Questions for Biopsy Results Appointment on 7/7

Mangosan99

Hi everyone,

I've posted on a few topics and scoured this site for information while waiting for my diagnostic process to unfold but now I need your added experience and wisdom as I prepare for my biopsy results.

My BS provides biopsy results by appointment only; I am scheduled to see her nurse practitioner on 7/7 (my BS is on vacation next week) for my biopsy results. I am preparing for either scenario--a positive or negative result.

What I know so far is that my diagnostic mammogram (following routine annual screening mammogram) was rated Birads 4b (10-50% chance) showing punctate, segmentally distributed calcifications along the duct (left breast) near nipple spanning a 3.1 x 2.2 x 2.4 cm. My mother had DCIS at 50 with a unilateral mastectomy and then stage IIB IDC at 68. I will be 52 this week.

Given this information, my BS has prepared me for the possibility of a positive biopsy but keeps restating that "we caught it early." I have felt an uneasy level of suspicion at every step along the way.

So, I have compiled a list of questions for either scenario. I know many people with a negative result leave these boards but I am hoping some may have experience from a history of benign results before malignancy.

If negative, I plan to ask the following, based on my family history/risk factors:

1) Should/can I have genetic testing? MRI?

2) What kind of follow-up do I need?

3) What are your thoughts/recommendations on proceeding with my elective augmentation revision (this planned cosmetic procedure was previously scheduled pending the results of my annual mammogram).

If positive, I plan to ask these questions, keeping in mind my BS said the next steps will be MRI and genetic testing which will have a bearing on her treatment recommendations:

1) What do we know about the cancer (type, grade (if DCIS) ER/PR status)? Can I get a copy of the pathology report?

2) Any indication of size?

3) Any treatment significance that we know now due to location?

4) Do you foresee any potential impact to treatment timeline given resurgence of COVID?

5) How do I/you schedule MRI/genetic testing, and what should I expect next?

Any suggestions to revise or add to these questions? What do you wish you had asked or known earlier in your treatment?

Thank you for bearing with my lengthy post! And, Happy 4th of July!

MelissaDallas

#1. Don’t ask for permission to get copies of your pathology reports, imaging or any other of your medical records. You absolutely have the right to copies. You may need to request copies from the facility that did the biopsy. From now on you will want to keep copies of all your records and imaging (images and reports)so that they will be available for comparison and future reference.

AliceBastable

If the results are positive, your questions are the information you should be getting automatically at this appointment. If they don't tell you any of that, not only ask the question, but ask why they didn't tell you. Depending on how you feel about the response, you can decide if you want a second opinion or even a complete change of doctors. And your biopsy results should be on your patient portal, although some offices wait to post results until after discussing them with the patient.

Mangosan99

MelissaDallas/AliceBastable, thank you for pointing out my "rights." I feel good so far about this surgeon and my mom has had a good experience with her NP so I am hoping they don't disappointment me at this stage. I have a lot of options for second opinions (I'm in Atlanta), so I will not hesitate if things do not seem straightforward. I just don't know what will happen to my brain when I get the results and want to leave that appointment with the answers to the right questions.

MelissaDallas

If I had any auestion about care I would go to Emory