Stereotactic biopsy tomorrow
I am so so so scared, I can't even think straight. Six months ago I had my yearly mammogram and it had a lot of calcification soI was sent for a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound, result was "probably benign"... fast forward to my 6month recheck this past Wednesday and now the radiologist wants me to have a biopsy. I was too afraid to ask why.
I just have this gut feeling that it's cancer, I mean what else could it be?
Just feel like my life is about to change and not for the good...
Comments
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sudo59, I'm sorry you have to go through the worry of a biopsy. Most people have calcifications in their breasts and their amount increases with age. Certain patterns of calcifications are sometimes a symptom of a problem so a biopsy is done since examining the tissue is the only way to know for sure. About 80% of biopsies turn out to be benign so chances are good that yours will be, too.
The wait for the biopsy and the results is hard. Try to distract yourself by keeping busy with other things. Let us know how it turns out. Here's hoping for benign!
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Sudo59, I can feel your anxiety…hope we will all be fine..
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Calcifications are not breast cancer. Breasts can have all sorts of stuff going on that is not cancer. About 80%of biopsies come back negative, While none of this speaks to you as an individual, there is a very decent chance you don’t have bc. Waiting is hard as is keeping your mind from going to bad places but self diagnosis and jumping to the worst possible conclusions make it even more difficult. I certainly hope your biopsy is negative but if it’s not, it is far too soon, and bc has many variations, to assume anything . Take care
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I'm so confused, why would they do the biopsy if calcifications can't be cancer?
still waiting on results from my Monday biopsy and going crazy waiting..0 -
sudo,
Calcifications are not cancer but are an area of concern because although they are most often benign, they can be an early sign of cancer. Unfortunately, that can’t be determined by imaging alone, hence the biopsy. The odds are in your favor! Take care
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sudo59, Calcifications are not cancer but certain patterns of calcifications indicate the possibility of cancer being present. Mammograms, ultrasounds, CTs and MRIs are not like cameras that can look into your body. Radiologists are trained to interpret what they see on imaging and decide whether or not something might be a problem. A biopsy where tissue is removed, put under the microscope and tested for reactions with stains by a pathologist is the only way to decide whether or not cancer is present.
Doctors err on the side of caution because they want to detect cancer and treat it if it happens to be there. That's why about 80% of biopsies are benign. Since a biopsy is invasive and costly they don't do it until some kind of imaging suggests there might be a problem. You have to wait to get the results because some of the stains require time to show reactions and other specimens are in line for analysis before yours.
The waiting is really hard but it's something that can't be hurried. It is stressful not knowing the result but I recall all the the times my children would ask "Are we there yet?" to put it in perspective. Cancer is not a medical emergency like severe bleeding or being unable to breathe so lag time is part of the process. Try to do something to take your mind off this (easier said than done) and let us know the result. This website will be down Monday for updating (and maybe after - more waiting.) Fingers crossed for a benign result.
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