Nipple discharge, ductogram, next, MRI...

Options
LeahinTexas
LeahinTexas Member Posts: 57
edited October 2018 in Waiting for Test Results

A couple of weeks ago I had spontaneous discharge from breast that was very dark. I went to ob-gyn, who then sent me for a mammogram. After the mammogram, they did an ultrasound. Apparently, didn't see anything definitive. Next step, schedule a ductogram. 

In the meantime, hear from ob-gyn that the discharge that was tested was clear (or something, I wish I had noted exactly what was said). "But I still need the ductogram, just to be sure?"  "Yes."

Today I had the ductogram and an ultrasound. Again, she couldn't find anything definitive. Next step is an MRI. I'll be called in a day or two to be scheduled for that.

Radiologist also asked if I had been referred to a surgeon. 

From reading info on the web and here, it looks like they will remove the duct. So why the MRI? Is that because the duct spreads out through the breast (like a tree) and they only want to remove the suspicious area?

Is removing the duct a biopsy or another kind of surgery? How involved is that?  How soon would they want to do that?

The radiologist also said she did not like the discharge. Each time I saw someone, they were able to get the discharge easily and with gentle pressure. The amount of discharge today during the ductogram seemed to be a lot. The tech mentioned that the imaging fluid is clear. I was leaking this dark liquid. It probably wasn't really that much, but it seemed like a lot. 

From what I have read, chances are it is benign. Less than 10% are cancer. Right?

Just wondering if anyone had a similar experience.

I'm not really scared since nothing much is showing up on the mammogram, ultrasound or ductogram. 

Thanks,

Leah

 

· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
«1

Comments

  • LeahinTexas
    LeahinTexas Member Posts: 57
    edited October 2010

    I don't mean to imply that I am not concerned, but I am not feeling terrified. Partly because I am so busy with my family that I don't have a lot of time to dwell on this.

    I can't find much information about what the surgery is like to remove the duct. 

    And I guess after the removal would be the determination of benign or cancer? 

    So many of the posts have to do with lumps. Didn't see any that started with breast discharge.

    BTW, I am 55 years old. Not menopausal yet, but working on it. 

     Any comments would be appreciated!

    Thanks,

    Leah

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Leah_S
    Leah_S Member Posts: 8,458
    edited October 2010

    Leah, do you know if a sample of the discharge was sent to a lab for analysis? I don't know anything about a duct excision but it would almost certainly be analyzed so, yes, that would be a "biopsy".

    Best of luck.

    the other Leah

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • twirlandcurl
    twirlandcurl Member Posts: 102
    edited October 2010

    I had a dark greenish brown discharge from my good breast..so before I had my TE exchanged..I had mammo, mri, ductogram. I had a small cyst at the end of one duct. the Doctor doing the ductogram said dark discharge (without blood) is generally a sign of fibrocystic disease. she said if removed..the duct is then biopsied for abnormal cells in the lobe. I didn't go that far. I had no cancer in my healthy breast..so I went ahead with my exchange

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LeahinTexas
    LeahinTexas Member Posts: 57
    edited October 2010

    Thanks Leah and twirlandcurl

    My discharge does have blood, but when tested didn't show cancer cells. That is my understanding.

    Thanks for telling me the duct removal will be considered a biopsy. I thought it would be a whole different procedure. 

    Waiting on a call to schedule the MRI and the home phone isn't working. Hope they try the alternate number!

    The radiologist did say that there was a blunt end to the duct at one spot, which could mean that something is blocking it, or that they are just sometimes like that.

    I just have to face the fact that I am in waiting mode and that you guys cannot tell me if it is cancer (that is what I really want!). It does help to know that this process is drawn-out for everyone and that all of you got through it!

    Thanks,

    Leah

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Tal39
    Tal39 Member Posts: 25
    edited October 2010

    Hi Leah-

    I am having a similar situation to yours and have started a thread called "ultrasound inconclusive." My duct excision is scheduled for 10/26. I hope that everything turns out B9 for you. Hang in there.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • KC71579
    KC71579 Member Posts: 73
    edited October 2010

    Hi  Leah

    I had the same thing.  Negative testing until they did the duct excision (I didn't have an MRI before my excision, but nipple smear (they tested the discharge for cancer cells, negative, just blood), neg mammo, neg ultrasound, and finally ductogram and duct excision.  I don't want to worry you because I was in that 10 percentile and came back cancerous, so I just want to offer you that the duct excision wasn't bad.  My bs made a small incision near my areola, and the whole thing took about 30 minutes.  I was wide awake for this procedure.  Most of the time, this is the only way to know for sure what is causing your symptom of a discharge (as my bs put it, it is the only way to definitively diagnose and treat when testing is inconclusive).  I was able to go back to work the next day, and didn't need to take any of the prescribed pain medication. 

