Seriously? More bad news? Waiting to have biopsy test, results
Thanks for being with me in all of this.
3 weeks ago today I rolled over in bed and felt discomfort in my left breast. I felt a lumpy area and compared with my right breast and it was completely different feeling - left lumpy, right all fatty. I have had mammograms every year since I was 35 and last Sept 2017 my coworker told me about the u/s mammogram if I have dense breasts. I didnt know I had dense breasts until I actually read the pathology results on my previous mammos - frankly I always read the "negative" or however it is written that they found no areas of concern results in the first line of my mammo test report and read no further. When my coworker told me about dense breasts I looked at my previous mammo results and sure enough it stated clearly on numerous/all reports "patient has dense breasts" I immediately called my gyne and demanded this further test. From what I was told, this u/s mammo was only recently being offered to patients for their preventative screenings. Regardless, last Sept both my mammo and the u/s mammo showed NO areas of concern.
Fast forward to 3 weeks ago. Got in to see gyne to check, had mammo & u/s mammo, had biopsy on 2 masses and have been diagnosed with IDC of the left breast. WTF (sorry for my cussing) is all that ran through my head. Met with breast surgeon who recommends mastectomy (which I am in favor of). He said to have an MRI to rule out that there is no cancer on the right breast. OK I had that done this past Thursday and yesterday the nurse called to say the right breast shows no signs of abnormality...and my brain shut down with relief until she added "there is an enlarged lymph node on the left breast side that you need to have biopsied".....WHAT?! I guess I didnt realize the MRI's looked at lymph node areas too so I was in shock. The actual words on the MRI report are: "there is a asymmetric irregular cortical thickening in a left axillary lymph node which measures 2.5 X 1.1 cm of at least moderate suspicion for axillary metastasis." She said after the biopsy of the node the course of my treatment may change, meaning I guess I may have to do treatment (I presume chemo or radiation?) prior to the mastectomy.
My biopsy is scheduled for this Tuesday and that day seem years away....my brain and emotions are swirling pretty badly and going to dark places in my mind....
I am trying to keep it together and stay on my mindset of "day by day, appt by appt." mindset but after hearing the nurses words yesterday I am having a difficult time hanging on to those mantras....
I am reading all areas of this site, I am grateful to you, the moderators and all the info that is here. I am trying to hang on to hope.
Thank you for listening....peace to everyone here.
Comments
-
It is moderately suspicious so let us hope for the best there. And UGH!!!! about the rest! I had an architectural distortion that was considered "nothing" until 5 years later it became breast cancer. Both mine, luckily, were found through the mammogram. You will likely need chemo and rads, but that still needs to be determined. You will go through this raging roller coaster of emotions...it is natural.....ativan helps in the worst moments. Always hang on to hope. (((HUGS))))
-
It is a shock and there is no real bright side, but thank goodness you felt it, otherwise you would not have known maybe until this Sept, while not far away, rather catch it sooner than later. I have always had mammo/sono my radiologist always recommended it I had over 75% dense breasts. If not for the sono, they would not have caught the cancer, it couldnt be felt, and the mammo was clean. I would not have known maybe until I was due this year for routine mammo/sono. A year later?!!! It sucks, but thank goodness the sono can pick things up. MRI's pick up even the smallest of things. Could just be inflammation, hang onto that. It is normal to be so overwhelmed,,,,you really will get through this. It's just so much gets thrown at you at once its hard to put it all together.
Please let us know how it goes. Fingers crossed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 679 Advocacy and Fund-Raising
- 289 Advocacy
- 68 I've Donated to Breastcancer.org in honor of....
