Breast Biopsy Results

Early this afternoon the home phone rang, and caller ID revealed that it was St. Anthony's calling me. I thought that was odd as I had the mammograms and biopsy done at Missouri Baptist. I picked it up anyway, and it was my primary care doctor's office. She asked if I had been given my pathology results yet, and I said I hadn't heard a word yet. She said they had just gotten them, and that the results were BENIGN!!!! What a huge relief, and a blessing not to have that hanging over me the whole weekend. She asked that I call their office back after I heard from Missouri Baptist regarding what kind of follow-up they were recommending.

About a half hour later, Missouri Baptist called me with the same report. She said the biopsy had come back with the cells being identified as stromal fibrosis. Fibrosis refers to an increase in dense connective breast tissue. It is a very common finding, occuring in up to 7% of suspicious breast lesions examined by biopsy. According to the American Cancer Society, fibrosis does not increase your risk of developing breast cancer later on. More good news.

They do want me to come back in six months for a repeat mammogram and ultrasound of the right breast. When I asked why, since the biopsy came back negative, I was told it was to make sure nothing had changed. I have to admit that I am a little concerned about all the x-ray exposures on this one breast. There were the two views at the routine mammogram, three views at the screening mammogram, and two more views following the biopsy. It is something I will be asking questions about, especially since they established a baseline mammogram after the biopsy was performed.

But setting all that aside for the moment, I am one lucky lady!

Breast Biopsy

flowers from the breast care center

Yesterday morning I left the house at 6:35 a.m. to get to Missouri Baptist Hospital by the 7:00 requested arrival time. My biopsy was scheduled for 7:30, but they needed to check me in and all that. Due to it being a holiday week, traffic was light and I got there at 6:50. More time to wait - yippee...

The front desk gal checked me in shortly after 7:00, and I went back to a room for the nurse to go over my information again, and to repeat what was going to occur. Then I slipped on my beautiful pink ball gown, and waited for the radiologist to come in. We have known each other for many years as our kids went to school together. He is the same doctor who drained a couple of breast cysts, and he has been reading my mammograms through the years. I was grateful that he was scheduled for July 5th, and that he had an opening for my procedure.

Dr. H. stated that he wanted to do another ultrasound himself as he wanted to see exactly what the spot looked like. At that point I think he was still hopeful that it would turn out to be nothing, or that perhaps an MRI would do the trick instead of putting me through a biopsy. I didn't realize that was even a possibility, and it was probably just as well.

Once in the procedure room, the nurse and technician went over my name, date of birth and which breast we were looking at - for the third time that morning. As someone who was once Vice President of Marketing and Risk Management for a medical malpractice insurance company, I appreciated all their efforts to make sure they were a) treating the right patient and b) treating the correct body part on the patient. The doctor then came in and performed the ultrasound, and decided he need to go in after all.

While I was told that the local anesthetic could be likened to what you get in a dental chair, that it not exactly accurate. This one went much deeper into the tissue. I am used to needles and anesthesia due to all my skin cancers, but I'll just say that this smarted more than any of those have. On the plus side, it was not as bad as a cortisone shot, so there is that.

Under the guidance of the ultrasound, Dr. H. guided an instrument through the side of the breast to get to the area of distortion. He warned me that I would feel pressure, but should feel no pain. That was the case. Then he said I would hear a sharp noise, so I shouldn't be startled. I took that to mean, don't move. What he didn't say is that I would hear four sharp noises - one for each of the tissue samples that he removed. The sound reminded me of what the ear piercing gun sounded like.

After the tissue was removed, a ceramic marker was inserted into the breast so that any radiologist who reads my mammograms in the future would know that the area had been biopsied. Normally they would put a metal marker in, but since I have had allergic reaction to different metals in my earrings, they decided to be safe and go with ceramic. Then the nurse kept pressure on the entrance site for ten minutes to minimize bleeding. She said that I hadn't bled much during the procedure. Then she said I needed to go and have more mammograms taken. While they had told me I would have a followup mammogram, I presumed it would be after the biopsy site had healed. Not right after it was done! They assured me that rarely does anyone bleed nor does it dislodge the marker they had put in.

