MRI guided biopsy on 12/1/20

Welcome TLW! You're in good company here with many understanding this worry even if in different ways. The waiting is the hardest time. I'd add, esp. when you don't know what is really going on with your body yet and what the plan is. The biopsy will clarify what is going on and will help in developing a plan. It may seem difficult to believe now though you will be able to walk whatever your path is. There is a lot of support and helpful information for you on this site. The latter will be more helpful once you know what is actually going on.

I just had another MRI breast biopsy last Sept. It just showed some atypical cells (which I've had several times before, and I have different risk factors than you have.)

Waiting is very hard.

In general, breast MRIs do catch more breast cancers in women with very dense breasts, but, still the number of breast cancers found is quite low. In this 2019 study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31774954/ they invited about 8000 women who had a normal mammogram and extremely dense breasts to have, in addition, an MRI, of which about 60% accepted. So you have roughly 60% of 8000 women or about 4800 women who got a breast MRI. In these 4800 women, they found 20 interval cancers that were diagnosed in the MRI-invitation group, 4 were diagnosed in the women who actually underwent MRI (0.8 per 1000 screenings). So that is about 4 out of 4800, or about 0.1%, who were diagnosed with an interval cancer (in other words during the 2 year screening interval.) Different studies differ, but this is the latest study I could find about breast MRIs in women with very dense breasts.

I'm putting out this data in order to try to help comfort you. Apparently the women in this study did not have an ultrasound like you have had, which would presumably increase the rate of breast cancer. But 0.1% is a pretty low number to start with.

For me, nothing takes away the 'But what if' thoughts, but if you are like the women in this study it was quite low. Please let us know how it goes for you.

In my book, there is no need to apologize. Several people here, while they were waiting to be diagnosed, were planning their funerals, down to the songs to be played. I'm not trying to belittle them: some people are scared out of their wits. Emotions do not believe in statistics, especially if you have had trauma.

I think that 'Expecting the worst' is probably part of our DNA, though I think people who have a history of trauma have it worse. Just think, if you were in the savanna, and saw the grass sway, its the people who guessed it was a lion in the grass that had a chance of surviving, not the people who just thought the wind was blowing. The people who thought it was just the wind blowing got eaten.

The only way you can get diagnosed for sure with breast cancer (except perhaps the unusual inflammatory breast cancer, which you don't have the symptoms for) is to take a piece of breast tissue and look at it under the microscope. In this study of breast MRI biopsies, Of the 155 biopsied lesions, 23 (15%) were malignant, 106 (68%) were benign, and 26 (17%) were high risk https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28835335/

I'm so glad you have the help of a good therapist. I found that invaluable too.

Hang in there. You've met huge challenges before. You have every right to feel whatever you are feeling. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks for letting us know how things went Artemis! I tell you - what you described with the in and out of the MRI machine, etc. is just another reason I'm so glad I had a BMX! I never had the MRI guided biopsy though had a breast MRI and three stereotactic biopsies - so glad I won't have to have those again! Please let us know when you hear about results. Be kind to yourself during the waiting - taking good care of you the best you can....

Awesome Artemis!!! Give yourself time for this news to settle in - I hear your shock... Glad they will follow up in 6 months too. That will offer more assurance during this interim.