Spiculated looking area on mammogram

Hi everyone,

I went and got my first mammogram yesterday morning. It was quick and painless and easy!

The tech told me that I should get results in a week, didn’t elaborate beyond that except that in about 95% of first mammograms they call back the patient for additional testing as they don’t have any other mammograms as a baseline for what they see (or something along those lines)

I asked if I could see the images and she pulled them up on the screen for me to see. The very first thing I spot was a bright white blob that (to me) looked like what I see online of a spiculated mass. It was sort of rectangular in shape with spikes protruding from it. I know about spiculated masses from doing a lot of reading up on breast cancer when my sister had a scare. I didn’t ask about it, and she didn’t point out anything to me.

Of course my mind is racing! My question is, can spiculated looking areas be mistaken for just regular ol dense breast tissue? I’m definitely not a trained radiologist 😂 but what I saw was pretty glaringly white and obvious.

Thanks! That is reassuring!! Yes, I almost wish i took a photo of my mammogram so i could scrutinize it here at home, instead I only have what I THINK I saw in my mind. I understand why they would not want to give anyone the images to take home with them (like an ultrasound for a pregnancy?) because people like me will be worrying and trying to diagnose themselves, haha.

this wait is so hard! why will it take a week, when after my sisters mammogram they had a radiologist some in immediately to address the concern that very day? I went to an imaging center, so maybe there weren't any radiologists there.

Hope yours turns out okay. When the breast surgeon showed me my mammogram, my cancer looked like a black hole. I think it was described as spiculated in the radiologist's report, but to me it looked like a black hole.

I almost wish i took a photo of my mammogram so i could scrutinize it here at home

Are you a radiologist with years of experience in reading and interpreting mammograms? If not, that would just be an exercise in futility, speculation, and mental distress. Go concentrate on doing fun things until you get your actual interpretation. Your breasts aren't your sister's, and she didn't have a problem anyway, correct? A "scare" is not an actual medical issue.

Apathetic - it may sound harsh, but Alice is right. Try to focus on anything else except the pending results. Waiting is hard but do plan some fun things that you've been wanting to do to keep you mind occupied.

To AliceBastable's point, breast radiologists are doctors with 10-12 years of training. I've had lots of mammogram and ultrasound imaging over the years and I've had more call-backs than I can remember for conditions from simple cysts to breast cancer. The one thing I know for sure is that I cannot accurately interpret what I see on the screen or in the images on-line. I don't even attempt it. And I always advise people who come to this site to not attempt it either.

Edited to add:

Thinking about this more, first off, while you of course can ask to see the images, the tech should not have shown them to you. Her job to do the screening and say nothing and she should have known better. Second, if the tech saw something that was clearly a concern, she would have to be an absolute idiot to show you the imaging. I trust that she is not an idiot.