Got mammo results. awaiting my call back appointment, in a month.!
I’m 77 yr old and have had abnormal mammo. Family history my sister ( diagnosed age 49) who’s had bilateral mastectomies and a paternal aunt who had unilateral mmastectomy. I don’t have any pathology reports on their Cancers.
my recent mammo report says: There is an irregular focal asymmetry with spiculated margin in left breast at 10 o'clock posterior depth. The irregular focal asymmetry in left breast appears indeterminate. Diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound is recommended.
SO….Im keying in on the words Irregular asymmetry, speculated margin
I’m scheduled for a diagnostic mammo and Ultrasound. I get to wait a month for follow up appt since US equipment is busy..
Anyone with these issues? Looking for ideas what the cancer risk is with these findings. Is there anything I should be doing while waiting the month until further testing. Is follow up testing best be done at a Breast Cancer Center or my Gynecologist?
Comments
-
Sorry that you find yourself in this position. First, don’t worry about the wait. Breast cancer is not an emergency (yes, but it does feel like it!), and it is incredibly unlikely that the wait will have any negative impact on your situation.
Although many are surprised, familial genetic mutations for breast cancer are not common. Less than 15% who are diagnosed actually have a genetic mutation. Data on her pathology will not be useful and… until she has genetic testing, or you do, you have no idea if a genetic mutation even exists. Without genetic testing, your sister’s and other familial cases are just casual correlations. To illustrate this, not only do I have a family history of bc and reproductive cancers (they can be related) but I belong to an ethnic group with a greater risk for BRCA genes. All of my genetic testing? Negative. My point is that the vast majority of diagnosed bc have no familial connections at all!* Given your concerns, I think genetic testing could be useful so you might want to ask you mo.
I know waiting is stressful as we have all been there. Each test/exam will yield more info and when all the info has been gathered, you and your mo will come up with plans going forward. Distract yourself as much as possible, focus on what you know to be fact now and stay away from speculation and worrying about things that might never come to be. Take good care.
*Based on currently known mutations. Are there other mutations out there? Likely yes, but we can’t do much about the unknown.
0 -
thank you for your response. It’s very helpful to hear from folks who have a vast and clear understanding about waiting for results and not getting ahead of the process
0