    By the way, the odds of it coming back benign are definitely highly in your favor.  Since you are on a cancer message board, don't be surprised if you hear the horror stories such as mine, but please remember the odds are in your favor.  Just make sure that definitively find out that it is not cancer, even if it means excision, which sounds like that is already your plan to me.  If you have questions, feel free to PM.

    Sending you hugs and B9 vibes!
    Krissy

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • lago
    lago Member Posts: 17,186
    edited October 2010

    I had bloody discharge. It too had no cancer cells in it… but in my case I had a sizeable palpable mass. Both the BS and I knew this was no papilloma.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LeahinTexas
    LeahinTexas Member Posts: 57
    edited October 2010

    Thank you! You, too. I will check out your thread.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LeahinTexas
    LeahinTexas Member Posts: 57
    edited October 2010

    I appreciate the information. The truth can never hurt!

    I will keep in mind my odds, but it is good to acknowledge the small chance that I have cancer. I understand what you mean about this board -- of course, most of the people here will have a diagnosis of cancer...

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • mckenna
    mckenna Member Posts: 413
    edited October 2010

    leahin texas,

    definatly go to the thread tal pointed you to.  i think several of us posted on there.  i am nearly 3 weeks past my ductal excision.  i was not awake and there is no way i would have wanted to be.  i had one duct removed but it went pretty far back as it had several papilomas in the duct.  i had it done on a friday and don't think i could have gone to work the next day but could have if i had to on sunday.  as it was i went back to work on monday but i was still taking ibuprofen.  now, the incision site is barely noticalbe, i am very schocked at how quickly it heald but i still feel some pain.  the nipple area is way more sensitive than the other breast.  i am assuming this will fade with time.  good luck to you.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LeahinTexas
    LeahinTexas Member Posts: 57
    edited October 2010

    Okay, I did check out that thread and it helped.

    I have an MRI scheduled for next Thursday.

    I wonder why they don't go ahead and schedule the duct excision (or whatever) cause it sounds like that is what they will do. I might call the obgyn office today and ask about that.

    Here is my plan for my "thought life":

    I will remember that I have about a 90% chance of a benign result. Those are very good odds!

    I will remember that getting to the end of this will take time and I cannot do anything to make it go faster. I will practice patience.

    I know that I have enough information for where I am now.

    When I think about this or worry, I will remember: 1)  there is nothing I can do now and 2) worrying will not help. I will try to think of something else. Preferably, I will think of how I can help someone else. 

    I will count my blessings. 

    Maybe it sounds corny, but I think it will be better than going crazy!

    This will be a form of mental discipline! I won't be perfect, but I can keep trying!

    One of my blessing these days is this site and forum! It has been very helpful and I truly do count it a blessing. I will be making a financial donation sometime soon, too!

    Thank you all for being here. 

    Leah

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • kira1234
    kira1234 Member Posts: 3,091
    edited October 2010

    Leah,

    I like the way you are looking at it. And yes it is much better than going crazy. Anytime you need to talk there are lots of people here who will listen. This site has been my blessing these last 5 months.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Tal39
    Tal39 Member Posts: 25
    edited October 2010

    I like your motto Leah. I will have to repeat that to myself. :)

    I asked my doctor about getting an MRI and she said it wouldn't really help and that the duct excision was the only true way to know what it is. As much as I have tried not to google myself crazy I have done it and in my case I really have to believe this is a papilloma or something else b9. The one thing about my situation is that my discharge is not spontaneous. It is bloody, only in one breast and from one duct but because it isn't spontaneous I have to believe (from what I have read) that it is probably B9.

    I hope you will have the same result.  Best of luck to you and keep us posted.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LeahinTexas
    LeahinTexas Member Posts: 57
    edited October 2010

    Thank you mckenna, kira1234 and Tal39. I don't know you but I feel such affection for you and all the ladies who care for one another here! Having each other really and truly helps!

    I will keep you informed.

