Ultrasound results showed suspicious area

kiwi_rose

Hello everyone, I posted on the "worried but not diagnosed" topic before, but now have results.

I'm 31, live in New Zealand and have two young children. I had an ultrasound after having sharp pains in my breast and my doctor found a lump upon examination. I myself can actually feel multiple movable lumps in this breast, which is new, but apparently only one is of concern. Initially at my scan I was told I had multiple small cysts, nothing suspicious, and that the radiologist would review the images and decide whether these "cysts" needed to be biopsied. However, I received my report on the weekend in an email from my doctor saying one area/lump is suspicious and needs to be biopsied.

This is what my report states:

Dense breast parenchyma is seen. The painful lumpy area in the upper

outer quadrant is predominantly dense parenchyma. Deep within this in theone to 2 o'clock position, 5 cm from the nipple there is ani ill-definedflattened hypoechoic area measuring 1.4 x 0.8 x 0.3 cm ins size Minor lobulation and heterogeneity suggests a small area of fibrocystic change but this is difficult to establish due to thedense surrounding parenchyma and depth within the breast. No other abnormalityis seen.No axillary lymphadenopathy.

Ive seen others have a "BI-RADS" score stated, mine doesn't say this? Not sure why.

What concerns me even more than the lump is that since I saw my doctor I've developed aching in my shoulder and upper arm on the same side. I like to be informed so I have been doing some reading and found that it could be from bone Mets, which scares me.

Anyone else going through this or has already done so? What should I expect with the biopsy (needle guided by ultrasound). I read that with dense breasts they can be hard to do, and sometimes there are even false negatives? I'm also a little worried that since the sonographer didn't see this area of concern during the scan, how are they going to see it well enough to biopsy it?

Thanks for taking the time to read this

Salamandra

Hello,

I think the birads score also serves as a way to code for insurance to get insurance to pay for the biopsy. Since you are in New Zealand, maybe that doesn't apply?

Pain *could* be bone mets but that is definitely hearing hoofbeats and picturing zebras. This can be a very scary time, but please try not to borrow trouble. There's still a good chance you don't have any cancer at all. Here, the threshold for biopsy is a 3% chance of a malignant finding.

Hang in there!

LivinLife

Salamandra is correct about not getting too far ahead of yourself at this point - easier said than done. Hopefully you get the biopsy scheduled before long so you get results and get the worrying behind you.... (hopefully). If something cancerous or precancerous is revealed you will be able to walk through that. This site if full of people who have done so, many not know how they would do it though did it or are doing it nonetheless. Keep in mind about 80% of biopsies come back benign.... I hope that's true for you! Please let us know....

exbrnxgrl

Agree with previous comments. Although it seems to be human nature please don’t get so far ahead of what you know as the “what if’s” will drive you crazy, You do not even know if you have breast cancer! As far as bone mets go, only 6%, approximately, of those with an initial bc diagnosis have already metastasized. Please focus on what you know not on the most unlikely outcomes. Take care

kiwi_rose

Thank you all.

Yes, that could be why they don't do the BI-RADS here.

I'm really trying not to stress but it's so hard with this ache in my arm, it was quite sore last night and I didn't get much sleep. My aunt had early stage breast cancer a couple of years ago so I've messaged her asking about the biopsy procedure and everything. I'm not sure if she ever had genetic testing done or anything.

My biopsy is scheduled for a week from now, and then I think it will be a couple of weeks for results so it feels like a long wait.

exbrnxgrl

kiwi-rose,

Is it possible to see a general practitioner regarding your arm pain? As I mentioned, it is very unlikely to be bc mets, really, but a quick trip to your gp to uncover the source of the pain might be helpful. What I’m trying to say is simply have it looked at by itself, not in relation to breast cancer, as it’s likely something common and unrelated to bc (especially since you haven’t been diagnosed).

I visited New Zealand several years ago. You have a beautiful country filled with warm, friendly people. I got quite lost after visiting the museum in Auckland and couldn’t find the bus stop I needed. I walked into a shop to ask for directions and one of the clerks actually walked me to the correct bus stop! Take care.

kiwi_rose

Hi everyone, thought I'd update now that I finally have biopsy results.

The diagnosis is adenosis (increase in size and amount of lobules). So that's good news. I'm not sure if that's responsible for the shoulder and arm pain but I will mention it to my doctor next time I see her.

I appreciate all your support and hope you're all doing well today

Salamandra

Yay!!

Redcanoe

awesome!

LivinLife

Great news kiwi! Thanks so much for letting us knnow!