Bi Rad III July 2, wanting closure TODAY!!

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smartbuffy
smartbuffy Member Posts: 6
edited January 2015 in Waiting for Test Results

I have been educating myself about Bi Rads. No one told me. I had a cyst aspirated July 2. The radiologist was going to let me go for  year, but because I was  wanting to actually pay cash for my next mammo, said, "Why don't I order a bilateral diagnostic follow up for 6 months....then after that you can go back to the yearly." Fine, fine.  

They assured me it was only One cyst. In the left breast. My mammo was at 8 and by the time they did the  mammo and ultrasound, it was near 11:30. 

When my OB/GYN doctor forwarded me the report, I was appalled to see that the report said it was in the right breast nd the report read like there were 2 cysts. One art 1 o'clock, the other at 3?

I saw the "breast specialist" the next day and she came in waving papers and shouting, 'THEY ONLY THINK IT IS A CYST. YOU NEED A BIOPSY!!!!" I said I didn't want one, I had just had an aspiration, was assured it was a cyst....." She said, "NO!!! THEY ONLY THINK IT IS A CYST"

I thought about how the procedures dragged out that morning and looked at the times and told her she only had part of the report. She got the rest.

Long story short.....when I called the mammogram facility and told them the report referred to the right breast and all of the findings were in the left one, they said they would have the radiologist elaborate (he cannot remove the mistakes, only give further information...)

The following week, I received (from my doctor) the elaborated-upon report. And a letter stating that I should bring in the bad boo ie for the diagnostic mammo and then come back six months later and have both boobies mammogrammed!!!  Screw you on that!

My doctor agreed with me. He wrote me a script for a bilateral diag mammo -- which is today -- (and said I might be shelling out for the good boobie and I said, OK. -- Anything to get this in my rear view mirror.

But after reading about the bi rads sometimes they keep stringing the pastient along by having her come in and have repeat mammograms. 

I have handled this poorly as I handle all medical things poorly.

I expect to leave the new mammo facility today with CLOSURE!!!  If they see something -- cut it out!!!  Don't think that I want to tie up the rest of my little life being a doctor's patient like my late husband did -- from doctor to doctor being a good little patient enduring blood sticks, pet scans, ct scant -- not being Joe any more.  I am so mad.

I am going to have to walk into that facility today with more composure than I am displaying right now.  But I will get my closure somehow. I am not going to be strung along. I am not Mother Teresa.

 

SmartBuffy

 

 

 

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  • smartbuffy
    smartbuffy Member Posts: 6
    edited January 2015

    I have been educating myself about Bi Rads. No one told me. I had a cyst aspirated July 2. The radiologist was going to let me go for  year, but because I was  wanting to actually pay cash for my next mammo, said, "Why don't I order a bilateral diagnostic follow up for 6 months....then after that you can go back to the yearly." Fine, fine. 

    They assured me it was only one cyst. In the left breast. My mammo was at 8 and by the time they did the  mammo and ultrasound, it was near 11:30. 

    When my OB/GYN doctor forwarded me the report, I was appalled to see that the report said it was in the right breast nd the report read like there were 2 cysts. One art 1 o'clock, the other at 3?

    I saw the "breast specialist" the next day and she came in waving papers and shouting, 'THEY ONLY THINK IT IS A CYST. YOU NEED A BIOPSY!!!!" I said I didn't want one, I had just had an aspiration, was assured it was a cyst....." She said, "NO!!! THEY ONLY THINK IT IS A CYST"

    I thought about how the procedures dragged out that morning and looked at the times and told her she only had part of the report. She got the rest.

    Long story short.....when I called the mammogram facility and told them the report referred to the right breast and all of the findings were in the left one, they said they would have the radiologist elaborate (he cannot remove the mistakes, only give further information...)

    The following week, I received (from my doctor) the elaborated-upon report. And a letter stating that I should bring in the bad boobie for the diagnostic mammo and then (I guess) come back six months later and have both boobies mammogrammed!!!  Screw you on that! 

    My doctor agreed with me. He wrote me a script for a bilateral diag mammo -- which is today -- (and said I might be shelling out for the good boobie and I said, OK. -- Anything to get this in my rear view mirror.)

    But after reading about the bi rads sometimes it seems they keep stringing the patient along by having her come in and have repeat mammograms. 

    I have handled this poorly as I handle all medical things poorly.

    I expect to leave the new mammo facility today with CLOSURE!!!  If they see something -- biopsy it and let me go on my way. How effective are needle biopsies? My mother had one, my husband had one, my dog had one and all three were inconclusive. I think facilities to them to save money. I have Medicare. Anything to save on money. The heck with me. The heck with the ups and downs of waiting for this test result then that one and on and on.    Don't think that I want to tie up the rest of my little life being a doctor's patient like my late husband did -- from doctor to doctor being a good little patient enduring blood sticks, pet scans, ct scant -- not being Joe any more.  I am so mad.

    I am going to have to walk into that facility today with more composure than I am displaying right now. But I will get my closure somehow. I am not going to be strung along. I am not Mother Teresa. Don;'t want to be, either. I just want to resume being me. Not waiting for this other shoe to drop.

    SmartBuffy

     

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  • leaf
    leaf Member Posts: 8,188
    edited January 2015

    I'm sorry you are going through this scare. Most people do not handle potential threats to their health well. Also you have the experience of seeing what happened to your late husband.

    No one wants to have concerning lesions, or potentially concerning lesions in their breast, but there can be drawbacks to having everything suspicious excised. Excisions can leave scar tissue, which makes it harder for radiologists to read future mammograms. That means they can miss suspicious lesions in future mammograms.

    You also cannot always excise all suspicious lesions. I have a rather unusual condition called LCIS (lobular carcinoma in situ, which is not normally considered cancer in spite of its name), which does not normally show up on imaging. Normally there are many spots of it in a breast, and its often in both breasts. So, since they have no way of knowing where the LCIS spots are without biopsying them, they often don't (which would be a mastectomy), unless you have other stronger risk factors. When LCIS women go on to get breast cancer in the future, it is often in an area that looks normal previously. They don't know how LCIS confers risk, but some of the breast cancers that LCIS women go on to get are not clonally related to their LCIS.

    So, if they find something suspicious, you may want to talk with your doctor what they find. You may or may not agree with your doctor, and if you are concerned you can certainly get 2nd opinions. But you also may want to wait to find out what the suspicious areas are, and whether or not they have changed. Many things need to be individualized in breast cancer diagnosis, and one approach does not fit all circumstances.



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  • smartbuffy
    smartbuffy Member Posts: 6
    edited January 2015

    Hi and thank you.  I learned today that my follow-up was completely normal I don't have to go back for another year and then for a screening.

    The only thing which got me through this was having my mother's medical records. She was exactly my age when she started getting call backs which didn't amount to anything...a cyst here (two I think)...and an adenoma which they removed.  Her mother had cancer. She did not. I have my grandmas medical records (sketchy at best) too. Be glad you didn't have problems in 1953.

    The first doc grandma saw said about her lump, "Probably from nursing seven children...."

    Thank you and best of luck to you.

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  • leaf
    leaf Member Posts: 8,188
    edited January 2015

    First, I'm so glad your followup was completely normal! Yea for normal! That's what we like to hear.

    You sure are right about cancer treatment! 1953 is about when my grandmother had breast cancer too. (She was > 50 years old at the time.) I don't have her medical records, but she did have bilateral mastectomies. I don't think they had chemotherapy then, and I don't know if she had radiation. She lived another 20 years and died of unrelated causes. A genetics counselor said I had a low risk for genetically inherited single mutation for breast cancer.

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