The results of my biopsy (For those awaiting results)

Great news!!! Thanks for sharing your story. I am one waiting in limbo after a callback and really having a hard time. Your story gives me hope

Thank you WhiteLinen for sharing your story. The waiting is indeed mental torture. Keep us posted, CUGymGirl!

Hi, I am new here but have read the posts for a while now. I feel that I have been put through the mill these past two months and at a very prestigious Boston breast center. Two months ago I got a callback for my right breast. but couldn't get in for the diagnostic tests for a month. This hospital has a 25-year record of all nature of my mammograms and ultrasounds. After the diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound, the radiologist said I needed a biopsy to examine a 4mm irregular mass, which didn't show at all on the mammogram. It was designated birads c, so not good. The very young radiologist looked like she had seen a ghost. The stereotactic biopsy was scheduled for two weeks later.

At the biopsy, which was conducted sitting up, standing up and finally sitting, took two hours from start to finish. The radiologist kept saying they couldn't find it and that I would need a closer look by a breast surgeon. I said, Do you know what you're doing? Why don't I just see the surgeon rather than continue on here? This was an hour in. She kept maneuvering and her assistant kept squishing until she was satisfied that they could grab the area and proceeded to take 10 core samples. The actual biopsy itself was nothing compared to the smashing and squishing.

After the biopsies were being prepared, the radiologist warned me again, that they may not be adequate and she may not be happy with the results. It was clear from the start that she couldn't get good biopsies because the area was just under the skin. After more mammograms and the insertion of a metal clip I was sent on my way to wait for my results.

After the weekend, I received a call from my internist's office with the good news, that the tissue was benign. We were all relieved here and I thought I could just carry on. But no, the radiologist chased me down two days later, with the news that the pathology report was discordant with was she was expecting to see: some type of malignancy that didn't show up. I got a number to another affiliated breast center to see a breast cancer surgeon on Monday.

Now, I ask you, anybody, doesn't the fact that my private physician's office would call me with good news, which now sounds as though it isn't, just weird and wrong? I had asked the radiologist, What did you do--miss? She said, Well, not all of it and at least these samples of the area show that whatever it is isn't spread throughout. My husband thought this biopsy and the "results" and the need for further investigation just smacks of ineptitude and plain bad medicine.

Hopefully I will know more on Monday.

Welcome TheAgedP! I too feel for what you went through. The last stereotactic I had was a tremendous amount of squishing and "rolling" which was much more uncomfortable and frankly maddening than the actual biopsy itself. They finally went in another way which made all the difference.... wish they would've done that sooner

I too hope you will start your own thread if you haven't already - I haven't seen many of the new posts yet today - just starting to see these as I signed in this morning. Think about the news you received from both your primary care and the radiologist. Then consider questions you have for the surgeon, esp. given you want a different experience with any additional biopsy. Please let us know how that appointment goes...

TheAgedP - I'm so sorry for what you've gone through the last two months. I had a similar experience earlier this year. My feeling is that diagnosing breast cancer is mostly science and a little bit of an art. My perception based on my mom's diagnosis in the 1980's and my previous biopsy in 1999 was that if a diagnostic screening found area(s) of concern, then a needle biopsy was performed and a clear cut diagnosis was made. Unfortunately, breast cancer can be sneaky and there are benign conditions that can mimic cancer so a clear diagnosis after a needle biopsy is not always possible. I completely understand the frustration at initially receiving benign results only to be told a few days later that the results are discordant. The positive side to this is that the breast center did their job, noted the discordant results and quickly contacted you.

Hoping for a quick resolution and benign results for you. Please keep us updated.

Radiologists and surgeons generally prefer to do a needle biopsy rather than a surgical biopsy. So even suspecting that it might be difficult to get a good sample, usually an attempt is made at doing a needle biopsy before signing the patient up for surgery, which is a much more serious procedure. I knew before my stereotactic biopsy that the odds weren't good that it would be successful, and the radiologist mentioned that again during the procedure. I appreciated the honesty, and appreciated that the effort was being made to try to avoid surgery. As for the procedure itself, it was long and difficult and I almost passed out at one point - I remember the cold compress on my forehead and the nurse holding a juice box for me to sip so that I could get some sugars into me. So a pretty awful experience but all these years later what I remember most about the procedure was how kind and caring everyone was.

As for your PCP's office calling too quickly... the biggest complaint on this board is when doctor's offices have results and don't call immediately, making patients wait longer than necessary. It seems you have an excellent doctor who does call immediately. There is no way that the doctor could have known that there would be an addendum to the report highlighting that the results were discordant - that's not what usually happens so it wouldn't be built into the process. These days, many of facilities have patient portals; at my facility reports go onto the portal as soon as they are released. So even without a call from my doctor, if there was a report and then later an addendum, I would see the initial results, not knowing an addendum is coming, and then I would see the addendum later. Not ideal when the addendum is a negative addition, but to me, it's still better than anxiously waiting days for a call as I used to do.

I appreciate that you are upset about what happened, and I understand why. I am just offering up my perspective, as someone who went through pretty much exactly the same thing.

Good luck with your appointment tomorrow. I hope it goes well. Please let us know.