Waiting for ultrasound/biopsy

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I hope this is the right place to post this. I have been reading for a long time (years!) but this is my first post.

I was diagnosed with IDC six years ago, when I was 39. I found the lump myself in a self-exam and it was quickly confirmed by u/s and biopsy. My tumor was Stage 1, 1.1 cm, ER/PR+, Her2-. I had a lumpectomy followed by four rounds of chemo (taxotere & cytoxan), radiation, and finally Tamoxifen. I am still taking Tamoxifen.

Earlier this year I was finally approved by my insurance for the BART genetic test, and I came back positive for two mutations (Chek2 and Bard1). Lucky me. Needless to say, if we had known this when I was first diagnosed, I would have had a mastectomy and not a lumpectomy.

However, I have been having alternating mammograms/ultrasounds and MRIs every six months all this time and everything has been looking fine. Until this last MRI at the end of November. The radiologist called me within a couple of days to say that there was an area that was enhancing and I needed to have an ultrasound. I asked specifically where it was and how big (1.4 cm, on the same side that had the lumpectomy, but in a different quadrant).

I was not able to schedule the ultrasound and probable biopsy until 12/23. It's such a long time to wait. In the meantime, I have been trying to locate this spot which sounds pretty big to me. I am small breasted and even smaller on that side where they already took a chunk out, so there's not a lot of room for anything to hide. In the quadrant which the radiologist described, I can feel a lump. It is firm and the right size, but it is also oval, smooth, has distinct edges, and moves around. It definitely does not feel one bit like my IDC, which was hard, bumpy and completely immoveable. From reading, it seems most like a fibroadenoma.

So I know I just have to wait it out until the next exam to know for sure. What I am wondering in the meantime, is with my history, am I just fooling myself by thinking this could be something benign like a fibroadenoma?

I am now 45. Most articles I have read indicate that fibroadenomas are found in much younger women. Am I too old? (I'm still premenopausal, if that makes any difference).

Could a fibroadenoma grow so quickly that it wouldn't have been seen at my last mammogram & ultrasound in May?

How specific is MRI at distinguishing a benign from malignant mass? The radiologist was obviously concerned to call me so quickly instead of just sending the report to my doctor to handle.

If anyone has any insight or experience with something like this, I would appreciate it. I have been through BC before and survived so far, but it is no fun to think of potentially going through it again. Thanks!





Comments

  • soriya123
    soriya123 Member Posts: 662
    edited December 2014

    HaileyG sounds like fibroadenama. I have 2 on my left breast. Just because of our medical history that why radiologist want to do an ultrasound. Don't worry too much. ☺

  • soriya123
    soriya123 Member Posts: 662
    edited December 2014

    i have 2 fibroadenama lumps on my left breast, one on top n the other one on the bottom. MRI didn't see the top one cus it smaller than the bottom one. i found the top lump myself. Both were benign.


  • HaileyG
    HaileyG Member Posts: 3
    edited December 2014

    Thanks for your response, Soriya. I am trying not to worry, but I can't help wondering if the lump I am feeling is not what the radiologist was looking at.

    By the way, I live pretty close to you--in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. :)

  • soriya123
    soriya123 Member Posts: 662
    edited December 2014

    I totally understand, I know its hard not to worry but hang in there. I had a few times scare regarding my lumps, but turned out to be benign. Yes you're not too far away me.

  • momwriter
    momwriter Member Posts: 310
    edited December 2014

    Hi Hailey,

    I had a core needle biopsy two weeks ago on a 3mm lump/cyst thing and thank goodness it turned out to be a fibroadenoma. I'm 49. So it can happen! These tests and the waiting are so nerve-wracking. Now just a week after making it through that scare I have to have a pelvic ultrasound because my PCP maybe felt something in my uterus (and that was supposed to be my "breeze" doctor visit.) Hoping/praying it's a fibroid. In both cases, I think it would have been watch and wait if it weren't for "my history." I'm sure that's why the radiologist responded so quickly to you.

    Sending you happy benign wishes!

  • leecor
    leecor Member Posts: 16
    edited December 2014

    Hailey G, I'm going through the same thing right now. I had an MRI and it came back with an enhancing mass on my right side. It's about an inch in diameter at it's largest point. I can feel it and it feels pretty hard but it moves a little. I have a fibroadenoma in the left side and it doesn't feel like that. The fibroadeonma is rubbery feeling and almost bounces back and is smooth and very moveable whereas not so much on my right. My bx is scheduled for Dec 22nd and was told I would not likely hear back until after Christmas. My doctor said it could be breast tissue so not to worry. I'll pray for you as I know you have been through this before. You are not alone, God will be with you. I found this from someone and it is so true!...."Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength." -- Corrie Ten Boom


    It's sounds to me like a fibroadenoma. But again I will keep you in prayer!

  • Tomboy
    Tomboy Member Posts: 3,945
    edited December 2014

    MRI's find EVERYTHING! But, they are not specific! that's why they tend to do ultrasounds after, but... Biopsy is the only thing that will give a definitive answer. good luck to you.

  • HaileyG
    HaileyG Member Posts: 3
    edited December 2014

    Thanks, everyone, for sharing your experiences. Hoping for good results for all of us on these tests and very happy for those whose suspicious areas turned out to be benign. And leecor, I appreciate your prayers and will pray for others who are in a similar situation...I do believe God is in control...

  • dreaming
    dreaming Member Posts: 473
    edited January 2015


    I have had several biopsies in all the years since I was diagnosed, microclacifications removed from my chest wall behind my reconstructions.

    I was very careless and did not have a mammogram in 2 years, I  got a 3D  done this December only because my old scars were active, saw 2 doctor that did not feel nothing on my breasts.

    Mamography  was done on a Saturday, next Monday the nurse call that I had a lump in my natural breast,wanted to do the somogram that day, I went 2 days later and after I had a biopsy, the whole lump was removed, was small ; it was an apocrine cyst, with epithelial  and calcifications,benign but now I have to have a diagnostic mammogram every 6 months. I was a very young woman the first time, strong, now  facing every 6 months the test is very stressful.

    I was fully aware that it can come back after many years, but it is a still a shock, the first time I was not afraid in 1991 , I was very naïve when I joined  as  an activist/ advocate with NBCC, but now I know too much.

     

     

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