Dense breast and hidden cancer
Greetings all!
The most alarming thing for me was the discovery that dense breast make it difficult for radiologist to discover abnormal cells and signs of breast cancer. I have never missed a mammogram since I was 50. I am now 74.
My last mammogram was in October. All results were great… see you next year. Then I found a golf size lump in my breast in December. By January I was informed that it was cancer. My mother had breast cancer as well.
My oncologist explained that the cancer had been sitting there for a very long time.
Since then, I have made it very loud and clear to women to be certain their radiologist are especially trained for reading these types of mammograms. I want to advocate for others to requests ultrasounds and/or MRI's to help with early detection. My hospital has the very best equipment. I hope that more facilities and primary doctors work to get their patients with dense breast screened more carefully. Radiologist training is also important.
My cancer journey is still in its early stage. I cannot change to past but can move forward to try and beat this beast with positivity, prayer, inner strength. I cannot look back at what didn't happen, but look forward of what I can do to make sure it doesn't continue to happen.
Thenewme26!
Comments
-
Welcome to our wee corner of the internet @thenewme26 - the one where nobody wants to be but the kettle is always on and a listening ear is never far away.
I had the same thing happen to me. It is a chilling moment of realisation when you find out you have been falsely reassured and are now left to pick up the pieces.
I am nearly 5 years out and am (so far) doing fine. I was told my cancer 'hadn't shown much interest in travel' - the fact that it had such an good chance to do so felt like a horrific experiment I had been blindly enrolled in - i guess there was a paradoxical reassurance in the fact it seemingly hadn't gone beyond my nodes in this time. I tried to take some comfort from these words.
I wish you luck with your treatment and hope that you either have a very lazy tumour or a very treatment responsive one. It's a bit of a marathon so just take a step at a time.
0 -
Starbridge, I am so happy to read that you are five years old and doing fine. It is my dream to be typing those words to someone if the future. At 74, however, I know how fragile life is and continue to wake up each day to the wonders of the world around me. Currently, it's birds singing, leaves blooming, lawnmowers running, and sounds of life in general.
Thanks for your inspirational words and have a truly great day!
thenewme26 (Really a new me today…. had my head shaved!)
1 -
I'm in the same boat! I question the radiologists with my new surgeon (I had relocated). I am very concerned that the mammos last year may not have been read well. They didn't catch the "new" calcifications that were very solid and large on my recent mammo in 2026 (6 months since last mammo). I had a biopsy and 2 mammos last year. A MRI this year found new locations on top of the mammo findings. Biopsies this year found DCIS but after the lumpectomy the pathology report was DCIS/IDC. So now I'm heading in for a node biopsy. I have chemo and radiation coming up because of the IDC. I think that if the DCIS had been caught I would have been having a lumpectomy and radiation.
2026 is my right breast. 2009 was my left breast DCIS/lumpectomy/radiation.
0 -
Stellabys, I guess we have no choice but to look ahead and not behind. I do plan on meeting with the CEO of our local hospital to discuss what we currently have in terms of radiologists and their training. I may not be able to change the last 30 years of what I had thought were accurate readings, but I can be sure to articulate the need for specifically trained radiologist specializing in dense breast tissue. I chose to have both breasts removed even though the right was clear. I did not want to spend my days worrying about it coming back. However, because I did not have a flat closure, my surgeon said I would have to continue to do breast checks for lumps. I was not happy about this. Still a worry.
Hang in there and good luck with your node biospy.
thenewme26
0 -
thenewme26, I agree that looking ahead is the way to go. My breast surgeon just took over a new breast center at my hospital group and she is fantastic!! I expressed my concerns for going forward with my dense breasts. We're looking at Mammography with infusion or possibly MRI's if insurance will pay. I also want the mammo pictures for the last year to get a second look to see if anything was missed. Right now I got a bigger fish to fry…Chemo.
0 -
thenewme26 - I was saturated with deja vu when I read your post. I had calcifications show up on my (non-digital) mammo in 2002 at 46 years old, and the resulting (benign) biopsy left me with internal scarring which got lumpier as the years went by. Religious with my mammos since age 35, I was still "all clear" in 2006 when I decided that the "2nd nipple" (as I'd come to call it) inside my right breast needed my surgeon's attention. He tried to dismiss it as scar tissue but agreed to do a biopsy "if I wanted to" (tell me, who really WANTS to have a drill in their breast?!). Not surprisingly, my surgery revealed Stage IIIC cancer which had exploded throughout the tissue, invaded 10 nodes, and was trying to burrow out of my skin.
I share this horror story with you because tomorrow, June 6th, I will be celebrating 20 YEARS since the bilateral mastectomy that helped save my life. I still can't believe I've attained the ripe old age of 70!
Wishing you - and our other survivor sisters - all my best as we travel the journey together…
Julie
1 -
Same story here.
I had been religious about mammograms since the age of 40. They had spotted calcifications and even monitored me every 6 months before putting me back on a yearly schedule. At 48, I found a lump and ended up with stage 3A cancer.
0 -
Stellabys, Starbridge, scaredme and Sugarplum,
Thank you for the comments… living alone is very scary when going through this experience, My daughter is about an hour and a half away and my son is on the west coast. I have many friends, neighbors, former students and parents, and family who are often visiting, texting, or sending cards and calling. Having ones body invaded by this cancer is game changer in life. I just wish my late husband was here to hold my hand, give me a hug, or stroke my fuzzy bald head!
Sugarplum, today I will think of you throughout the day and celebrate your 20 years since your bilateral mastectomy. Each bird I hear sing today and each flower that makes me smile will bring thoughts of joy and celebration for you.
I am hoping to be celebrating in years to come even if it gives me a few more. (My children have chosen the age83 as my date to go from this earth… hmmmm… that's less than 8 years… I think that was their way of encouraging me. They are in their 50s… 80s are not too far away from them either! )
For the last two days I have been very laxed about OT exercises, knee exercises (new one last year), scar massaging, and walking. It's been in the high 80s and I did a few things outside. Wiped me out completely. Today I want to get back on track, even if it means walking in the basement due to the excessive heat.
My late husband's cousins are arriving tomorrow from Idaho. They are going to do things for me while they are here and come to chemo #3 with me. I have my "to do" list for them. It's hard for me to have them see me like this. I am beginning to think I look like "uncle fester" from the Adam's family. Some bald heads just aren't pretty.
I had to replace the pansies on my porch and ended up with chinook/heart to heart pink plants. I did not intentionally pick pink but found it ironic that it is the cancer color! Stuck silver barbecue skewers into the plant basket to see if it keeps the birds from nesting! My neighbors keep watching to see what I am going to come up with next.
I hope that you all have something special happen in your lives over the next few days… perhaps a wild animal visits, a rainbow appears, or a special moment occurs. It's what we live for!
Best… thenewme26
2
