Abnormal mammo

[OakLeaf]

help - my doctor wants me to have a biopsy because of microcalcifications on my mammogram. I am VERY reluctant to do this and wishing I'd never had the mammo in the first place. From the reading I've done (and believe me I've done a LOT), it really seems like the odds of benefiting from diagnosing and treating DCIS are minimal, especially in comparison to the risks and harms of treatment.

I want to get a second opinion before I agree to the biopsy but I have no idea where to turn. Anybody have a line on somebody within a reasonable radius of Columbus, Ohio (Indianapolis, Cinti/Northern KY, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, etc.) who favors a conservative approach?

[beccaB]

my friend has microcalcifications, and had the biopsy. The docs are not doing any additional stuff, other that having follow-up mammograms. Hers was not malignant.

[bambu101]

I have been through this twice, on the right side, with 2 needle-localizations (NOT fun) and 2 biopsies, both negative. The stress of the procedures and waiting for the results was very intense.

I have already decided that if this happens again, I will take the conservative wait-and-see and come back in 6 months approach. I think that a biopsy is recommended to cover the proverbial behinds of the doctors involved.

Just my 2 cents...............

Wendy

[makbike]

Oakleaf, please get the biopsy. I have a friend who had microcalcifications show up in her mammo and she took a wait and see approach. A friend of hers who was a doctor encouraged her to go in for a biopsy which she did. It came back as cancer. Keep us posted.

[Pedal Wench]

I agree with Makbike, and this is after (I think, I've lost count...) 6 biopsies and 2 needle biopsies. I wouldn't be able to sleep taking a wait and see approach. Waiting the two weeks after they find something on a mammo until the biopsies is torture enough.

I have to say that regretting getting the mammo in the first place is disturbing to hear. They're the first line of defense, and early detection is so crucial in this disease.

[bmccasland]

Oakleaf - go for the biopsy! My Mom put it off, and 6 months later she saw someone else, had the biopsy, and was rushed to surgery. I still remember getting the phone call - "your mother is out of surgery for breast cancer." And I was clueless that she was having surgery, let alone for cancer.

I don't mean to scare you, but the risk is too great. Biopsy and it's nothing, worry over. But if it is the big C, it's better to do something while it's small.

Got to admit I freaked when the radiologist wanted extra views and an ultrasound after my first abnormal mammogram. After moving here from NoCal, my doc couldn't get my old films - they "disappeared". So there was nothing to compare. After that scare, I really appreciate the fact that my current doc's office went themselves to the closed hospital to retrieve my old films after Katrina, so I could take them with me when I had my first mammogram post-storm. (the upper floors of the hospital weren't dammaged, but the hospital was closed none-the-same for two years.) Having reference films, the radiologist knows the "spot of interest" hasn't changed in several years.

[Velobambina]

Better safe than sorry. Get the biopsy.

I had a breast cancer scare in the early 90s. A tumor. Ended up getting it removed, and I was lucky. It was benign.

[mudmucker]

Please get the biopsy. I had a breast cancer scare in 2001. Because my maternal grandmother died of breast cancer, they said they wanted bypass a needle biopsy and go right into surgery to get the lump removed outright. I was a bit alarmed at this aggressive approach, and was actually miffed because I just thought it might be a cut and scalpel happy surgeon trying to get more money out of the system.

Except the more I thought about it...if they took the whole thing out they would better be able to test pathology and would be better able to recommend a course of treatment in the event that it was bad news. AND, I didn't want to be sitting there 8 months later after a wait and see attitude, only to find out that it turned into something which I could have addressed earlier on. Always try to catch something early, especially when you have that opportunity ! You are only gambling if you wait.

I don't care how much pain I have to endure early on to get that accomplished. I want to know up front and early.

Fortunately, mine turned out to be just a benign mass.

[OakLeaf]

Yes, I am in utter horror of the procedure (in which my body will be a completely passive object for medical action, my sensitive glandular tissues will be bombarded with radiation, and a swizzle-stick sized "needle" will be stuck in a major erogenous zone). And I am a little scared of what the results may show.

But that's not why I'm so angry.

I'm angry because there is such a small chance that the biopsy - positive OR negative - will show anything that there is a point in treating. (According to my surgeon's own statistics, a 7% chance. Figures vary widely, but everyone agrees that they are very slim.) Because of the CERTAINTY of harm from invasive procedures, the rational decision would be to stop now before they go any further. Yet the industry's fear-based advertising campaign has succeeded in working on my emotions, and on my husband's, to the point where if I make the reason-based decision to forego the biopsy, I will be continually haunted by fear. And this is true even though I know that there is NO reassurance in the medical system - only that I feel and hope that it will be emotionally easier for me to call it over if I do have the procedure and it's negative.

On the other hand, if it's positive for DCIS, it will be MUCH harder for me to call it over without further surgery, especially considering the possibility that the procedure itself will make it more likely that DCIS will develop into an invasive cancer.

And I'm also angry because the campaign of fear has worked so well on other women (and on my DH), there is no one I know personally, to whom I can talk about this non-judgmentally. A little bit of emotional support would go a long, long way here. THANK YOU so much to the couple of people here who PM'd me.

The psych nurse who helped me think this through, suggested that I make the decision that I'm least likely to regret. I can't do that though. The only decision I would be sure I wouldn't regret (even if I should eventually develop an invasive cancer) would be never to have a biopsy based solely on mammography without clinical findings. But as I said, emotionally I can't handle that, because of the campaign of fear.

This time tomorrow, hopefully the procedure will be over.

Wish me luck.

[KnottedYet]

Good luck!

Please don't be angry at the fear experienced by of those of us who've had cancer. Our fear is honest, and like I said in my earlier post, to be taken with a grain of salt. We have fear, but that doesn't mean we don't support you.

((((Oakleaf)))))

[OakLeaf]

(((Knot))) I'm NOT angry at your fear. I'm sorry my post could be read that way

I'm angry at the ones who, for cold calculated commercial interests, have instilled it in you, and in me.

[KnottedYet]

((((Oakleaf)))) It's ok. (well, actually, the whole situation totally s*cks, but you know what I mean!) I will be thinking about you tomorrow.

[Tuckervill]

I'm sorry you're in between that rock and hard place! I wish there were a better answer.

Please let us know how it goes.

Karen