Biopsy tomorrow
this is my first post here. Feeling completely overwhelmed.
I had a mammo and u/s in January. A cyst and hypoechoic mass was seen. Went back for follow up u/s in July. Everything was stable. Advised to come back in 6 months. Birads 3.
A nurse called that day and said my lifetime risk is a 28% and a second opinion is an option now. I decided to schedule a consult since there is a long hx of breast cancer in my maternal family. my mom passed of ovarian cancer as well.
Met with the specialist. She found a palpable mass. At the time, I was under the impression that it was what was seen on my u/s. Wasn’t concerned. She referred me for an additional u/s and mri. Well the u/s showed the palpable mass was new, irregular, hypoechoic with vascularity.
The mri detected an additional mass that wasn’t seen in January as well. I am having a second look u/s performed tomorrow to see if they can locate it. Having an u/s guided core biopsy of the palpable mass and hopefully the new mass. If they cannot locate it, I will have an mri guided biopsy.
I keep telling myself this is nothing and I’m fine. I don’t know though. I am 49. I have dense breasts. All of my mammograms have been clear except January. The masses in January aren’t even the masses they are concerned about now. I have no idea if cancer can grow that quickly but i don’t really know what else would be suddenly detected within months?
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Of course you are overwhelmed. We all were. This time is awful. And the chances are in your favor that this will not be cancer but you're on a site where all of us were the oddball out so we know it can happen and happens frequently. I will say that most breast cancers do not grow quickly. There are some that can but the vast majority of the time they've been there for years before discovery. How? Because mammograms aren't fantastic with dense breasts. Cancer looks white in an x-ray just like dense tissue so sometimes they have to show a certain trait to be discovered. For example with me, they found a 3.2 centimeter lump that they first thought was one centimeter. They discovered it because it finally showed architectural distortion on my mammogram. And even though it was a grade 3 lump my oncologist said that it had probably been there a while.
So in saying that anything is possible in breast cancer world including suspicious lumps being benign. However, if it's not I will say that breast cancer is one of the most funded cancers in the world due to how common it is. They have fantastic treatments regardless of what stage you're at when it's found. And the vast majority of people will be cured never to hear from it again. I hope this turns out to be nothing but if not, we're here to listen and to help. Unfortunately and maybe fortunately, too, you have a great army of women around you who have done it before and can show you the ropes. Good luck!!
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Sorry to hear of your alarming situation. It’s natural to panic, especially when you have a family history, but just focus on the next step, that biopsy tomorrow. Did you have genetic testing run with Invitae or another company?
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@newjerseytrash we echo what the others have said. It's normal to feel overwhelmed, but try to breath, and pull your anxiety back to take care of yourself. One day and one step at a time. We're all here for you!
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