roll call for BC not found by reg mamo's till 2cm or lgr

Barbara2 · 05-03-2006, 06:54 PM

According to the report my tumor was "at least" 4.5cm. Didn't show up on mammo or ultrasound. I discovered a hard lump while showering. I had noticed a thickening in the breast about 9 months prior, but was dismissed at my annual physical.

I had very dense breasts. My onc explained that with dense breasts and mammograms, it is like using a white crayon to mark and "x" on a white wall. The tumor won't show up.

Barbara

Roz · 05-04-2006, 04:10 AM

I also had regular mammos and I was "lucky' that the tumour turned out to be Inflammatory BC, or else it may not have been discovered. 2003 I had nipple change of colour and itching of breast. Went straight to top mammo centre. They took mammo, said all clear, but couldn't work out what itchy area was. Did an U/S which showed a 7cm tumour with poor differentiation. 12 out of 19 nodes involved. Had all the chemo. Recurrence after 10 months to skin. C/O cough-CT scan done day before scheduled for 1st Herceptin. Spread to lymph nodes,pleural effusion. Next 3 months CT scan, NED. Hallelujiah! Herceptin.

jjfromcanada · 05-05-2006, 10:59 AM

Mammo did not pick up my 4.5 cm tumour nor the other 1.0 cm beside it. Now I have mammos, ultarsounds AND MRIs. I have the mammo and ultrasound together the MRI 6 months later.

I have a two friends who also are in similar circumstances.

BubblesMom · 05-06-2006, 07:12 PM

I've had annual mammograms since my mother passed away from BC in 2000. April 2004 had a mammogram with a suspicious area. Had a 2nd mammogram to focus on that area and was given a clean bill of health. In November, I discovered a lump during self-examination in the suspicious area from April. I too have dense breast tissue. Now I get ultrasounds in lieu of mammograms. I don't have much confidence in them anymore.

Kimberly Lewis · 05-22-2006, 11:09 AM

Thanks everyone for the posts. I know I am not alone in the shocks and dissapointments of BC.... I just was angry that the very same mamo screen was looked at by several different folks (surgeons and radiologists) and only one saw the huge tumor. There must be better training that that one person had! It can't be Luck for crying out loud!
Thanks again, Kim

Bev · 05-22-2006, 08:41 PM

Hi Kim,

I'm still angry too. There has to be a better way to screen people who have dense breasts. Perhaps if you have dense breasts they should flag you for MRI's or US. If a tumor takes 6 to 10 years to grow, I know they had at least 4 opportunities to catch mine.

I posted earlier in this thread, but am still angry that I had to find a 2.9 tumor a few months after a mammogram. BB