What would you do?

Hi. I think with your moms history it’s reasonable to be on higher alert. Without knowing the details, it’s probably not unreasonable to get rechecked in 3 months. BUT if you would like a biopsy just to make sure, I think you should ask about that option. I have been lucky with all the doctors I seen throughout my treatment. We always talked about different options, different ways to approach things. And I will say that sometimes the wait and see approach is recommended, but if you ask, they can pursue the more definitive approach if it makes sense.

I found a distant spot that was a concern and the wait and see approach was recommended. I told the radiologist I was having a hard time with that. We did a bone biopsy, it was benign and I was able to lay my worry to rest. No harm would have been done with waiting (obviously knowing that afterward, but I was having a hard time with that approach. And they understood!

Sorry I don’t have any personal history with cysts...but more help will come along. Good luck with your situation!

Feedback to you thus far talks about reasonableness of seeking a second opinion or even asking about a biopsy and waiting as well if you are comfortable enough with that. I agree b/c of history it's reasonable to ask for additional evaluation sooner. It also seems reasonable to wait three months given the doc's expertise... Additional factors that may help you decide which is best for you is how you are sleeping, how preoccupied are you with worries/concerns about this or not as much, how are you doing taking care of your daily responsibilities, your belief you can cope and do all right enough with the waiting the next few months, etc.

Onlytimewilltell, sorry you are here and worried, but welcome! We know sometimes it is not easy, but we hope our members and their kind responses help you make the best decision. If you finally go for a second opinion, here's more information on how to do that, from the main Breastcancer.org site: Getting a Second Opinion.

Best wishes, whatever you decide!

The Mods

Posting pictures is not allowed. But posting information from radiology reports and pathology reports, or posting screen shots of these reports (blacking out any information that could identify the patient) is fine and often can be helpful.

Internal septation is an interesting one. From what I've read, if the cyst otherwise has the appearance of a simple cyst and there is just a single very narrow internal septation, then it's extremely likely to be benign. But a wide internal septation within a cyst, especially if associated with other concerning features (irregular shape, solid component, etc.) does present a greater risk. Those are usually rated BI-RADs4 and sent for biopsy immediately. Since your report says "probably benign" and doesn't describe any other irregularities, I would guess that your cyst fits the first description, not the second.

Because of your family history, if you want to be extra cautious, one option would be to see if you can get another radiologist or a breast specialist to look at the imaging, to confirm that this is basically a simple cyst with a narrow septation and doesn't have any other concerning features. Perhaps your OB could help with that - getting a copy of your imaging sent to a different radiologist for a quick assessment.