Diagnosed with ADH in my other breast too

LET1968

Thank you ladies for the advice! You are absolutely right! I know I need to be persistent! I'm just so frustrated with the office personnel! Every interaction with them has been stressful & frustrating! I loved my surgeon but she really needs more competent staff! As always thank you for encouragement!

LET1968

Thank you ladies for the advice! You are absolutely right! I know I need to be persistent! I'm just so frustrated with the office personnel! Every interaction with them has been stressful & frustrating! I loved my surgeon but she really needs more competent staff! As always thank you for the encouragement!

ballet12

About a second opinion on the pathology, are you able to go directly to the pathology department who read the slides?  Breast surgeons don't usually deal with this (that doesn't excuse them from not returning your calls).

About whether treatment would be different if DCIS vs. ADH, the answer is maybe.  If it were DCIS, they would give a "grade" to the cells, depending upon how aggressive the pathology is (how deviant the cells are from normal-looking cells).  The grades (as I'm sure you've seen from this website and elsewhere), are either 1, 2, 3, or low, intermediate, high grade. They don't "grade" the ADH cells (although they did label mine "severe" both times that I got the diagnosis, and the neighboring DCIS cells were "high grade").  If DCIS cells are "high-grade" you might need to have a radiology consult to rule-out the need for radiation.  You might also need an MRI, to see if DCIS also shows up in other places in the breast (it doesn't always show on mammos and sonos).  If something were found, that would necessitate another biopsy, possibly, or it would clarify your decision for a mastectomy.  If DCIS were found, the cells would also be tested for estrogen receptivity, and if positive, you would likely be presented with a decision about hormonal therapy (generally Tamoxifen). So, while the treatment, in the end, might be the same for the ADH and the DCIS, the decision tree for DCIS would be more complicated. 

LET1968

Thank you Ballet12 for all great info & advice.

ballet12

Let1968--You're welcome. That's why we're here.

Hope all is well (or relatively well), and you are getting the answers that you need on the pathology second opinion and brca testing.  This stuff can get overwhelming.