BIRADS-4, have to wait a month for biopsy, losing my mind.
Hi... this is my first post here.
On Feb. 9 I had my routine mammogram. Showed possible developing asymmetry. Had to wait 3 weeks just to get a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound, which was torture. But at least for those 3 weeks I was able to convince myself it's nothing, it's folded over tissue, it's your implant, it's a scar, etc. etc.
Diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound occur - and I could see on their faces it wasn't nothing. I have a BIRADS-4 (it wasn't graded a, b, or c) superficial hypoechoic mass, 5x3x7mm (so at least it's a tiny little thing) with angular/irregular margins. I need a biopsy obviously. And now I have to wait until MARCH 29 (I'm on a wait list - but the breast center said the demand right now is just unprecedented).
I am losing my mind. I am completely losing my mind. I had what felt like a mental breakdown last night. There is so much medical literature available on the Googles and, needless to say, angular margins is...not good. Also it's a tiny bit taller than it is wide. I'm trying to comfort myself with "at least it's not lobulated, at least it's not spiculated, at least it doesn't show major vascularity, maybe there's a chance..." which seems utterly surreal to even know about. Mostly now I'm just wondering if it's in my armpit, which I won't even know after the biopsy, that will just be another long wait.
My obgyn is trying to get me in sooner with a different hospital system. Fingers crossed. Otherwise by the time I have this biopsy it will be 2 months of living like this. Making things worse on my mental state is that I have a very high level, demanding, corporate executive job. I'm in the middle of a business planning cycle and all I can think about is "will I be doing chemo and how will I lead these initiatives" - again, totally surreal.
I am 44, no history of BC in my family (no history of cancer AT ALL actually - we are dementia/Parkinson's people). Feel nothing. No symptoms. So this was a complete shock - although I guess that's why we do these screening things. I barely even have any breast tissue - I am 90% implants (I know, I know, cancer doesn't discriminate - it's just frustrating because these boobs never did anything good for me).
I don't even know what my question is or if I have a question.... this just feels like purgatory and I thought somebody might be able to relate. I am taxing my husband to the absolute limit with my emotions and can't talk to anyone else right now.
Thanks for reading... 
Comments
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Dear gymratkat,
Welcome to the BCO community. We are so sorry that these changes on your mammogram and the worry they bring have brought you here. We are glad that you reached out. While you are waiting for some of our members to offer their experiences you may want to look at this link to resources about understanding Common Symptoms and Imaging Questions. Waiting for information can be very hard. Most here will tell you to stay away from Google if you can as it often contributes to more unnecessary worry. Try not to jump to conclusions and do distract yourself the best you can. We hope that your ob can help you to get a sooner appointment for your peace of mind. Keep us posted on what you need and what you learn going forward.
The Mods
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I know the waiting is so dang hard and your wait seems excessive. I had my diagnostic last Wednesday and also have a Birads 4 for microcalcifications but am scheduled for biopsy on Wednesday this week. Hang in there and sending you positive vibes
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1. Stay off Google.
2. You couldn't read anything on anyone's faces. Honestly. I have never seen someone with a benign condition say, "I knew it was nothing from the look on the technician's face!" Those "looks" that anxiety reads as something dreadful are: arguments with partners, hunger because it's close to lunch, icky lunch they just had, nasty co-worker, cat poop in their shoe that morning, had to park far away, and plain ol' resting bitch face.
3. Birads 4 is the default code for insurance companies to pay for a biopsy. Anything lower, they won't pay it.
4. Try to deliberately schedule fun things to do until it's the day of your biopsy. I did it between appointments, tests, surgeries (yeah, plural, had a busy year), and treatments. Almost four years later, I remember the fun more than the medical stuff. My husband and I did lots of weekend picnics, day trips, mini-road trip vacations, plus just hanging out in local parks on the hiking trails. If the weather's crummy, put on some dance music and burn off anxiety. Or if you're lazy like me, binge on Bugs Bunny cartoons or your favorite comedy shows or movies. It's nearly impossible to laugh and worry at the same time.
5. Ask your breast center if you can get on a cancellation list. Then have some cookies.
6. Even if it is something, three weeks won't make a difference. But the chances of it being something are pretty small. If the radiologist really thought there was a problem, it would be Birads-5.
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I agree 100% with Alice's recommendations above. You may ask your doctor to give you a prescription for anti anxiety medication to help too. They put me on the lorazepam. I also had to wait about 3 weeks to get my biopsies, so I feel for you. I had a BI-RAD of 5. That part was just torture! I know it may not be much of a consolation, but once I got my diagnosis and plan, it's been much easier. I am a take action person and I like to know that I'm doing everything possible to get results. I hope that yours comes back negative. Hang in there.