    Leah

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • mckenna
    mckenna Member Posts: 413
    edited October 2010

    leah,

    glad we could be here to help.  i hate that you other ladies are going throuh this too, but i don't know anyone in "real" life that has had this issue/symptoms and it is so nice to know i am not alone.  if you have any more questions about the excision, feel free to ask or send a pm. i currently have lost my voice due to strep throat (my kids are loving it), so i am just rambling on at the computer because i can't ramble on to my kids!  have a good night, thinking of all you waiting for your surgeries and results.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • sac
    sac Member Posts: 14
    edited October 2010

    I had a clear nipple discharge in my left breast three years ago did mammogram it was negative three years later i have IDC and a 3.2 cm tumor in my right breast..  Two weeks after i was diagnosed with breast cancer i noticed that my i was having a clear nipple discharge from my left breast which is still leaking, the doctors tried to reassure me that it wasn't related to the cancer but there is no way they will ever convince me of this.  I went for a ductogram and than a MRI on sept 22 still waiting for the results.  I had a left mast and no matter what the results show for the mri i will definitely be having a mast as soon as i finish my treatment.  i said that i would be good and strong going through this the first time but there is no way i can go through this again in three years.  i'm probabaly going at it too aggressively but with the history on my left breast i just can live waiting for the other shoe to drop.  

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LeahinTexas
    LeahinTexas Member Posts: 57
    edited October 2010

    You haven't heard from a MRI on September 22nd? That is too long!

    So sorry you  are having to go through this again. Are you going through chemo now?

    Leah

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • kira1234
    kira1234 Member Posts: 3,091
    edited October 2010

    I can't even imagine having to wait so long for results from the MRI. I would be a mess. It seems like it just never ends. I can understand your feeling completely I had a lumpectomy, and the idea of having to worry every time I have a mammagram or an MRI has me wondering if I did the right thing.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LeahinTexas
    LeahinTexas Member Posts: 57
    edited October 2010

    I got a letter yesterday from the place that did my mammo and ultrasound saying:

    "Your recent ultrasound examination showed a finding that requires additional imaging studies for a complete evaluation. Most such findings are benign (not cancer). Please call.... "

    So I called and found out that this is referring to the MRI that I have scheduled for next week. 

    I just thought the wording was a little funny.  It looked like the radiologist couldn't find anything suspicious during the procedure, but the discharge worried her and that was the reason for the MRI. This makes it sound like there is something there. 

    I'm just going to assume it is their standard wording and keep on trying to think of other things until Thursday...

    ...except that it sounds like from this site and your experiences that I still won't know anything on Thursday! I'll just have the procedure done. Then it has to be reviewed, written up and sent to my ob-gyn. How long does that take? When can I expect (hope) to actually talk to someone? A week after the MRI? Ten days? That puts at the end of the month of October. It will just help me to know the approximate timeline.

    I called my ob-gyn earlier this week to double check what they said about the discharge, but the nurse never called me back. I called again today, but they close at noon on Fridays. I will call on Monday to ask that and to find out how they will inform me of all the results.

    Now I am going to call my insurance to see if the MRI will be covered. So far, the extra mammo images and ultrasound have been. That is a blessing.

    After that, I am going to pray for everyone on these boards going through difficulities. I won't know all the names, of course, but God does!

    Leah

    P.S. No discharge when I gently squeeze the nipple since the ductogram. I think the solution kind of washed out the area. Does that mean anything? But my breast is kind of achy and I have the sensation that my underarm on that side is sort of bigger. This could be my imagination! More than once I convinced myself I was pregnant when I was a little late, so I have the ability to do this to myself! LOL! (I wanted to be pregnant; don't want this!)

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LeahinTexas
    LeahinTexas Member Posts: 57
    edited October 2010

    Noticed the discharge (first time it was spontaneous) mid-September. Called for an appointment a week later. Saw OB-GYN on 9/30. First mammogram on 10/4. Ductogram and ultrasound on 10//11. MRI scheduled for 10/21.

    I didn't realize it had been gonig on about a month. And I know my timing is great compared to some others. (I'm in Houston, big city with good medical care. I think that helps.) Still, waiting and not knowing is hard!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • mckenna
    mckenna Member Posts: 413
    edited October 2010

    leah,  i noticed d/c on a friday, got into my ob on monday, had clear mammo and ultrasound on tuesday.  took a week for ob to call me back and give me numbers to breast surgeons she recommended.  took a month to get into bs, then took a month to get surger date.  i never had mri, they did my ductogram on the day of the surgery, so the "filled" duct was removed that day.  had my surgery follow-up 6 days after surgery and that is when i got my results but it looks like (from the paper work)  they had my results the same day of surgery.  make sure you right down all the questions you have so that they are in one place and you are able to ask them when you have your appointment or are on the phone.  it is easy to forget the questions in the moment

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LeahinTexas
    LeahinTexas Member Posts: 57
    edited October 2010

    So your surgury was over two months after your initial appointment with OBGYN. I bet it seemed like forever!

