Off for second biopsies this morning - what a nightmare

Kerri_Oz

So I had a mammogram about 4 months ago and got recalled for another mammo with magnification because of an area of microcalcifications in my right breast (at about the 2 o'clock position). I went and had a stereotactic vacuum assisted core biopsy on the area that came back with ALH/LCIS, which prompted a recommendation for an ultrasound. I went and had an ultrasound on both breasts, which showed several simple cysts in both breast, plus a hpyoechoic mass in both breasts that the sonographer thought suspicious enough to recommend core biopsies. Today I am off to have ultrasound guided core biopsies done at the 11 o'clock position of my right breast and the 3 o'clock position of my left breast. I am freaking out about them because I found the last one quite traumatic, and the areas of concern are totally separate from the original problem of the microcalcs and LCIS. And then there could be even more tests, like excisional biopsies of all 3 areas (almost a certainty for the area where the LCIS is from what I've read), as well as possible biopsies of lymph nodes, because the ultrasound showed reactive nodes on both sides. This seems like a nightmare that is just never going to end I know I'm not to the point right now of waiting for results, but that is only a matter of hours, and I don't really fit into the not yet diagnosed category, because I've already got the ALH/LCIS dx.

MelissaDallas

Kerri, I'm sorry. If it is any consolation, my ultrasound guided biopsy was really easy. Nothing like the torture table core

Kerri_Oz

Thanks, Melissa. That is reassuring.

MelissaDallas

Something else - that time it was complex cyst vs. normal inframmary lymph node. It was not even mentioned a few months before but it had been on my imaging. I told my radiologist I would have been comfortable just rechecking in six months. She said she would have been too. Wish I'd known before I took off. Since I was already there we went ahead and of course it was just a cyst that collapsed. I won't just go ahead with a referral to biopsy again without asking more questions.

Kerri_Oz

Melissa - wow, that's not very good, is it, to have an unnecessary procedure It certainly pays to ask questions.

I survived my 2nd two biopsies. Like you said, the ultrasound guided ones were much quicker and easier than the mammo guided ones, but more painful. On both sides, the Dr doing them didn't use enough local and had to put more in. Either that or she didn't wait long enough for it to work. My stress and anxiety meant I cried like a baby all the way through, but at least I managed to lie still enough to get them done. The Dr commented that she thought they were just fibroadenomas, so I hope she is right. Now I just have to wait for the results. Mind you, with every test I've had so far, there has been more bad news. Then it will be a matter of waiting for the appointment with the surgeon to see what needs to be done with the ALH/LCIS, which I am fully expecting will involve and excisional biopsy.

MelissaDallas

It is not exactly that it is "unnecessary." It qualified for biopsy. it is just that there is a lot of room for interpretation and level of suspicion, and this apparently had a very low level of suspicion. There are a lot of people who "demand" biopsies for things for which they really aren't indicated, and I prefer to only have one if the radiologist clearly thinks it is warranted, and not just minimally..

Kerri_Oz

Just got my results back for the latest 2 biopsies. No clear evidence of malignancy, which is good news, although I would have preferred absolutely no evidence of malignancy rather than "no clear evidence". It suggests to me that there could still be malignancy that just didn't show up in these particular samples. The right breast has features that are suggestive of a small complex fibroadenoma with a differential diagnosis of fibroadenomatoid hyperplasia, so whilst the news is good in terms of no cancer right now, I've just got one more risk factor (albeit a slight one from what I can find about it) to add to all the others. I now have an appointment with the breast surgeon in a month to discuss the way forward.