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Just a quick note from my work day to thank you all for your responses so far. I truly do not feel alone and that's so amazing! THANK YOU!!!!
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gymratkat,
hugs…
I have my lumpectomy next week and I hope you aren’t joining this particular party. I have a very high stress job too. Sometimes I am really thankful for that because I get too busy to go down the mental rabbit hole. Worrying won’t help or change the outcome, so try to take it a day at a time.0 -
Hang in there gymratcat!
BIRADS 4 is such a hard result. It's too bad you don't know which grade. The percentage rate span is so large. I was BIRADS 5, so I kinda knew it had to be.
Waiting can be so difficult, googling makes everything worse, but it also can help to be ready for what could be about to come. Try not to perseverate too much. Find things to occupy your time. Wine helps!!
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Hang in there gymratcat!
BIRADS 4 is such a hard result. It's too bad you don't know which grade. The percentage rate span is so large. I was BIRADS 5, so I kinda knew it had to be.
Waiting can be so difficult, googling makes everything worse, but it also can help to be ready for what could be about to come. Try not to perseverate too much. Find things to occupy your time. Wine helps!!
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@gymratkat I can so relate to what you are feeling right now and I am almost in the same boat as you. 44, no family BC history, regular screening found asymmetry, then followed by 3d mammogram and ultrasound which found more than what I went for and now waiting for biopsy. Hang in there and keep up the faith. Like you have mentioned, if at all anything it's small and it's been caught early. The waiting phase is the hardest and our mind keeps going back to "what if", but try to keep away from going through the report. Try to do little things to keep your days and mind busy. Meet with friends, go out for a walk, put on music and cook your favorite meal or bake something and dance it off, watch silly/comedy movies. I too have requested to put me on waitlist if anyone cancels this week, so give them a call and see if they can put you down on waitlist. Sending you good vibes and hope yours turn out to be nothing to worry about it. Take care! Hugs
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I am sorry you are going thru this & have to wait so long. I am almost coming up to a year since my dx, and the waiting in the beginning was the worst part… and I did surgery, chemo, rads & meds!
Try not to get ahead of yourself. It’s the last thing you want to hear, but breast cancer is not considered an emergency, meaning as long as you keep taking next steps within a couple months to get it all checked, that’s ok. But when you’re in it, it never moves fast enough.
Manage stress with exercise and doing things you enjoy, but if needed def inquire about meds or therapy.
Hoping for the best outcome for you.
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Hi everyone ! I just joined this forum . I’m 48 years old and I’ve been followed yearly for many years because of fibrocystic breasts snd family history. This past February during my routine US they found 2 suspicious lesions Birads 4A . I had my biopsy done March 9th . I’m also trying to stay positive and away from google but I’m very worried about these new findings. I’ll keep you posted .
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Dear Rebecca, we welcome you to the BCO community. We're sorry you are here and waiting for your biopsy results, but glad you found us! Wishing you the best of luck for benign findings. Please, come back to lets us all know how it goes. We're thinking of you!
The Mods
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Gymratcat I hear you with the anxiety of the wait for the test. That happened to me when I was 30 and found a lump. It was a five week wait to get that procedure. Alice is right, Birads 4 is very much likely not to be cancerous, rather it is investigatory. I also remember those thoughts didn't help me much. Interestingly enough when I suspected an issue at age 54 I wasn't as anxious more determined. So stay off Google, come here to vent or ask questions, and ask for some anti anxiety medication if you need it.
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Thank you everybody. I'm hanging in there. I'm on a wait list with the breast center; my obgyn doesn't seem to be making any progress getting me anywhere faster, so with 16 days to go I think I can just wait it out. I've been reading the Stoics and trying to comfort myself in that this is outside of my control. Going to CrossFit a lot. I'm already on lexapro so I don't think I can get any other anxiety meds, LOL. I'm anxious but still sane (I think) - hugs to everyone!