- Test
- 322 Walks, Runs and Fundraising Events for Breastcancer.org
- 5.6K Community Connections
- 282 Middle Age 40-60(ish) Years Old With Breast Cancer
- 53 Australians and New Zealanders Affected by Breast Cancer
- 208 Black Women or Men With Breast Cancer
- 684 Canadians Affected by Breast Cancer
- 1.5K Caring for Someone with Breast cancer
- 455 Caring for Someone with Stage IV or Mets
- 260 High Risk of Recurrence or Second Breast Cancer
- 22 International, Non-English Speakers With Breast Cancer
- 16 Latinas/Hispanics With Breast Cancer
- 189 LGBTQA+ With Breast Cancer
- 152 May Their Memory Live On
- 85 Member Matchup & Virtual Support Meetups
- 375 Members by Location
- 291 Older Than 60 Years Old With Breast Cancer
- 177 Singles With Breast Cancer
- 869 Young With Breast Cancer
- 50.4K Connecting With Others Who Have a Similar Diagnosis
- 204 Breast Cancer with Another Diagnosis or Comorbidity
- 4K DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)
- 79 DCIS plus HER2-positive Microinvasion
- 529 Genetic Testing
- 2.2K HER2+ (Positive) Breast Cancer
- 1.5K IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer)
- 3.4K IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma)
- 1.5K ILC (Invasive Lobular Carcinoma)
- 999 Just Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastasis
- 652 LCIS (Lobular Carcinoma In Situ)
- 193 Less Common Types of Breast Cancer
- 252 Male Breast Cancer
- 86 Mixed Type Breast Cancer
- 3.1K Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned
- 189 Palliative Therapy/Hospice Care
- 488 Second or Third Breast Cancer
- 1.2K Stage I Breast Cancer
- 313 Stage II Breast Cancer
- 3.8K Stage III Breast Cancer
- 2.5K Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
- 13.1K Day-to-Day Matters
- 132 All things COVID-19 or coronavirus
- 87 BCO Free-Cycle: Give or Trade Items Related to Breast Cancer
- 5.9K Clinical Trials, Research News, Podcasts, and Study Results
- 86 Coping with Holidays, Special Days and Anniversaries
- 828 Employment, Insurance, and Other Financial Issues
- 101 Family and Family Planning Matters
- Family Issues for Those Who Have Breast Cancer
- 26 Furry friends
- 1.8K Humor and Games
- 1.6K Mental Health: Because Cancer Doesn't Just Affect Your Breasts
- 706 Recipe Swap for Healthy Living
- 704 Recommend Your Resources
- 171 Sex & Relationship Matters
- 9 The Political Corner
- 874 Working on Your Fitness
- 4.5K Moving On & Finding Inspiration After Breast Cancer
- 394 Bonded by Breast Cancer
- 3.1K Life After Breast Cancer
- 806 Prayers and Spiritual Support
- 285 Who or What Inspires You?
- 28.7K Not Diagnosed But Concerned
- 1K Benign Breast Conditions
- 2.3K High Risk for Breast Cancer
- 18K Not Diagnosed But Worried
- 7.4K Waiting for Test Results
- 603 Site News and Announcements
- 560 Comments, Suggestions, Feature Requests
- 39 Mod Announcements, Breastcancer.org News, Blog Entries, Podcasts
- 4 Survey, Interview and Participant Requests: Need your Help!
- 61.9K Tests, Treatments & Side Effects
- 586 Alternative Medicine
- 255 Bone Health and Bone Loss
- 11.4K Breast Reconstruction
- 7.9K Chemotherapy - Before, During, and After
- 2.7K Complementary and Holistic Medicine and Treatment
- 775 Diagnosed and Waiting for Test Results
- 7.8K Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After
- 50 Immunotherapy - Before, During, and After
- 7.4K Just Diagnosed
- 1.4K Living Without Reconstruction After a Mastectomy
- 5.2K Lymphedema
- 3.6K Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment
- 591 Pain
- 3.9K Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After
- 8.4K Surgery - Before, During, and After
- 109 Welcome to Breastcancer.org
- 98 Acknowledging and honoring our Community
- 11 Info & Resources for New Patients & Members From the Team