Mamm 4 months after, birads 3, what?!

I did contact him and he was helpful. I appreciate his opinion.

I should post an update, in case anyone is wondering.

My doctor's review of the mamm and ultrasound left me feeling unhappy. Go away and wait 6 months ... uh, no.

I did call my radiation oncologist and bless her heart, she called me back and when I was done talking to her I felt at least that I understood the situation more clearly. She put everything in some sort of context, painted a BIG picture and helped me get perspective. Which is what I needed.

I asked, didn't a month of radiation kill all the cancer? If I walked in with cancer, did I walk out with that same cancer? She said yes, if you walked in with a breast full of cancer you left radiation with that same breast full of cancer. The radiation I was given was designed to mop up a few, stray cells that might have been left behind after surgery. It was NOT designed to kill the amount of cancer cells in a tumour. So if I arrived with a mass of cancer, it was still there when I finished radiation.

She said she had reviewed my pathology reports and the margins were good. She felt confident that the surgeon had gotten the mass, as targeted with a wire guide.

She said the suggestion of an MRI might result in misleading conclusions since a contrast dye is watched for how smoothly it flows in and out of an area. If it flows with difficulty and constriction, that can lead to suspicion of cancer. But in my case, this breast had a surgical biopsy, was cut again a month later in a lumpectomy, then I had a post op bleed, all the internal stitching tore out and the surgeon opened me up again that same day, re-cauterized everything and put back together all the torn apart internal stitches. In other words I have a very LARGE amount of scarring. This boob has had a scalpel in it 3 times (armpit one time). So, in my particular case, an MRI might make things look even worse - save that until all other avenues of investigation have been used, said the radiation oncologist.

She said the wording of the report sounds dire, it is cautious, but we have to also see what is NOT there. No one suggested a biopsy. She said if the radiologist felt there was much chance at all that the remaining architectural distortion was still active cancer, I would not have left the hospital that day without someone doing a biopsy right then and there. But no one showed up to poke my boob - so, reading between the lines, this is a good sign even though the language is worrying.

She said she sees I requested a 2nd opinion on my original pathology report so she was requesting a 2nd opinion on the mammogram and ultrasound. Someone at the cancer clinic there would have a look. She will get back to me with the results some time this week.

She also said if waiting 6 months for another mammogram makes me uncomfortable, go in again in 3 months or 4. Up to me. I do not have to wait 6 months.

So the original bad news architectural distortion that showed up Dec 2016 is still there Dec 2017. Is it a scar? Is it cancer? I feel less freaked out than I did. Waiting to hear now what a second set of eyes thinks the situation is. Thank you all for listening.