found report online. BIRAD5

I guess, to state what you already know, the radiologist thinks there is a high probability of cancer, but is not sure. I believe that birads 5 means an 80/20 percent chance of cancer. Still, many are in the 20% and a lot of them post here and then find out it is benign. If, God forbid, you are in the 80%, please know it is not the end of the world. Treatments now are much better, more targetted, easier to tolerate and then there's us--the greatest support community ever. Here's hoping you don't join us, though.

Sorry about the wrong stats, windingshores. I was just going on memory. Still, we have had birads 5 women with b9 results. It does happen. It sounds though like you have crossed the Rubicon, meaning you have accepted the possibility of having breast cancer, and are now looking at the other prognostic factors. That's the first real challenge, psychologically, being able to look ahead with some hope. I'll say this--women here have had terrible prognostic stats and have still lived for years. I have, for example, and there are ladies here who have had it much worse than I have. Still, we live on and laugh again and forget for long periods of time we even have cancer. You will too. BTW, I have a grandson who is 30 so I can't say that I haven't lived a full life, even if it hasn't been terribly long (so far). I'm 67, look somewhat younger, feel older most of the time, but still 'truckin' on.

winding shores,

Pop the rest of the happy pill & go to your calming place. We do hear of birad 5 turning out b9. But, I agree with you, it seems unlikely.

Being dx, having surgery, making the necessary decisions is a roller coaster. Your nauseous & you want off. I did not find this website until I was almost done with chemo. It really is a lifesaver, you can be honest, & we all get it. Friends & family try, but they are not living with the anxiety & treatments.

Hopefully your nodes are not involved, and if you need chemo it will be chemo-lite.

I was dx stage 3, extra nodal extension, so I had aggressive chemo. It was not something I would want to repeat, but I sure am glad that my body was able to tolerate it. I do not have confidence that it is not hiding somewhere in my system. But life moves on, and I am lucky compared to many much younger women.

Lots of different threads here. If needed ( hoping it's not ) find the group that starts when you do. ie, March surgeries, or April chemo group. I hang out with a very diverse group of women on the INSOMNIACS thread. Everyone is welcome. We have ladies post that are all stages, and are very supportive.

Hi windingshores, based on your weather report you are probably somewhere around Boston. BIRADS5 is not what one wants to hear, but on the positive side the mass they noticed does not appear to be large.

Good luck to you and PM me if you have 'local' questions.

Windingshores, The report you posted reads like the one I got two+ years ago, even down to the 11 o'clock position 5 cm above the nipple. Of course, I too hoped I would turn out to be one of the lucky ones whose biopsy turned out negative, but I wasn't! But the diagnosis is not the end of the world, especially when the tumor is small and found early. And being older, as I was too, has its advantages, as things usually move and grow more slowly as we age. So relax as much as you can, live in the present, and if there is a cancer, do what needs to be done to get rid of it. I found that the limbo of not knowing was far harder to deal with than knowing for sure that the tumor would be removed a few weeks later. And as others have said, be careful to avoid unreliable websites that you locate via Google. This is a good source of information, both medical professionals and from other women who have been through what you might be going through. Best wishes to you and your family, TG

I had a BIRADS 5 finding on my left breast. Because I had already been diagnosed with cancer in my right breast and had opted for a mastectomy, I was terribly asymmetrical with a remaining over sized left breast.

I skipped all the rigmarole of follow up testing and biopsies and went straight for a simple mastectomy. All the slicing and dicing of the left breast after removal found only benign conditions in the breast.

Just a note: I have never regretted going straight for the mastectomy and had a glorious two years going totally flat. I eventually decided to do reconstruction.