Birads 5 and waiting for biopsy
I had a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound on 4/6 which came back as Birads 5. The soonest they could get me in for the biopsy was 4/19. The waiting is torture! Only a couple of days left and I hope to have results back before the weekend. I’m 47 years old andI felt a few lumps and noticed a slight change on the direction of my left nipple in November. The holidays came, life got busy and I forgot about it. In February I began noticing a sharp burning pain that would come and go in my left breast. I had lost my insurance at the first of the year when I changed to a contract employee and it took until March to become active on a new policy and I was finally able to be seen. I’ve read just about every story on here and have come to terms with what might be the end results. The hardest part was telling my 12 year old daughter what has been going on. She’s very mature for her age and my best friend so there was no hiding it from her. My husband is supportive and concerned and I am grateful for their support. Not knowing is the worst part and I am ready to move forward with a plan. My report, listed below, doesn’t have much detail about the masses and the mention of the lymph node is very concerning. Any thoughts on the findings would be greatly appreciated.
BILATERAL BREAST ULTRASOUND: TECHNIQUE: Complete bilateral breast ultrasound consisting of examination of all four quadrants and retroareolar region of each breast, as well as examination of each axillary region. INDICATION: Dense breasts limiting mammographic sensitivity. Adjunctive screening. Palpable bilateral breast lumps. Left nipple retraction. COMPARISON: Mammograms dated 4/6/2023 and 3/19/2018; ultrasound dated 3/19/2018. FINDINGS: Right: Detailed sonographic evaluation of the right breast does not show suspicious cystic or solid masses, or architectural distortion. There are multiple cysts scattered in the right breast, the largest measuring 2.7 x 1.3 x 2.3 cm in the 11 o'clock axis. There is no evidence for right axillary adenopathy. Left: Within 12 o'clock axis of right breast, there is a solid hypoechoic mass with irregular margins and showing intrinsic vascular flow, measuring 1.8 x 1.2 x 1.7 cm. Within retroareolar 6 o'clock axis of left breast, there is a solid irregular hypoechoic mass measuring 2.0 x 1.1 x 1.9 cm and also showing intrinsic vascular flow, with posterior acoustic shadowing noted. There is associated nipple retraction related to this mass. Multiple scattered cysts are noted in the left breast including a 1.1 x 0.7 x 1.0 cm cyst in 2 o'clock axis demonstrating possible intracystic mass or debris. There is indeterminate left axillary lymph node with short axis diameter of 0.7 cm but which shows asymmetric cortical thickness measuring up to 0.3 cm.
Comments
-
I’m sorry you find yourself here. As you already seem to know — birads 5 is almost certainly cancer, which is terrifying. I’m sure you’re also beating yourself up for not getting in sooner, but try to let any of that go. I had an aggressive form of breast cancer (HER2+) and ended up delaying diagnosis for 3 months because I first noticed a lump right as everything shut down for Covid in April 2020. It wasn’t ideal, and I almost certainly had a more aggressive treatment plan because the cancer had grown in that time, but I responded well to treatment and I am in the clear so far.
A biopsy hasn’t confirmed the exact type of cancer yet, but I recommend reading the NCCN guidelines for IDC (the most common type). The patient guides lay out the vocabulary and what the doctors are considering when they stage your cancer and decide on treatment plans. Based on the guide — a 2 cm tumor and 1 lymph node is stage 2A, which is still considered early. (They only consider the size of the largest tumor for the most part and the number of lymph nodes.) it’s no guarantee of course because cancer is a nasty bitch — but if you need a mantra or something to cling to, this would be mine: breast cancer is treatable. It still seems to be caught early. Repeat as necessary.
https://www.nccn.org/patients/guidelines/content/PDF/breast-invasive-patient.pdf
Every step of this process is terrifying with a lot of waiting around between steps. It’s awful, but it gets easier as you adapt and as you start getting answers and starting treatment. Good luck.0 -
Thank you, Melbo. I’m so happy to hear you are in the clear. I read through the guidelines you provided. I guess more will make sense once I get the results. The waiting is the worst part. It’s hard not to go down that rabbit hole. Some days are good and some days I’m filled with worry about what might be coming. I think about our daughter and my husband and how this will affect them. I know I can get through it no matter what but don’t want my daughter scared. There are so many things left in wonder until I get these results. Time can’t go fast enough. I appreciate your reply and the stories of everyone on here. They offer hope and reassurance that I’m not alone in my thoughts.
0 -
If there's any advice I can give when breaking news like that with children is to wait until you have definitive answers and a treatment plan. My youngest was 14 when I was diagnosed and has an anxiety disorder. I had to wait a whole month before telling her anything but when I did break the news I knew what I was talking about and could speak in a positive way about what was happening. After the first initial breakdown she handled it well. Children just want to know it will be okay and if you can assure them of that it means the world.
0 -
Kaynotrealname:
I was trying to wait but we are a very close family and there was no hiding it. I work from home and am always there to pick her up from school. I was having a lot of doctors appointments and my husband had to pick her up. She questioned what was happening. As she is entering her teenage years, it’s extremely important to have an open honest relationship. She asked, so I told her. We talk about everything and as I said, she’s very mature for her age. I would have waited if she didn’t ask. I know we can get through the worry together, but it isn’t worth losing her trust and not telling her the truth. I haven’t even told my parents yet. My Aunt was just diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer at the beginning of this month and my poor mother is going through so much already. We do the best we can to try and navigate the unknown. Was it the right choice, I don’t know but we will get through it together.
0 -
Of course you'll get through it together! No criticism meant when I was giving advice. And I wish you all the very best and hope this is simply a scare that turns out to be nothing. But if not, know you'll have plenty of support here on this site.
0