    Thank you and take care....

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LeahinTexas
    LeahinTexas Member Posts: 57
    edited October 2010

    My MRI has to be postponed from tomorrow to next Friday. My insurance company has to approve it and the doctor's office put in the request two days ago and they need three days.

    I was hoping to have some information by next week and now it will be at least a week beyond that time. Sigh.

    More waiting....

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • mckenna
    mckenna Member Posts: 413
    edited October 2010

    leah, sorry you have more wating but glad it is just a week wait and not longer for he new appointment and yes, i was about 2 months from start to finish (so to speak) but to me waiting to see the surgeon was the hardest part, once i saw him, the 4 week wait for surgery was not that bad because he was so confident that it was b9. 

    please keep us posted, i want to hear more about the mri, i plan on talking to my dr about it on my 6 month follow up to see if it would be a good idea for me to have with the adh diagnosis.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LeahinTexas
    LeahinTexas Member Posts: 57
    edited October 2010

    I will keep you informed. I'm not gong crazy, so that's good. (I might feel differently later!) Realzing that everyone had to wait has helped!

    Thanks for your post.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LeahinTexas
    LeahinTexas Member Posts: 57
    edited August 2013

    I had the MRI on Friday. I posted on the "Ultrasound Inconclusive" thread in the "Not Diagnosed But Worried" Forum about it.

    Also, I read about MRI in this blog (she posts here, too) and it was helpful.  (She has a good sense of humor, too.)

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • heyjude62
    heyjude62 Member Posts: 152
    edited October 2010

    I have a total knee implant-have been told mine is titanium. So, just in case anybody else on here is having a breast MRI and also has a knee implant and is worried-no worries-you can have the MRI and it has no effect on your knee. (I have to admit that I kind of worried about it even though I was told it would have no effect-but they were right-it did not bother my knee at all)

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Rachelmh
    Rachelmh Member Posts: 8
    edited November 2010

    Hi Leah,

    I hope your MRI went well.  I too, had the discharge and a clean mamo and US.  My ductogram and MRI both showed a lesion.  I had it removed with an excisional biopsy (general surgery) and the path report came back a benign papilloma.  BUT - the radiologist thought it was DCIS, and even rated it an BIRADs of 5 at the initial MRI.  However, the followup MRI still shows something that we think is just where I hadn't healed completed.  I go back for another followup MRI in January.  The MRI's are easy and really facinating when the radiologist goes over it with you.  You can request that they do that with you.  I go to a Comprehensive breast center and the day I had my MRI, she went over her findings with me, and showed it to me. Hope you get good results, but even if you don't, remember they can't always tell that it is cancer from the MRI and even good radiologists can be wrong!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LeahinTexas
    LeahinTexas Member Posts: 57
    edited November 2010

    Rachelmh, your story is interesting. I didn't know I could request that. I will definitely try that. Mine was as an out patient at a hospital and they were very busy, so it might not have been possible.

    I posted an update on a thread called "Still No Diagnosis. Next, Duct Excision"

    I see a breast surgeon a week from Thursday and then I guess we'll schedule the surgery. Then I'll get the pathology report and that will finally have some definite answers!

    Hope for a good outcome for you, too!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Rachelmh
    Rachelmh Member Posts: 8
    edited November 2010

    Leah,

    My excisional biopsy was also done as outpatient in a hospital, but the first MRI and the followup MRI were both done at the comprehensive breast center.  For both, I've had the radiologist go over it with me after she reviewed it.  For my followup in January, I have already set it up so that after the radiologist reads it, I will be waiting, and then she will go over it with me again.  So, I'll know before I leave the office whether they think there is anything there or it is completely healed up and gone. 

    Make sure you get copies of your MRI reports and pathology reports.  It is very helpful to go online and read about what all that jargon means.  My initial path report wasn't "consistent" with what they thought the removed so they had them review it again.  It was "corrected" after the re-look.  Supposedly, still a benign diagnosis, after an initial BIRADs of 5. I still have some doubts but have decided not to worry about it. 

     If your doctors want you to have a followup MRI after the duct excision, I would recommend waiting about a month.  Blood can enhance on the MRI just like a lesion. I wish they had told me that.  I pushed to have the followup MRI, because I was already going to the surgeon at the center for a two week checkup after the surgery.

    Best of luck.  Educate yourself, knowledge is power. It really helped to calm my fears.

      

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories