Young, Nervous, and Looking for Support

ElleElleBee

I am 32 years old, a non-smoker, breastfed my three kids. About a month ago, I felt a lump in my armpit. It took me two weeks to call the doctor (because I had had strep throat and thought naively that it could be swollen from that) and it took them another two weeks for them to see me. This past Monday (6/19/17), I saw my general practitioner and she instantly called in backup. The two of them were both very concerned. She then also found some concerning spots in my lower left breast. She scheduled blood work, a chest xray, a mammogram, and ultrasound. I had the blood work and chest xray that came back completely normal. Yesterday (6/22/17) I had the mammogram and ultrasound. Below are the results:

At the 8 to 9:00 position at mid to posterior depth, there is a large grouping of pleomorphiccalcifications. This area corresponds to the provider reported palpable abnormality. The area of the suspicious calcifications span a distance of 5 x 5.3 x 3.5 cm (AP, transverse, CC). As this area was also reported to be palpable by the provider, ultrasound will be performed in the left axilla and at the 8 to 9:00 position.

In the left axilla 12 cm from the nipple corresponding to the patient reported palpable abnormality,
there is an enlarged, markedly abnormal appearing axillary lymph node with a loss of fatty hilum.
There is minimal central vascularity remaining. The lymph node measures 3.8 x 2.3 x 1.9 cm.

At the 8 to 9:00 position 4 cm from the nipple, corresponding to the provider reported palpable
finding, there is a heterogeneous hypoechoic mass with peripheral vascularity. Numerous echogenic
foci are identified within the mass. This mass likely corresponds to the suspicious grouping of
calcifications on mammography. The extent of calcifications on mammography is larger than the
measured mass on ultrasound.
ASSESSMENT: Highly suggestive of malignancy BI-RADS 5 (OVERALL)
Mammo Diagnostic Bilateral: Highly suggestive of malignancy BI-RADS 5 - Left.
Mammo Diagnostic Bilateral: Negative BI-RADS 1 - Right.
US Breast Unilateral Limited - Left: Highly suggestive of malignancy BI-RADS 5.

My biopsies are scheduled for this upcoming Wednesday (6/28/17) which feels like forever away. I just need to talk to real people. Obviously the internet is full of terribly foreboding information. All of the above information looks really terrible. I have a regular annual checkup and my last one was only a few months ago and nothing abnormal was found during that exam, though because I'm 32 with nearly no risk factors, I'm afraid a thorough examination wasn't done.

Any words of support are appreciated!

MelissaDallas

ElleElleBee, I'm so sorry you find yourself here.

It appears to me that a very complete and thorough workup was done.

With a Bi-Rad's 5, the appearance of the lymph node on imaging, and the descriptions above, while you can hope to be in the 5% of women with Bi-Rad's 5s who are not diagnosed with cancer, the reality is that 95% of women with a Bi-Rad's 5 ARE diagnosed with cancer and you should be preparing yourself for that diagnosis.

Here is a link to a "Just Diagnosed" thread that may be helpful while you wait.

Big hugs to you.

ElleElleBee

Thank you, Melissa. I am definitely a realistic person and I understand that the diagnosis is looming.

It'd be great to know if anyone else has had anything similar happen to them and what the course of action was after diagnosis.

MinusTwo

Elle - at this point there are too many variables to predict your treatment. It will depend on your stage & grade and lymph nodes, in addition to your hormone status and HER2 testing. IF you go to 'all topics' on the left, you'll see thread for the newly diagnosed this may help you start lists of questions. Good luck