Had an ultrasound today and I am in a state of panic.

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PaperCats08
PaperCats08 Member Posts: 2
edited March 2019 in Waiting for Test Results

I'm 29 with no family history of breast cancer. Mom has fibrous breasts and is prone to cysts which are always benign. When I was 19, I found a round lump in my breast tissue near my nipple. Got two ultrasounds and they both came back as fluid-filled benign cyst but the doctor recommended I follow up with one ultrasound a year for two years to make sure there were no changes. I was living in the US at the time and had no insurance so I couldn't afford it.

I moved back to Canada this year and got my healthcare so I decided to go get it checked out. I've always assumed I have fibrous breasts. They're small so I can clearly feel the super lumpy tissue on both breasts. It's mostly on the outside near my armpits and it becomes super lumpy and painful during my period. I'm currently on my period now and my appointment was today. The cyst near the nipple looked the same as far as I could tell on the screen. But the ultrasound tech went to the lumpy part on the outside of my breast and marked it as "area of interest" on the screen. After the ultrasound she told me to stay there for a moment and she called the radiologist on the phone. They whispered a bit and I couldn't hear what she was saying. She then came back in and told me that I was all done and my doctor would call me in a bit over a week if there were issues. I asked if I would get results if there weren't issues and she said "I can see you're worried so call your doctor in a little over a week for the results".

This is bad, right? The fact that she made me wait while she spoke to the radiologist in a hushed tone and the fact that she marked the fibrous area as an area of interest?

I'm so scared. What's this "area of interest" thing and why did she call the radiologist after? That never happened during the two ultrasounds I had in the states. If I have cancer and it has been sitting there for years, it's probably super advanced, right? How can I stop myself from freaking out for the next week? I want to cry.

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  • Salamandra
    Salamandra Member Posts: 1,444
    edited March 2019

    Hi PaperCats08,

    I don't think it's necessarily bad. I think she called the radiologist because she didn't feel confident making the call herself. That might be because of protocol for fibrous breasts, or because she is not that experienced. As far as marking it as an area of interest, it might be something as simple as what your previous doctor told you - their way of saying this is an area they want to keep an eye on.

    I will say that I was told *at* my ultrasound that I should schedule a biopsy. If they really suspected it was cancer, I guess they would have told you the same. The fact that they are telling you to wait for results tells me that it doesn't look like obviously cancer to them, but they want to be careful and review it to rule it out.

    Honestly, so many medical practitioners are just bad at communicating with patients. It's frustrating and leads to so much extra stress, but it is what it is.

    I doubt you have cancer that's been spreading for years. You would be having physical symptoms. They would have at least ultra-sounded your lymph nodes. I think it's far more likely that the Canadian medical team is following slightly different protocols and different vocabulary than the American ones, being appropriately cautious with a patient's whose fibrous breasts they are seeing for the first time (and during your period too), and aren't great at communicating to you what's going on. My guess is that it will turn out to be benign and they'll send you for the same kind of follow up screening that they did in America. But if it is malignant, I bet it'll be early stage. And no matter what it is, I bet you'll be able to face it and deal with it, once you know the reality.

    Hang in there!

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  • PaperCats08
    PaperCats08 Member Posts: 2
    edited March 2019

    Sigh, still no results yet and it has been a week. I've done some things to get my mind off of it -- swimming, cooking, going to work, watching movies, etc. But when I have down time I just worry. Thank you for making me feel a bit better!

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  • kber
    kber Member Posts: 394
    edited March 2019

    For what it's worth (and that may not be much) I suspect if they were very concerned they would have figured out how to get the results back in less time.  In some counter intuitive way, the longer it takes the less likely you are to get bad news, perhaps?

    However, it's not fair to worry you and then make you wait.  

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  • Runrcrb
    Runrcrb Member Posts: 577
    edited March 2019

    it’s not necessarily bad. In the US, the technician can’t diagnose which is probably similar in Canada and why she didn’t share much. As an example, I once broke my thumb. Although clear on the xray, the radiologist (MD) had to read the xray and tell me it was broken. Fibrous breasts and changes that follow your cycle seem like a good sign to me. (I am not a doctor)

    Call your doctor if she/he hasn’t called you.

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  • AliceBastable
    AliceBastable Member Posts: 3,461
    edited March 2019

    When I was told (after the mammogram) to come in for an ultrasound, they added "and a biopsy if necessary." So NOT having it at the same time, and waiting a week for results, sounds like a very good thing to me.

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  • Elephant
    Elephant Member Posts: 88
    edited March 2019

    When they saw something on my ultrasound, they immediately said that I needed a biopsy. I think the fact that they did not say anything about a biopsy to you is reassuring. I think that you should try and get in touch with your doctor.

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