Starting my journey and nervous

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Misguidedbecky
Misguidedbecky Member Posts: 4
edited December 2020 in Not Diagnosed But Worried

Hey all! I'm new hear, just starting on my journey. I had my first mammogram on 11/28 (I turned 40 in August). I had to have it repeated on 12/8 with an ultrasound. My doc called me later that evening. They found an irregular solid nodule in the right breast. It's a BI-RAD score of 5. I've met with a specialist and will be having a 3D mammogram and ultrasound guided core needle biopsy on 1/6. I'm a little nervous. Wondering how many BI-RAD 5 masses are actually cancerous?

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

    hi, sorry you find yourself in this stressful situation. There's a 5% chance BIRADS 5 turns out benign.

    https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/breast_center/trea...

    Hoping for the best for you. The waiting for procedures and results really sucks. Hang in there.

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  • Misguidedbecky
    Misguidedbecky Member Posts: 4
    edited December 2020

    yes, I find the waiting is brutal!! I've tried to do all the research I can. It seems that BI-RAD 5 can be pretty serious. I'm just trying to stay positive but be prepared as best I can too.

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

    Welcome Misguided though I'm sure you'd prefer not to need to be here....! moth is right on how hard the waiting is though you have been experiencing that for a time now. Certainly sounds like there is reason for concerned given BIRADS 5. The unknowns add to worry so that does not help you right now - minds wonder too much.... Do what you can to engage in activities providing relaxation and enjoyment even if the worry thoughts remain.... Look up diaphragmatic breathing on YouTube if you're not already familiar, download the CALM or Headspace app, look at the dog and cat and humor forums here on this site.... anything that can help distract for the next near week and 1/2.

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  • Misguidedbecky
    Misguidedbecky Member Posts: 4
    edited December 2020

    This seems like a great community! Already lots of support ❤

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  • Taralynn
    Taralynn Member Posts: 99
    edited December 2020

    hello! So sorry you’ve found yourself here. Good for you for being proactive with scheduling that first mammogram. Hopefully what they found turns out benign, but like I was told with my birads 5, hope for the best but prepare for the worst. There are people making up that 5% and you could very well be one of them!

    Did you get any further information from the mammogram? Or just that it’s a solid nodule? Keep us posted, the ladies here are very knowledgeable and supportive

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  • Bailey5
    Bailey5 Member Posts: 63
    edited December 2020

    I just saw another thread you may be interested in...it may prove helpful (even more so than doing research—docs are the experts there; sometimes too little info or too much can not prove helpful at all—finding the right team of docs/nurses/social workers you can trust (if you don’t like them ZFIRE them (well in positive manner)and this Forum wish I had seen this before...”waiting for test results”

    Something like worrying about tommorow saps your energy from m today—worrying won’t change your answers; it is what it is...you will find out & then be supported in finding your way.

    Again praying you’ll find your way off this Forum & be in the 5% group


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  • Salamandra
    Salamandra Member Posts: 1,444
    edited December 2020

    Welcome MisguidedBecky, these forums are a treasure.

    I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago, at 39. My birads 5 turned out to be cancerous. I went through a terrible maelstrom of emotions - worsened by the fact that my mother died of de novo metastatic breast cancer twenty years previously. In fact, my cancer turned out to be small and very treatable, but it turns out that the process to get all that information felt endless and miserable!

    In the end, the physical reality of it was so much more manageable than the emotional fears - despite having difficulty finding long term hormonal treatment I could tolerate. My long term prognosis is excellent and I rarely worry about it.

    Hopefully you will beat the odds and it's not cancer. But if it is, I wish I could spare you the angst I went through in the immediate aftermath. I was too scared to even come to the boards, but if I had, I think what I would have needed to hear is that the vast vast majority of cancer found through screening (as yours was) is early stage and very treatable.

    Good luck!

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  • Misguidedbecky
    Misguidedbecky Member Posts: 4
    edited December 2020

    I have pictures of the area but I cant post them. I've been calling it Darth Tumor because it looks like Darth Vader's head 🤣 (yes I have to keep the humor going!)

    Aside from that, this is what the mammo report says


    FINDINGS: There are scattered areas of fibroglandular density.

    Views of the right breast demonstrate the nodule at the medial right breast middle depth. No associated calcifications are identified. The margins are irregular. Ultrasound demonstrates a solid lesion with shadowing.

    Ultrasound report says solid nodule with irregular margins at the 3:00 location approximately 4 cm from the nipple. There is posterior shadowing and a taller than wide configuration, findings suspicious for malignancy. This lesion corresponds to the abnormality seen on mammography.

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