ADH with calcifications....adjacent to a fibroadenoma

sunflower_20

Hi All,

I am a 29 y.o. female. Here is some background regarding my ADH diagnosis:

1.Aug 9^th: Went to my OBGYN to get a lump checked on my right breast. She said most likely it's a fibroadenoma, but let's get an US.

2.Aug 14^th: Had an US of the right breast. The radiologist said it's probably a fibroadenoma but he also saw some abnormality around it. The report came as BIRADS 4a and was told to get a vaccuum assisted needle biopsy.

3.Aug 21^st: Had the core biopsy and the path report came as: "Focal atypical ductal hyperplasia adjacent to a fibroadenoma" and they categorized it as BIRADS 4 – suspicious.

I cried a lot after this diagnosis especially coz I have never had any disease before. Anyways, my gynac referred me to a general/breast surgeon that she is probably friends with and they are affiliated with the same hospital, let's call it hospital 'A'. My gynac told me this surgeon is highly skilled.

Aug 27^th: I met with the breast surgeon who took time to answer all of my questions and seemed really nice. She suggested getting an excisional biopsy which seems to be the standard of care (Not sure why her assistant calls it "lumpectomy"?). She also said she will decide at the time of surgery if she needs to put "Biozorb" in my breast, especially coz I have small breasts. My surgery is scheduled for Sept 20^th.

Meanwhile, before getting excisional biopsy, I got my slides reviewed by one of the best breast pathologists at Brigham's/Dana Farber, and the path report came back exactly as follows-

"Atypical ductal hyperplasia with associated calcifications. See note".

Fibroadenoma.

Perilobular hemangiomas

Note- The atypical ductal hyperplasia is present in breast tissue adjacent to the fibroadenoma.

So...I am not sure if calcifications always imply cancer in such a situation (fibraoadenoma, ADH)...?

My surgery is scheduled for the 20^th and as I said above, the surgeon seemed nice but she is mostly a general surgeon (has done some breast surgeries too, I think) and the hospital A has really bad reviews (their ER dept especially). I am afraid if her staff is skilled to do what needs to be done (proper anesthesia, etc.). Meanwhile, I found another breast surgical oncologist with great reviews who I can see on Sept 26^th at the earliest. This would mean surgery will be postponed as I am not sure when she is available to do the excisional biopsy on me. At the same time, I am afraid that my lump would grow fast and cause high-grade cancer. Is waiting for another 3-4 weeks for surgery worth it? Please note the first time I found this lump was a few months ago, around Dec 2017.

I have been following your forum ever since I was diagnosed with ADH, and I have lost my sleep over this. Any help/input/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Also, my apologies for the long post. Thank you for letting me share my story.

Moderators

Hi Sunflower-

We want to welcome you to our community, although we're so sorry for what brings you here! Generally speaking, most people who've been diagnosed with cancer will wait several weeks until they begin treatment (it takes some time to get all the test results back and formulate a treatment plan). Waiting 3-4 weeks won't change much, but it seems like you'd definitely be more comfortable with the other surgeon. Being comfortable with your doctors is so important, so we would suggest calling and asking the potential surgeon their thoughts on putting off your biopsy.

Please keep us posted and let us know what you plan to do!

The Mods