Test Results Are In!

Kcraft

Radial Scar/Complex Sclerosing Lesion with Atypia. 

That means no cancer but not benign. It means it could turn cancerous and therefore, must be removed. I'm awaiting the call from the BS to set up a consultation and see about getting this thing removed. 

While I'm nervous about surgery, I'm EXTREMELY thankful!

sarahjane7374

PHEW.  Thank goodness! 

Surgery can be scary, but you'll feel so much better when it's gone!!

Moderators

Kcraft, we're so pleased for you! Let everyone know how your consult with the BS goes - you'll find lots of support here for any questions/worries about surgery.

• The Mods

teaspoon

Hi Kcraft, Just wanted to chime in that my recent biopsy of clustered micro calcifications also had an incidental finding of a radial scar.  I am scheduled for wire-guided open excision of the radial scar on 3/31.   Like you, I will feel much better to have it OUT.  Keep us posted on your surgery date.  Hoping the best for you!

Renee51

Just seeing what you all have posted, I wonder if "most" cluster micro calcifications are not malignant? I am scheduled to see the surgeon on friday. I guess biopsy will be the following week. 

leaf

Here's the best website for calcifications I've seen (courtesy of momzr).

http://www.radiologyassistant.nl/en/p4793bfde0ed53/breast-calcifications-differential-diagnosis.html

Kcraft

teaspoonofsugar, I hope your procedure goes well. All in all, I'm happy with the news. Hoping to meet with the BS soon to get this thing out!

And thank you to everyone for your support. I'll keep you posted.

Petitegal127

Kcraft,  I am in the same boat.  I am having my atypical area removed tomorrow.  I feel the same get it out now!  I am nervous but happy it was caught early.  Good luck to you  and teaspoonofsugar when you have your surgery as well!  We are lucky gals.

teaspoon

Petitegal127, Hope all goes well with your procedure today!  Keep us posted.

Petitegal127

Surgery went well and fingers crossed the lab results are good next week.

Anyone have a breast band put on after lumpectomy?  This thing is killing me, pushing on my ribs and back.  My breast doesn't hurt just this thing.  Told to remove it friday.  I just can't sleep or move with it.  So I am calling doctor to see if I can remove it now.  I moved the Velcro over a few inches, so a little better.

teaspoon

Congrats that surgery went well.  Sorry, no experience with the breast band - perhaps by now you got the go-ahead from your doctor to remove it!

Anonymous

petitegal---I had a snug chest binder (sounds similar to a breast band) that I had to keep on for 2 days.  It got really itchy, but I didn't have any swelling or discoloration as the compression from the binder prevented it. It felt so good to finally take a shower and get that thing off! the steri strips will come off by themselves after about a week, don't pull them off yourself.

Anne

teaspoon

Kcraft, Thinking of you.  Any news?  I had surgery yesterday to remove the radial scar - all went well, will get results next week.  Hoping all is well with you and that you are moving forward as you'd hoped.

Petitegal127, hoping you're continuing to heal from your surgery and that you hear good news from your path results this week.  

Tomboy

i am wondering why teaspoon is on a breast cancer sight when she does not have breast cancer?

Tomboy

Cancer= malignant. Benign= not cancer. that means, it is malignant or benign. cancer, or not cancer.

teaspoon

Hi Kathec,  To answer your question directly since I happen to be online right now, I'm just wanting to support others going through the same waiting and wondering I went through.  I feel like I made friends here who were helpful to me and I thought as such I was part of a community   I didn't know that a breast cancer diagnosis was necessary to participate here, or once BC was ruled out (is it ever completely ruled out?), we had to leave or stop caring!    I have not stopped caring.

Tomboy

Well, it is actually a breast cancer sight. There are a lot of us women on here, who DO wonder why women stay, when they are not diagnosed. The fear of a potential diagnosis is nothing compared to the reality, and something that you would never understand unless you have cancer! I am not a breast cancer snob, at all, and do understand that you have come to care for women on these boards, but really. it is a breast cancer board. And yes, breast cancer IS ruled out. Other wise, every single woman woud have it, and they don't.

