Can anyone educate me on this?

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trippinplus1
trippinplus1 Member Posts: 11
edited February 2021 in Not Diagnosed But Worried

Good evening everyone! I have been mostly a lurker for over a year now. Last January I had an excisional biopsy on my left breast due to Architectural distortion. Final biopsy results was ALH. Because of that they started me on a yearly rotation of MRI of the breast followed up 6 months later with a mammogram. I had an MRI August 6 and all came back fine. Well this week I had my mammogram which turned intoextra images of the right breast and then an U/S. Radiologist said he “sees a mass with blood flow” in the milk duct and would like to biopsy it. This is on the other breast now! I think I am more frustrated and annoyed more than scared at this point. Will I continue to go through this in all my years to come? Also why did he specify that the mass has blood flow? Could that potentially be a bad thing? Thank you in advance for your advice and guidance. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

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  • LivinLife
    LivinLife Member Posts: 1,332
    edited February 2021

    Sorry you have been dealing with all this trippin! Possibly this could be a year after year thing with the ALH -I say this b/c after my final pathology came back after surgery I had a whole host of different benign and pre-cancerous conditions in addition to the DCIS we already knew about. The surgeon's PA told me I definitely had the right surgery b/c otherwise I would have had call back after call back and likely many biopsies in my future for benign and precancerous findings - some of which can turn cancerous, others not.... And this was my left breast - I already had multiple call backs and 2 stereotactic biopsies in my "healthy breast." I understand your frustration with all this - another reason I'm so thankful I had a bilateral mastectomy - be dealing with little to none of that (hopefully) going forward.

    I'm also wondering if the new find might be DCIS from your description...?? If so please know that is a pre-cancerous and pre-invasive condition which would be good news if you have a finding. I hope that turns out to be the case for you... When is the next biopsy scheduled or do you know yet? please keep us updated....

  • Rain88
    Rain88 Member Posts: 167
    edited February 2021

    Tripinnplus1, I believe your radiologist is doing due diligence and doesn't leave anything to chance. It is known that, while malignant tumors are usually more vascular, there are also benign tumors that display vascularity. He is simply being thorough and that's a good thing. All the poking and prodding is certainly annoying, to say the least, but a biopsy is not that bad, all things considered. In my opinion, is better to know where you stand. Good luck!

  • trippinplus1
    trippinplus1 Member Posts: 11
    edited February 2021

    Thank you for your feedback. Considering my last excisional biopsy was barely a year ago I am really afraid that I am going to be cut on often at this point. It’s so frustrating and while I know people are going through much worse I still feel like I am not up for doing this every year or even every few years. The biopsy isn’t a big deal but I have a huge scar from the excisional. I am scheduled to have the biopsy this Thursday and then will follow up with my oncologist the following week for results. I will keep you oosted

  • Rain88
    Rain88 Member Posts: 167
    edited February 2021

    Uuhh, trippinnplus1, excisional biopsies are tough! I didn't realise you hat that. I only had a couple of core needle biopsies and thought they were unplesant, but ok. I hope you'll get good results next week.

  • MelissaDallas
    MelissaDallas Member Posts: 7,268
    edited February 2021

    trippinplus1, I thought at the beginning that I too would be in for an endless series of biopsies. I had an ultrasound biopsy six months after my excisional one. Turns out the second thing had been on “watch” all along, but not mentioned. It was a complicated cyst, which I told the radiologist I would have been comfortable with just watching, and she agreed she would too. Since I was there we went ahead and did the biopsy and of course it was benign. I have had nothing since. The one thing that gets discussed less is how expensive this all gets when so many people have very high annual deductibles. Who has five or ten thousand dollars a year to spend o MRIs, biopsies, etc?

  • trippinplus1
    trippinplus1 Member Posts: 11
    edited February 2021

    thank you Rain! I will keep you posted

  • trippinplus1
    trippinplus1 Member Posts: 11
    edited February 2021

    Thank you Rain! I will keep you guys posted 🤞🏻

    MelissaDallas- that is promising to hear. Hoping that will be the case for me. And yes- the costs of all of this is astounding and these days they expect so much up front. Who can do that? Especially since my divorce was finalized just last week (yes, two days before all this happened) and now I am on my own. 🤦🏼♀️

  • MelissaDallas
    MelissaDallas Member Posts: 7,268
    edited February 2021

    I get it! I am a family law paralegal and “do divorces” for a living

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