Went in for L breast came out thinking R breast DCIS

tonyap

2 weeks ago my left breast got inflammed hot and very swollen. Went on meds helped some. Went to BS said he thought I had an abcsess and wanted me to have mammo and ultrasound. Just got back. When the tech came back in the room and said the doctor wants more images of the R side I knew something was up. They took several more images then off for ultrasound. She said before you leave the Doctor over radiology wants to talk with you. He told me my left breast still showed a lot of inflammation and a suspicious area but he didnt see an abcsess so he wanted me to hold off a month try another round of antibiotics then have another ultrasound. He said now your right breast shows calcifications 3 areas I believe that I think are cancerous. Oh my what a shock. He said he thought I needed to have biopsy to confirm. He said they was very small and that we caught them early. By this time I was numb. I thought I was just having tests to pin point the exact location of the abcsess on my left breast. He mentions something about a machine where I lay down and my breast goes through a whole and needles go in to biopsy. He said the worse part is laying for so long. I can not remember now the name for the test. Can anyone help me out? Also if it is very small and caught early what do they normaly do to treat?

shells43

Hi Tonya,

It's an MRI guided biopsy. The worst part is laying there for 30 minutes absolutely still.Treatment could be a lumpectomy + radiation unless it really is multifocal. I wouldn't try to guess what your treatment would be, but if you are under care of a BS already he/she will advise you as to what they think would be best for both the biopsy and any treatment. Hopefully it is benign. It is a good time to do research now while you are waiting to find things out.

myesan22

Could be a stereotactic biopsy (I had two, both malignant). Hopefully it will be benign but get it done. The sooner the better...

IronJawedBCAngel

Was it a stereotactic biopsy, or perhaps an MRI guided biopsy?  With either one, you lay face down with your breasts hanging down through two holes. If he didn't say anything about it being noisy, he is probably talking about the stereotactic.  Make sure they numb you well to reduce pain and swelling afterwards.  I bought a front close sports bra at the recommendation of one of my Komen friends, and that worked extremely well for me.  Compression and ice packs were my friend after the procedure.  I was back to normal activity the following day, just took advil when I got home.  Of the two, I preferred the MRI guided, but only because I was educated enough four years after the first biopsy to know what to ask for.

Mine was very small, early DCIS, but Grade 3.  I had a lumpectomy, 32 radiation treatments, and finished up my five years of tamoxifen in July.  Many ladies here do not do the radiation or the tamoxifen, but at this point you do not have enough information to know what you are dealing with.  The biopsy will provide a preliminary pathology report which may include hormone status if you do have cancer.  After the biopsy, in my case two weeks later, they went back in to perform the lumpectomy, which gave us another pathology report.  In my case I was fortunate enough to have had all of the cancer removed in the biopsy and my pathology from the lumpectomy was clear. I know all of this is scary and pretty overwhelming, but believe that you will be ok.  You will be in my thoughts and prayers for benign results.

Letlet

Tonya, I can't imagine your shock as that happened. I know that waiting is really hard but they should have their results in 2-3 days. If it is DCIS usually there is no chemo involved. If it turns out to be invasive, I believe chemo is an option if it is really small. But again it could be many things that are not cancer.

prektchr

Tonyap....Hang in there girl.I know it is difficult.Wishing you the best.

blondee327texas

HI Tonya P. 

Sorry to hear about your experience.  I had a Stereotactic Biopsy on December 7th.  Mine was DCIS, Calcs.  The procedure was not bad, they numb the skin and also put numbing meds inside during the procedure.  I watched on the screen.  Medicine facinates me.  They took out 38 calcifications.  Looked kinda like a constellation.  I called it the belt of O'Harry.  I also had a lumpectomy on December 22.  I haven't decided on radiation yet. I go to the oncologist tomorrow.  Do as much research as you can.  This site is WONDERFUL.  Everyone on here is so knowledgeable.  I have learned tons in the last 3 days.  Wish I had found them sooner. 

I will add you to my prayer list.

Hugs,

Deidre'