I know others here have had these, and more besides, so I guess I’m reaching out because Dr Google isn’t much fun.
I was called for a routine mammogram just under two weeks ago (due to my age), using a 3D mammogram rather than the typical 2D as part of an NHS trial, and it picked up a small radial scar. Got a letter on Monday for tests this morning where I had an ultrasound followed by a needle biopsy, getting the results next Thursday, and don’t know what to do with myself.
The surgeon described the radial scar as ‘indeterminate rather than suspicious’… which is… good? God knows, they never speak in normal language.
I still talk occasionally with a former colleague, now retired, who recently went through the same experience. Everything turned out fine. In any case, the key words are, “SMALL radial scar”. Try not to fret.
Indeed, I’m glad things are moving quickly (and only had 36 hours to wait between getting the ‘call-back’ letter and the actual appointment). All seems very efficient so far and the staff at the clinic were all lovely. I was a bit unnerved with my final ‘interview’ with the nurse checking me out. I think she expected me to cry, now wondering if I had reason to.
8-10 years ago my gf had a suspicious “lump”. Her doctor couldn’t feel it, but suggested a mammogram anyway. The mammogram was questionable, so an ultrasound and needle biopsy were done. The entire time everyone told her “it’s likely nothing, but better to be cautious”.
Long story short, it was a very early cancer. Lumpectomy as an outpatient procedure was done, followed by radiation therapy. There were pills, but the genotype (?) of the tumor meant that chemotherapy was unnecessary (meanwhile, I shaved my head).
Yes, a molecule of water contains 2 hydrogen atoms.
And the solar system contains __ stars.
I hope the blank in the last sentence is still the number I learned when I was a kid.
A friend wrote this “story in 100 words” while waiting for her biopsy
Biopsy Results In Ten Days
I want these days to be about more than just waiting. How can they be? Waiting surrounds me, engulfs me, floods me…swirling, fast, faster than I can dog-paddle away… Things will never be the same again, even if, even if… Things will never be the same again, even if the white coats say all is well, even if what I’m awaiting turns out to be snip-snip-and-it’s-gone. I’ve caught a whiff that so permeated my nostrils my neural pathways my brain my heart, its remnants echo into the rest of whatever part of not-forever that I do get to see.
Good luck with the results. I think the recommendation to self-medicate with an adult beverage is spot-on. If that’s not your thing, or if you want to be able to drive yourself home, ice cream is a nice substitute (plus, hey, you likely need the calcium).
If it helps, I googled the percentage of biopsies that turn out just fine, and it’s something like 75% - so chances are, it’s just “my boobs are being stoopid” versus anything scary.
A friend of mine casually mentioned, a few months back, that she’d just scheduled a biopsy. I went . They wound up determining it was a “fat necrosis”, likely caused by a fall she’d had a month or two earlier (caught her heel, and basically face planted, except the boobs hit the ground first). She’d had her normal mammogram, and they caught a spot, hence the biopsy.
My wife once had a suspicious Pap smear and had to go back in for a more detailed exam and biopsy, which luckily came back clean. The waiting was hard.
I’ve had a couple of “we need to take a closer look” events.
The first, the original mammogram found an enlarged lymph node in my armpit. When they looked at it more closely, it was enlarged, but the proper donut shape, so was fine.
This last time, they saw a spot in the mammogram. When they looked at it with a sonogram (bloop bloop) the spot disappeared.
A mammogram found a suspicious spot in one of my breasts nine years ago. I had a lumpectomy and it turned out not to be cancer, but also to be concerning? Somehow? Although I obviously didn’t retain the pertinent information, no treatment was necessary, but I still have a breast specialist I see once a year, and I qualify for a yearly mammogram, ultrasound, and breast MRI, and I do them all!
Anyway, this is to say that there’s really no way not to worry until you get your results. But you have a team now and they’re going to take care of you.
The better they get at finding smaller and smaller irregularities, the more likely it becomes that the particular irregularity they just found will be benign. We’re all rooting for you.
Thank you everyone. I’m feeling much calmer about it all a day later. I figure if they find anything it’s early enough to treat effectively. Hope so, I’m moving house in a few weeks!
