Mammogram missed it, gyno found it FORTUNATELY!

CarrieSt

I'm just wondering if anyone else had the same thing happen. I had a mammogram (I was getting them yearly) in July of 2018 and it was normal, and then in November of 2018 my gyno found the lump. It was 1.5 cm. I had the lumpectomy just two weeks after that. How did the mammogram miss that??? I read somewhere that it takes years for a lump to form. Is that not correct? Is it possible that it grew that aggressively? I didn't really get any good answers from any of my doctors. Now I'm fearful of the future...what if my future mammograms miss something? I'm just scared period about a recurrance of any cancer and doctors/radiologists not being able to find it. I don't want to live in fear, and I'm trying not to. I have handled everything well so far (surgery, radiaton, now I just started Tamoxifen). I wouldn't say I'm depressed, just sorta numb. To my family and friends and coworkers I act like nothing ever happened. I don't really have anyone I can talk to about my concerns. I'm just now reaching out to organizations like this one about my life with breast cancer. And my church and other people are praying for me...when do I tell them I'm ok and to take me off the prayer list?

DebAL

carrie, I never missed a mammogram and surgeon guessed lump had been there at least 3 years. Yes, sometimes lumps can advance rapidly but my understanding is that it takes awhile. You didnt mention dense breasts but that was what happened in my case. The lump was most likely there hiding behind fibrous dense breast tissue. If you have dense breasts ultrasound and MRI are other tools so please ask! I opted for the DMX because I didnt want the worry of it not being caught. It wasnt till after the final pathology from mastectomy that I found out each breast was 50% fibrous tissue. That's just too much for me.

We all go through the emotions you are experiencing to different degrees. I dont think worrying about recurrence ever goes away but with time it wont be in the forefront of your mind. Listen to your body, continue to do your exams, and ask about other screening tools. I get the numb feeling. Things happen so fast then all of a sudden it's like " I cant believe I'm going through this" When we are in the midst of surgery, radiation, or chemo we are in fight mode. Then we get through and just " take a pill" and the experience catches up to us. Totally normal and expected. You are not alone in this and you will find much support here!

Rah2464

CarrieSt I also had a tumor that was missed by mammography and ultrasound imaging due to the location (close to chest wall) and my extremely fibrous dense tiny breasts. MRI was the tool that finally provided the diagnosis. Like DebAl, I, too opted for a BMX because I was concerned if they didn't find it the first time, probably wouldn't find it again.

And I totally get the fear part. Cancer is a head game. Even though my prognosis is good and the statistics are encouraging, I still go there with every ache and pain. I second guess decisions I have made. Then I feel guilty for brooding on things too much. But I am getting a tiny bit better at releasing some of the fear. I hope you have someone you can speak to about how things feel. Or vent here because we all understand. And it truly is something you can't really process unless you are experiencing it yourself. Please let those wonderful people keep praying for you because healing your emotional health is just as important as healing your physical self.

mammalou

My breast turned red 2 weeks after a good mammo. I kept having good mammograms when the MRI found 3.6 cm IDC and 1.2 cm DCIS. bottom line... my breasts are extremely dense. Until recently, no one was even required to tell us this and even with all this breast cancer awareness, people believe that if they have a mammogram, they will be fine. Mammograms miss a lot of cancers and MRIs can miss them too. It is important to know this so that if you have other symptoms, you a diligent in checking them out. I even went to several doctors that told me if I had a good mammogram, my breast must be fine! These tools are great, but they are just screening tools that don’t work 100% or all people. I now receive yearly mammograms and a yearly MRI. Mammograms still see nothing, I’ve had 2 more lumps discoverd on MRI. The latest was atypical ductal hyperplasia in my healthy breast.

It is difficult living with fear and it’s difficult not to feel anxiety over cancer returning. I just work daily on trying to live in the present and enjoy life. I have to admit that even 8 years later,I think about cancer every day.

leftduetostupidmods

Dense breast tissue, mammogram 6 months prior to diagnosis was clear. So yes, it's possible. Diagnostic mammogram 6 months later found it, ultrasound right after didn't see a thing. The only 100% accurate thing is excision and pathology.

MBPooch

Mammogram and ultra sound both missed my DCIS. It was only after I was diagnosed with Pagets and had an MRI that my DCIS was diagnosed.

voraciousreader

you are going to find on this board MANY patients whose breast cancer was either missed by a population based screening mammogram, like myself, and instead was found on a diagnostic mammogram, there are numerous reasons why that may occur.

Dense Breasts

Anatomy

Poor quality imaging

Poor quality technician

Poor quality radiologist

An especially aggressive tumor that appears after a population based mammogram

Bottom line, we are all sold on the idea that mammography saves lives. It does. But diagnostic mammograms save more lives. We just have to understand that imaging, NO MATTER what kind, has its drawbacks. Sad but true.

We deserve a better type of screening, Hooefully soon, we will have liquid biopsies in use. That is, instead of having regular mammograms, we will have blood tests. Bsed on those blood tests, it will determine who will need imaging. That way, fewer people will be subjected to imaging and hopefully the imaging that will be necessary will do a better job at finding issues....

Until that day comes, we all have to be vigilent,

Hang in there. You are not alone, it has been 9 years since my diagnosis and I am still angry that my mucinous tumor was mistaken for years as a cyst

SimoneRC

voraciousreader is 100% on point! My 1.9 cm IDC tumordid not show on the 3D mammogram I had 6 months before diagnosis, nor the 3D mammogram I had day of ultrasound/biopsy that gave me my diagnosis. The second one was done at major university hospital/National Cancer Institute. So we can rule out bad equipment/technicians and blame my dense breast tissue.

Because of the dense breast tissue and gene mutation, I chose bilateral mastectomy. It is a very personal decision. Get as much education as you can, then follow your heart AND your brain. Good luck and please don't stress too much about the past. Guessing they will change your surveillance methods going forward to add ultrasound and/or MRI's instead of just mammograms.

Good luck with your journey. You will find a lot of support here!