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Gymratkat - I'm in a similar boat! I had my screening mammogram on 2/16 and was called back the next day to schedule a diagnostic mammo and ultrasound. I was also working overtime to convince myself it was nothing. However, they coded it BIRADS 4 and I go for my biopsy tomorrow. I'm anxious, nervous, ready, scared - so many things! I think it's 100% normal. I've fallen down the google rabbit hole, only because I've been frustrated that my doctor's office can't even tell me what characteristics of the nodule are suspicious. So, I made the mistake of googling ALL of the terms on my report. However, I think I finally reached the end of the internet and was able to walk away from research. I've decided that it is what it is, and at least we are in the process of finding out. If it IS something, it's early (my 11/2020 mammo had no suspicious findings) and it's small (.42 x .48 x. .82 cm). If it IS something, I'm just ready to have a plan and knock it out. The not knowing and waiting is the hardest! I hope the next two weeks go quickly for you! You've got this.
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Hi everyone ! My dr called tonight with the pathology report but I'm a little confused . She said it's stromal fibrosis but we need to wait for the radiologist to concord with the pathologist and agree on a benign diagnosis. A I'll have the final result in about a week and will meet with her then for a more thorough explanation . For some reason I'm not 100% at ease . Has anyone here ever had this result ?
From what I’m reading this seems to be the main concern : Although it is a benign entity, stromal fibrosis is a leading cause of missed cases of breast cancer [3]. The presence of primary breast cancer is known to cause a desmoplastic proliferation of collagenous and fibrous tissue within the host [6].Jun 28, 2021
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Rebecca, that sounds promising though! I did a quick consult of Dr. Google and found the following: "We therefore hypothesized that a proportion of percutaneous breast biopsies that demonstrate stromal fibrosis may be owing to undersampling of an adjacent malignancy." So mayyyyyyyyybe they're just being extra thorough. Dr. Google study said that this is often put on the BIRADS-3 watch list to ensure it's not a reaction to adjacent carcinoma (and this possibility is like 2%, according to Dr. Google). Hey, it's not obviously carcinoma! I am doing a happy dance for you!
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Just checking in. After almost 4 weeks of abject fear, my biopsy is now in 2 days.
I've not done the best in staying off Google. The rational side of my brain keeps telling me not to think too positively about complex fibroadenomas and granular cell tumors because the odds are not extremely favorable (being hopeful never really works for me historically). The emotional side of my brain keeps thinking about all of the other benign goblins my body has grown - thyroid nodules, bartholin gland cyst, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, ovarian cysts - and starts to think maybe this new boob goblin is just part of the trend. Basically this is Schrodinger's cat, in my boob.
Frustratingly, but gratefully, after almost 2 months I am unable to feel this thing, despite knowing exactly where it is and having it described as superficial. So I guess it's not growing out of control, whatever it is.
I'm supposed to run a half marathon on Saturday. I will probably know what this is by Friday. Interesting times. I will keep you kind folks posted.... please wish me luck.
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Wishing you benign results gymratcat.
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Dear gymratcat,
We too are wishing you receive benign results. Keep us posted and best wishes as you prep for your biopsy and your half marathon.
The Mods
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Friends, I had the biopsy yesterday. The final rating was 4b. Could have gone either way. I watched the whole thing and it did not look like cancer or not cancer. It's like a tiny oval with a spike on each side (probably ductal dilation).
The pathology is already back. They found some WEIRD STUFF, but what they did not find is malignancy. I do not have cancer today!
CYST CLUSTER WITH SURROUNDING STROMAL FIBROSIS, ATROPHIC LOBULES, FOCAL USUAL DUCTAL HYPERPLASIA AND CHRONIC INFLAMMATION; NEGATIVE FOR ATYPICAL HYPERPLASIA AND MALIGNANCY.
So, I will hear back from the radiologist and they may have some recommendations for future management, and I'll be on the "watch" train and maybe the "high risk" train, and they'll probably want to take the rest of it out (frankly, with a 5mm mass that got 6 punches, not sure what's left) and look at every cell, but I do not have cancer today.
I can't tell you how much it meant to me to have all of your messages through this. It has been 7 weeks to the day of my abnormal mammogram.
Love to all. -Kat
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Wonderful, wonderful news! Yay!
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That's great news, Kat! We're happy for you. Thank you for posting to let everyone know.
Best,
The Mods
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Hi gymratcat,
I'm waiting too, only have the needle results and a possible surgeon date in MAY...I'm feeling the haul.
Good luck to you on all the fronts, but especially with the mental marathon, the rest is (I won't say it) LOL
GO YOU!
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gymratkat,
Just read this post today!!! Thanks for the sharing, it really gave me hope, my ultrasound description is almost the same as yours. Suspicion is 5x4x4mm, irregular, but avascular, solid mass, just give birads 4, no 4a, 4b, or 4c. It is impalpable, I got it from diagnosis mammogram, after one whole month, I will get my biopsy result, biopsy is scheduled next week.
Cathy
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