Tomboy

and if you do read the community rules, which i wish you would, it is the number one rule. if you are waiting for tests, yes it is good to read here to learn about tests and everything. and THEN to join, if you are indeed diagnosed. and if you are the care person for someone close to you, who HAS been diagnosed, then you are welcome. But if you came here, and "made friends" with women who ARE diagnosed, then wouldn't that make you a cancer "groupie"? kinda creepy, in my humble opinion, and does make me feel a bit spied upon.

WolfsLady

kathec -  While I understand that this is a breast cancer site they do have this section called "Not Diagnosed but Concerned" where it seemed like women who are "High Risk" or "Waiting for Tests" were welcome.  But a few women on here seem to take offence to anyone who doesn't get a cancer Dx not moving on.  The fact is that some of us who didn't get a Dx right now will in the future.  It is naive to believe that it is always so cut and dried as:  "Cancer= malignant. Benign= not cancer. that means, it is malignant or benign. cancer, or not cancer." Because there are so many things that are not quite cancer, but they are not totally benign either.  And many that are controversial as to exactly how much they raise your risk or when and why they are higher risk.  I know that you are aware that there are women who have a benign biopsy result who go away and later discover that the biopsy missed the cancer or that their lesion changed.  Others who will discover it in a totally different area of the breast.  So I understand what teaspoon meant.  Can we ever really be sure that we are cancer free?  No we can only be sure after an excision that the area removed was.  No we can't imagine what it's like.  And I don't believe that any of us want to know.  But it doesn't stop us from worrying and it doesn't mean we are some type of ghoulish groupies.  I stay over here and try to give some comfort and advice to others who are in limbo, because I know what it's like and I can answer from another point of view.  I say a prayer for those who are battling or getting ready to battle.  But I don't follow them around to other boards if they move there.  I feel that I have something to offer women who come here worried and frightened.  And they, we, need a place to go.  I've actually searched for a non breast cancer related site that has a place that has support for those of us with benign or atypical breast conditions and I've had no luck finding one.  So I came here.  Like many other women.  And yes I read the "rules" but I assumed that since they had this section that they meant it for women like me and that rule #1 was really meant for all the other boards.  I certainly don't want to make anyone uncomfortable.  But I really feel like there is a strong need for this section.  I would totally support you posting this on threads in any other section, but here you seem to be saying that none of us who haven't been Dx'd should come here at all.  If so why do they have these boards that seem to invite us?  And if it bothers some of you so much why not just avoid this section?  I really am not trying to be rude.  Just trying to understand the paradox.  -  

sarahjane7374

Thank you wolfslady. You took the words right out of my mouth and said it better than I could have.   Teaspoon you help people here and I hope you continue to do so. 

Tomboy

The not diagnosed but worried section is quite rightly where you belong, if you read the sub heading. i really dont want to offend any one, but how many of you post on other threads, and read women who have been diagnosed? be honest now. it is easy to see who hasposted on other threads, but not who is lurking. an education about benign breast conditions is a good thing, as is an education about breast cancer. the thing is, once you are diagnosed, at some point you have to believe what the imaging says, and the docs, especially when you already have been treated for bc. it can drive you round the bend mentally, a little, even more so than you guys who have been diagnosed with other breast conditions. our lives are real, and it is not something you want to have. many of us would gladly give up testing, and personally, i hate hate hate biopsies. as a matter of fact, next time they find something suspicious and want to biopsy, i will tell them, no, thanks anyway. lets just watch it eh/ and try to live my life as best i can. i am a smoker, (light) but i havent joined a lung cancer site, even tho imaging said i have nodules, and i am certainly not going to ask for invasive procedures, and then not trust the results. its ok  to give support to others like yourselves,but please do not go on other threads, and "give support' to other women who do have cancer, especially when you dont have your info on the bottom. and like you said, Wolf's lady, the operative word is "some'. Test results are in, is not for the women who are just worried. only threads for the not diagnosed but worried. and us women who are diagnosed, have almost an obligation to visit those threads, to give support to you, if we are so inclined. not very many do, it is sad to say. gotta go now, i will come back later. Yard Sale!(edited to say that sometime last month, the subheading of this changed. it WAS for women whose test result's are in, and it wasn't cancer, it was something else. that is all i was saying, and some of these women WERE on other threads, without revealing that they did NOT have cancer. sorry, i am gone, and i will leave you to it. good luck to all, and hope you never ever do have cancer, of any kind. peace.)

