you are at risk.  You deserve to be heard each and every time that something doesn't feel, seem, or sound right.  Sometimes it's only our intuition that is the clue.  

The women in my family tend to worry that someone--doctor or whomever--is going to get mad at them.  Please don't think that way.  My mother went to complete idiots for her medical care because she didn't want to hurt their feelings.  You do not have to discuss this with the doctor herself, anyway.  You are entitled to second, third, and maybe fourth opinions on all of this.  All you want are copies of your records.  

If you read my other posts, you know that I am not in the habit of telling others what to do; I try really hard to limit my remarks to my own experiences and to carefully offered alternative points of view.  But you asked me what I think, so this is it.  I think you've been treated wrong, and you should have a repeat ultrasound, an mri, and a chance to have a frank and thorough discussion with a more accessible doctor.  Not because I think your lump is a "something"; no one knows that, but because at this rate you won't find out.

I'll never forget the ultrasound tech who took so much time and gave me so much compassionate attention.  I wrote her a thank you note because I think she might have saved my life. 

Please keep me posted, and follow your instincts and your heart.

Cathy 

Cowgirl13

Flower, Cathy gave you excellent advise.  You can turn to this board for help for each step of the way.  People are so helpful and kind--do get another referral to a different breast surgeon.  For today, make that call to your gyn so she can refer you to a BS.  Please check in with us every step of the way so we can cheer you on and offer support.  You are not alone in this.

Lizzie 

nursecal

When I was having my US they at first could not find where they should be looking as well.  I told them my daughter had had a dream that it was all a mistake, so maybe that was what was happening.  I had two spots, neither of which could be palpated, so I did not find it on examination.  Had mammograms since I was 35, diagnosed at 52, when the radiologist finally questioned one of the spots.  They finally found where they needed to be and it was positive.  14/32 nodes...going on 6 years survival.  I guess what I am trying to say is go with your gut......don't hesitate to question anything you don't understand or feel comfortable with.  That is your right as a patient, woman, human being.  And, that is the only way you can be confident that you are getting the answers you need.  Being positive is a great way to handle it as well.  I know that can be difficult but I believe that has gotten me to where I am today.  Best of luck and God Bless.

flower123

Thank you so much. I definitely feel a lump. I do get scared of doctors. I made an appointment with my gyn in two and a half weeks because I have only been to him once and they squeezed me in. I was really upset when I left the imaging center because it really was about thirty seconds. The best that I can do right now is wait I guess to see the gyn. He is really nice. I do think that I should switch doctors. I will ask him to recommend someone. The thing is that I know that it's a lump and I really do feel like they just dismissed it as being nothing. I hope that it's nothing,but if I don't do anything I will just think about it. 

Can someone tell me what I should say to my gyn? I am thinking that I'll bring my films and tell him that I feel a lump. I'll ask him to feel it . I don't know how to tell him that I am not comfortable with my BS. I don't want to bad-mouth her though, but I don't know...

Thank you so much! This is very stressful. 

cbm

Hi Flower; try this,

"Dr., I'd like to ask you for a referral to a different breast specialist in another practice from the one that I've been going to.  I know that I'm high risk and as a careful patient, I'd like to have a careful doctor.  I don't feel comfortable at Dr. So and so's practice, and I don't think they are comfortable with me as a patient, for some reason.  I wonder if you could recommend someone who would take the time to explain my condition to me and tell me how we are going to manage it together in the coming years.  I also want to know if my last ultrasound can be repeated, since the one I was given lasted no longer than one minute.  I know from my research that that is not the way these things are normally done.  I believe I should have the mri you recommended; can you authorize that or would you prefer that I seek authorization from my new doctor?  If you could expedite an appointment that would be great."

You don't need to bad mouth anyone.  Sometimes the doctor patient relationship just doesn't work out.  No one needs to apologize; it isn't like that.  If you aren't comfortable, you just aren't. If he asks, just say that it isn't working for you, and don't say anything else.  This is new to you, but not to them; it just happens sometimes.  

It will be fine; don't worry about it.  I'd definitely ask him to check the lump and arrange for further testing.  

 Warmest,

Cathy 

eightblueeyes

I would see a surgeon.  My surgeon told me to come in no matter what the ultrasound declared and he was right...ultrasound showed nothing when I did have cancer...

flower123

Thank you again. I'm going to call my gyn again today to see if they have an earlier appt. My breast specialist is a surgeon. I'm going to take all of the advice that everyone has given me. 

Thanks,

Flower 

Anonymous

Flower123, my situation is very similar to yours. I had an ultrasound for a breast lump last week. My test took all of 30 seconds too and I was told it came out normal. My internist is not comfortable with the location and feel of the lump, and is sending me to a breast specialist.

 I picked up my films and reports to bring to the specialist. I was shocked at something in the report. The radiologist stated that no marker was placed because "the patient was unable to locate the lump." Patently false! I can find it every single time. I showed it to the technician. She said OK, but when she did the test, she barely went over that area. Because it was so fast, I asked her if the ultrasound could really spot it (it's close to the chest wall, but she didn't really go directly over it) and she told me yes. 

 So somebody made a mistake by not using a marker and lied about the reason why. I'm so glad I read my report; otherwise, I'd never have known. I have an appt. next week with a breast specialist. Thank goodness my doctor is being very insistent; at least I don't have to fight her to pursue it.