When I had a mammogram in Feb 2015 and the radiologist told me I needed a biopsy, I went home and googled pictures and found, much to my shock, that the biopsy is done with the woman face down with her boob(s) hanging through a hole in the table. The table raises up and the radiologist is in a chair and rolls under her and takes the tissue that way.
When I saw the pictures I freaked out, but so glad I knew what to expect. By the time I went in for the procedure, I was over the freakout. They did find a small cancer (<1 cm), I had a lumpectomy, and three weeks of radiation, no chemo.
My good friend is having a breast biopsy Thursday, so today we googled pictures and most of them show the woman lying on her back and the doctor or assistant is using an ultrasound wand to locate the tissue that needs to be biopsied.
Are both these methods still used? Is there some reason why the prone or supine method would be preferable?
Well, ignorance will be fought here today. I got the answer.
My friend who is having the biopsy tomorrow called to ask whether she would be face up or face down and the nurse said face up. She said if the mass is easily seen with a sonogram, due to position or something else, they can do it face up. I guess mine and ivylass’s were not, so we had them face down. My friend’s questionable spots are on the top of her breast, Mine were underneath.
I have known women who had a questionable mammogram and then a sonogram and then they were told it was nothing–that they were okay. I had the bad mammogram and went right to the biopsy with no sonogram at all.
When people say that their doctor pronounced them “cancer free,” I dunno… I don’t think you can say that with absolute certainty. You’re cancer free in the place they checked–that part is fairly certain.
Dropping the other shoe: my friend got her biopsy results, and she has invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC), stage 1. It’s the second most common type of best cancer after what I had, invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), also stage 1. She only found out today. Don’t have any real details yet, but statistically, the prognosis is good.
I entered “breast biopsy” into the search engine and found this thread.
Long story made short: I had a mammogram which revealed an area that warranted further investigation, and I’m going to have a needle biopsy next week. The radiologist said that the area in question is unlikely to be cancerous, but a biopsy is the only way to tell for sure. It was actually so small, she had to enlarge the image to see it. It looked like a river with a slightly wider spot in it, and she described it as an “architectural anomaly”.
Yeah, yeah, I know you’re not supposed to consult Dr. Google, but of course I did and scared the pants off myself. :smack: None of the images I saw looked anything like what I have.