Tomboy

and sarah jane, you had a lumpectomy, but no dx? it is misleading, unless i go back and read all your posts. and a good treatment center does not do excisions, only biopsies.

Tomboy

first, i should say.

sarahjane7374

You only know what people choose to share. Yes I had a lumpectomy but no dx. Yes I had mx with no dx. And both at a very reputable hospital after more imaging and biopsies than I care to remember. It's not possible to display one's entire medical history in a signature line but thanks so much for being concerned.   I am still trying to figure out why this bothers you so much. 

sarahjane7374

and if you look at my posts you'll see the vast majority are within the not diagnosed section. I wouldn't even think to " advise" someone with a diagnosis - doctors do that. This site, in my opinion, is a place to share experiences and give and get support. Sometimes that's easier among strangers. Sometimes not. But take what you like and leave the rest.  There's no need to make people feel like they're trespassing.  

Beesie

Most doctors and facilities prefer to use the term "excisional biopsy" or "surgical biopsy" when the purpose of the surgery is to remove a mass that is thought to be benign, or when the surgery is being done to remove a mass after a needle biopsy has uncovered a high risk condition such as ADH or ALH.  

Unfortunately, since an excisional / surgical biopsy is similar to a lumpectomy (although usually margins aren't a concern), for ease of management some facilities choose to use the term "lumpectomy" for both surgeries.  

Here is how Johns Hopkins presents it.  I wish that this was the rule across the board at all facilities: "Excisional biopsy and lumpectomy should not be confused with one
another. Lumpectomy is performed when there is a known diagnosis of
breast cancer and the mission is to remove all of the cancer with a
health margin of tissue around the tumor. An excisional biopsy is not
a surgical treatment, it is diagnostic." Breast Biopsy

When the term "lumpectomy" is used in place of "excisional biospy" on
this board, it tends to be confusing and possibly misleading. Since this is a
breast cancer website, and since lumpectomies are usually done after a
diagnosis of breast cancer, the assumption most people make when they
see that someone has had a lumpectomy is that this individual has been
diagnosed with breast cancer.

Personally, I've had 3 excisional (surgical) biopsies, one of which resulted in a diagnosis of breast cancer (ADH had been found in my earlier needle biopsy).  I then had a mastectomy.  I have never had a lumpectomy, either to my way of thinking or in how any of my doctors or hospitals have discussed or recorded my surgeries.

MelissaDallas

And quite a few women on the boards insist on listing "lumpectomies" in their posts and signature lines, even after having been advised that, more properly, they have had excisional biopsies. I believe "lumpectomy" is only correct in these situations as an insurance term. Not an oncological one. Properly, you only had a lumpectomy if you have confirmed cancer and the goal is clear surgical margins.

MelissaDallas

If I wanted my signature to appear "more serious" I could say I had a partial mastectomy. In truth, they cut out a hunk to make sure I had nothing worse than LCIS.

sarahjane7374

I'll be sure to let my surgeon know he used incorrect terminology. I had no diagnosis prior, but did have multiple masses removed that day, most of which had not yet been biopsied. Due to discordant results between pathology and imaging, excision with margins was recommended and described to be as partial mastectomy or lumpectomy. My bad. Sorry to have misrepresented myself.  Did I really have a bilateral mastectomy or was I misinformed on that also?

I think we are all just trying to help others here right?  Why the hostility?

wrenn

When I wanted information for a suspicious mass in my thyroid I went to the thyroid cancer site and made some good friends there (thyroid testing is very slow). As soon as I had my pathology from my hemi thyroidectomy (benign) I wished the women there well and left. I felt I had no place in a forum with women dealing with cancer. 

wrenn

I was also part of a bereavement group for parents who had lost children. There was a woman attending who accompanied her brother whose son had died and she kept giving advise on how we should cope. Her presence was resented.