The mammography technician reassured me that she would not be putting as much pressure on the breast as she would do during a normal screening, and said this was just to give everyone a baseline of where the biopsy had been done and where the marker was located. While I was in there, I asked her to explain the difference between the 2D and 3D tests as it seems like they are done by the same machine. She explained that a 2D mammogram was like taking a picture of a lump of bread that had been squished. You might see something, but you don't know exactly where in the loaf to go and look for it. A 3D, on the other hand, offers slices of the loaf of bread, so if something appears they can go and look at that slice. I thought it was an interesting way to describe the difference. I had asked Dr. H. if he thought a 2D mammogram would have picked up the architectural distortion. He said, "No way." At any rate, the technician was correct. The squishing in two directions wasn't bad, and did not hurt.

The entrance wound was dressed with steri-strips and then topped with a gauze pad covered in tape. My instructions were to leave the dressing on for 24 hours, with no shower until it came off. They sent me home with two small ice packs to place inside my bra over the wound, 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off to minimize swelling and bruising. The nurse told me to take it easy and load up on Netflix for the rest of the day. Sort of lends a whole new meaning to the phrase "watching the boob tube", doesn't it?

ice pack

dressing

I slept pretty well last night, and removed the bandage this morning. There is a small bruise but no swelling, and not even a drop of blood on the dressing. I continued to use the ice packs off and on today as well since they seemed to help. I took it pretty easy, and should be back to most activities tomorrow.

They said two to three days to receive the results from pathology, and they will call me once they get them. I'm hoping since my test was so early in the morning, that Friday I will hear something. Otherwise, it will be a long weekend. I'm trying to stay off of Doc Google and relying on Doc H. instead.

Say Yes Ma'am to the Mammogram

A week ago Tuesday I had my annual mammogram done at Missouri Baptist, where I have been going for many years. I was given the option of a 3D mammogram versus the traditional screening. It is supposed to give better readings, especially for women who have dense breast tissue, which I apparently do. I was warned, however, that my insurance company may not pay the additional expense of the 3D test. The difference in cost? $60. That seems a small price to pay, and so absurd that the insurance companies do not feel it is worth that amount to catch breast irregularities early. I opted for the 3D test, though I can't say I noticed any difference in how the mammogram was done. The boobs still got smooshed two different ways.

The mammography office called me on Monday, which I knew was not a good thing. Normally they just send me a letter in the mail. The gal told me that they noticed a distortion in the right breast, which they felt needed to be looked at further. She scheduled me for a diagnostic mammogram, which possibly could be followed by an ultrasound. I have had fluid filled cysts in the past, so I've had the diagnostic test and ultrasound done before.

Later that day I received a letter regarding my mammogram results. It just said that the exam showed "an abnormality that requires further evaluation." Had I received the letter before the phone call, I would have seriously freaked out. I'm glad the office called so I could have the explanation to go along with the words.

Missouri Baptist Breast Health Care Center

This afternoon I went to Missouri Baptist Hospital (I have the annual mammograms done at one of their satellite offices much closer to my house) for the additional tests. The technician was hoping that the distortion would not show up with the mammograms she performed, but no such luck. The radiologist then requested the ultrasound. After reading those films (if they are even called that anymore since everything goes into a computer), the doctor came in to talk to me. She wanted to know if I had ever had breast surgery or experienced any trauma to the breast. No to both questions. She asked me if I felt a lump and I said no, and she said she didn't feel any either.

She then requested two more mammograms to try to get a better look at where the distortion had been pinpointed. Upon reviewing everything, she felt it was best to schedule a biopsy to see what we are dealing with just to make sure it is not a very early cancer growth. Three plus hours of multiple boob squishes, having it pressed upon by the transducer for 20 minutes, and lots of time sitting around pondering the "What ifs?" My biopsy is scheduled for July 5th, and then it will be 2-3 days before the pathology report comes back. More time to ponder.

With all the people you hear about getting diagnosed with cancer, do you ever feel like you are a ticking time bomb?