Two New Lumps - 6 years after initial diagnosis

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Two New Lumps - 6 years after initial diagnosis

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  • waiting-to-exhale
    waiting-to-exhale Member Posts: 61
    edited December 2020

    I can't believe I am here again. I found 2 hard lumps by accident on my reconstructed breast (cancer side). They are both above my masectomy scar - 1" and 2" above. Both lumps are hard. One feels like it is attached attached to the breast implant.

    I don't feel good about this. The lumps feel very similar to last time immovable, hard, pea sized

    I found the lump a week ago. I have my ultrasound and biopsy tomorrow morning at 7:30am. I feel so sick with dread.

    I am hoping the radiologist can give me a sense of what it is. Last time my lumps were rated as BIRAD 4C and they gave it to me straight that they were pretty sure it was cancer.

    I finished my 5 years of tamoxifen and zoladex this summer. Could this have caused me to relapse? I was worried about stopping the medication.

    I also found these lumps exactly 6 years after I found my last lumps. Within the same week in December. That's really freaking me out.

    Anyways, I just wanted to surround myself with you ladies - there is no one else who knows what this feels like. Anyone else waiting?

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

    waiting - sorry no one has answered yet. Hopefully you'll get good news this morning. Please do let us know.

  • Jons_girl
    Jons_girl Member Posts: 696
    edited December 2020

    hello. I’m here for support too. I haven’t gone through a recurrence. But I have a screening mri next week. Hoping all is ok. I get screenings every 6 mo. (Treatment).

    Keep us posted on how your appt goes. Sending a hug your way.

  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 4,800
    edited December 2020

    ugh the waiting sucks. Good for you for checking and finding them though. Fingers crossed for you tomorrow. Radiology technicians have never told me anything so maybe don't expect to know until later this week or maybe even next, if everyone is waiting for pathology

  • LivinLife
    LivinLife Member Posts: 1,332
    edited December 2020

    I have not undergone a recurrence either thought want to send support and well wishes for good results. I really hear your genuine concern though....

  • waiting-to-exhale
    waiting-to-exhale Member Posts: 61
    edited December 2020

    Thank you ladies! I had a bit of a whirlwind day. I went in at 7:00am and the ultrasound technician told me that what she saw didn't look like cancer. The radiologist came in and said that it looked like fat necrosis and because I had a fat transfer as part of my reconstruction with implant, she felt pretty confident it wasnt cancer. They sent me for a mammogram to take another look. They saw some hypoechoic areas (?) and decided to do a biopsy. They still feel that it is more likely to be b9.

    So I am feeling optimistic and thankfully those feelings of terror are gone. I forgot how emotionally exhausting cancer is. The scary thing is how similar these new lumps are to my old lumps. I will have my results in a week so will confirm then.

    My heart goes out to everyone on this board who is currently going through treatment or awaiting results. The stress, anxiety, terror, grief, sorrow is so overwhelming. Wishing all of you a peaceful couple of weeks over the holidays. I will let you all know when I get my results.

  • Mudstick
    Mudstick Member Posts: 100
    edited December 2020

    waiting-to-exhale - I'm so sorry you are going through all this stress right before Christmas. I'm really, REALLY happy to read that they decided to take a biopsy - because I dodged a bullet after feeling a small bb or pea sized lump that the docs thought would just be fat necrosis.....

    I felt a small, hard lump in my mastectomy scar, just 14 months after my surgery and recon. My SO said she really didn't think it would be anything other than fat necrosis, but sent me for an u/s and mammo. The radiologist labelled the lump a BIRADS 3 and recommended I return for imaging in 6 months to see if it changed. I was not comfortable with that recommendation and requested a biopsy (which actually turned out to be an excisional biopsy/lumpectomy). Thank goodness I did, because not only was it an IDC recurrence that had quickly grown (probably b/c I had a positive anterior margin of DCIS), if I had have waited, I would have been stuck in all the medical slowdowns/shutdowns due to the Covid outbreak that hit about a month after my surgery!!!

    Sending you well wishes and I hope you hear results soon. Fingers crossed it is B9!

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

    I'm glad they went ahead and did a biopsy and I hope you get some fast results that show it is benign Worrying sucks!

  • Jons_girl
    Jons_girl Member Posts: 696
    edited December 2020

    Keep us posted. Hoping it is b9. Waiting is the worst. We are here though if you want to chat. Sending a hug your way.

  • waiting-to-exhale
    waiting-to-exhale Member Posts: 61
    edited December 2020

    Mudstick - you are so right! The radiologist initially tried to say that I didn't need a biopsy after the ultrasound and that we should keep an eye on it over time. Right...I don't think so. I told her that my initial cancer was fast growing and that to me every day matters. She said if it was a cancer it looked slow growing. I think my side eye I gave her on that one changed her approach.

    Ladies! Make sure you advocate for yourselves. We are all raised to be deferential to authority figures like doctors. We can often be too polite and not want to make waves. Our health comes first, let's not every forget that we know our bodies better than anyone else. Ok will get off my soapbox :)

  • Jons_girl
    Jons_girl Member Posts: 696
    edited December 2020

    I agree with what you said waiting to....!! Advocating for ourselves.......is soooo important. I was being pretty much pushed into radiation and taking meds. I asked them why when there was little in the way of trials showing it would benefit me grately. I said no and my MO said he would support my decision. So far so good. But I don't understand why they don't just give the facts and then let people make decisions instead of pushing. The nurses were horrible at my MO's office when they would talk to me on the phone....condescending...especially one or two of them. That isn't what we need when we have cancer. We need support. So I didn't go back, he semi retired I think. And I chose a new MO and am happy with my new MO, very supportive and office nurse too. It is sad there are people in the cancer field who aren't supportive....but advocating is soooo important you are right!!

  • waiting-to-exhale
    waiting-to-exhale Member Posts: 61
    edited December 2020

    Well I got the good news just before xmas. The lumps are fat necrosis.

  • Mudstick
    Mudstick Member Posts: 100
    edited December 2020

    Yay!!!

    What a relief

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