What's my worst case scenario?

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umakemehappy
umakemehappy Member Posts: 42
edited June 2020 in Not Diagnosed But Worried

I'm the type who likes to come to terms with the WORST so that when I find out what it really is, I'm either prepared for it, or happily surprised it's not as awful as I'd imagined.

Finished herceptin for stage 1a triple positive in left breast 10 months ago (after taxol and radiation). Have been on tamoxifen ever since.

MRI yesterday found a 7mm "mass" (? not sure if this is the correct term) in my OTHER breast. Assigned Birads 4a.

So I know the odds are in my favor that it's benign, but I've never been really lucky, So.....

Maybe I'm starting all over again? Seeing as I just finished up treatment for triple +, is it most likely this one would be triple negative? Also, all my genetic testing came back negative, and I have zero family history. Heterogenerously dense breasts.

Right now I have that throw-up feeling, so need to come to terms with the worst this can be.

Biopsy is a week away. If I'm starting all over again, at least it's caught early again, sounds like? SOS.



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  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited June 2020

    umake - Oh I'm so sorry. I had a double mastectomy with clear margins. When I went in for my 2 years check up to transition away from appointments every 6 months, I had a lump by my collar bone. Yup - micro met escaped the first surgery and landed in a lymph node. I stayed hormone negative, but "luckily" this new recurrence was HER2+ so there were more treatment options.

    I didn't have genetic testing, but no family history either. Hoping this new mass is benign or will lend itself to easy treatment options. Holding you in my thoughts.


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  • Beesie
    Beesie Member Posts: 12,240
    edited June 2020

    Ah, crap, a new lump in the other breast is not what any of us ever want, and in your case, for this to happen so soon after you finished treatment... I'm sorry.

    So the good news is what you already know - a BIRADs 4a means that the Radiologist assesses a less than 10% risk that this is cancer. The other good news is that once we've been diagnosed, our doctors tend to be overly cautious. So your BIRADs 4a could quite likely be a BIRADs 3 for someone else, warranting only a 6 month follow-up because of the low risk.

    But if you are unlucky again? It could be anything. Since this mass is in the contralateral breast, it means it's not a recurrence of the first cancer, so anything is on the table. It might be invasive again, or it could be DCIS this time. It might be triple positive again, or it could be triple negative, or ER/PR+ and HER2-, or... I've been here long enough to have seen lots of new primaries that are the same or very similar to the previous diagnosis, and lots that are completely different.

    It's impossible to know what this is until you get the biopsy result. Hopefully you will land on the good side of the odds this time. After all, you are due for some good luck now, right? Hold onto that while you wait. And know that whatever is thrown at you, you will get through it, just as you already have. Good luck!

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  • beep7bop
    beep7bop Member Posts: 130
    edited June 2020

    Hi, I am beep7bop. I am in about the same boat as you. I had my ultrasound yesterday 6mm by 6mm mass. Waiting on call for my schedule of core needle biopsy. I had my reconstruction 6 months ago. Sorry you are going thru this. It is scary. But we will make it thru again with lots of help from this broad.

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  • kathinohio
    kathinohio Member Posts: 16
    edited June 2020

    Hope you're doing OK and get some good news.

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  • umakemehappy
    umakemehappy Member Posts: 42
    edited June 2020

    Thank you so much for thinking of me, kathinohio!!!! My biopsy was delayed a week, and so I just had it this am. Will find out Friday or Monday they say. The radiologist told me *sometimes* during second MRI they find that whatever was there is gone and that it was just some hormonal changes that absorbed the contrast. So I was hopeful. Then DURING MRI she said it's "less prominent" than it was when discovered 2 weeks ago, but she still thinks it'd be beneficial to biopsy. After biopsy she said: "after seeing the sample, my concern went waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down". So while I am feeling slightly better about the whole thing, I seriously do better preparing for the worst. I'll report back. I'm still scared! ; (

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  • 2019whatayear
    2019whatayear Member Posts: 767
    edited June 2020

    I hope you get the results super fast and that it's turns out to be nothing. I think Beesie reminds us of something very important, now that we have had cancer they really err on the side of caution on any potential abnormality that if someone w/o our history had they wouldn't even mark it as potentially suspicious. --its a double edged sword. High maintenance care but stressful for us!

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  • umakemehappy
    umakemehappy Member Posts: 42
    edited June 2020

    Thanks everyone for all the behind the scenes support...! Nurse called this am and I let it go to voicemail since I'm terrified. Thought I'd call back maybe tomorrow, hoping she might leave another voicemail just letting me off the hook.. Literally - I cannot deal with this and almost threw up. I checked MyChart hoping my results would be there, but no. Then I checked again, and this time it said "some surgery appts may not be showing here, so please call for details". So that to me meant they set up the lumpectomy, and so yep - this is it. Throw up feeling coming on really strong now. Went up to my closet and called back with my hands trembling. First she asked if this is a good time to talk. UGHHHH. And finally she said, she has good news, it's completely benign. All that stress and worry. I think I took at least 10 years off my life just worrying about it. Why can she not just say that in the voicemail?? I'm so relieved, but the anxiety has not just turned off. Trying to breathe to get this yucky feeling behind me. No idea how I can do this every 6 months for the rest of my life.

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  • Beesie
    Beesie Member Posts: 12,240
    edited June 2020

    First off, YAY!!! to completely benign!

    As for going through this every 6 months, it will get easier. And hopefully the callbacks will be few and far between. Remember too what I mentioned in my previous post - for those of us who've had breast cancer, our doctors usually err on the side of caution and recommend a biopsy for something that they might just watch with someone else. There is nothing fun about having a biopsy and anxiously waiting for results, but we are lucky if we have doctors who are extra careful.

    Congratulations on the good results!


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