Received Imaging Report - Panicking

circe221
circe221 Member Posts: 11
edited December 2019 in Not Diagnosed But Worried

Received my imaging report and here is what it says - my repeat mammogram and ultrasound are tomorrow.

FINDINGS:

The breast tissue is composed of scattered fibroglandular densities.

In the retroareolar region of the left breast approximately 4.4 cm from

nipple there is a lobulated 1.5 cm mass.

Best seen:

Left 3-D CC 33/65;

Left 3-D MLO 45/71.

Recommended are additional views and ultrasound as needed.

On the right, there are no suspicious findings.

IMPRESSION:

1. Focal asymmetry left breast which additional imaging is recommended.

There are scattered areas of fibroglandular density.

BIRAD CATEGORY: OA - INCOMPLETE: NEED ADDITIONAL IMAGING EVALUATION.

Comments

  • djmammo
    djmammo Member Posts: 2,939
    edited December 2019
  • circe221
    circe221 Member Posts: 11
    edited December 2019

    Djmammo - I am concerned about the wording - "lobulated mass" this does not sound good...

  • djmammo
    djmammo Member Posts: 2,939
    edited December 2019

    circe221

    On what are you basing the concern over the word "lobulated" ?

    see: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211568413003872

    Rads won't draw any conclusions from such mammographic findings, as they can be rather nonspecific or in some cases not even real. Best to wait until you have the ultrasound. Let us know what that shows.

    As far as Googling is concerned many people find it upsetting so I always advise waiting until they have a diagnosis so that they can do some focused research on a reliable academic web site and learn about it, otherwise searching random terms out of context from a screening mammo report can be just a cruel guessing game.

  • circe221
    circe221 Member Posts: 11
    edited December 2019

    Guilty as charged - I googled because I didn't know what "lobulated" meant and of course,the word "mass" seems scary.

    Ultrasound is today at 3:30 so will hopefully have some more information. I just can't take the waiting - I did finally ask my GP for some anti-anxiety meds which helped me sleep last night.

    Another factor I did not share initially is that I went through 4 rounds of IVF treatment which included many hormonal injections from 2016-2018. Sadly they were not successful in resulting in a viable pregnancy, but of course my mind is now going to that as a possible factor in all of this.

  • djmammo
    djmammo Member Posts: 2,939
    edited December 2019

    circe221

    I would guess that those injections would have increased your density on mammo but I dont know that there is hard evidence of a link with BC

    See this link: https://www.breastcancer.org/research-news/study-shows-ivf-doesnt-increase-risk

  • circe221
    circe221 Member Posts: 11
    edited December 2019

    Well I just got home from my appointment and thank God it was some sort of fibroglandular spot (I forget the actual terminology used).

    I had a minor meltdown in the waiting area, and the technician that did the ultrasound was so nice. I told her how bad my anxiety had been all week and how worried I was. As she was scanning, she said, "I don't see anything", which alarmed me, then she said the radiology doctor was looking at my mammogram films and would be in shortly. He came in and did another ultrasound, and said that what they flagged had been there since at least my 2017 mammogram, but for some reason, perhaps the way the breast was compressed, it showed up more this time.

    I explained my panic and he was very kind and understanding, he spent about 10 minutes using the ultrasound wand to go all over my breast and then said that it was a fibroglandular cyst, and that it was benign. I asked about biopsy and he said there really wasn't anything to biopsy, and that my mammogram schedule would remain the same, come back in 1 year, and that now that we have a better picture of this area/spot and know it is there we can monitor for any changes. He said the report would be available online and sent to my gyn - I am still going to follow up with the gyn just to ensure there is nothing more that I have to do test-wise on my end and to make sure they are in agreement with the radiologist's assessment.

    Needless to say, I am extremely relieved, and feel like I will have a stress "hangover" for the next few days.

    Thankful to everyone who posted and for this supportive community!

Categories