Probably Benign

[Hopeful]

KellyA,

I can't believe your doctor behaved the way he did, especially since a history of benign breast biopsies is ITSELF a risk factor for bc. I am also struck by your description of how the larger tumor "hid" behind the scar tissue. I thought of my own tumor as "hiding" also - it positioned itself slightly beneath the upper left areola of my nipple - a position where it was very difficult for the doctors to palpate it and extremely difficult to visualize with us. The computer check of the mammo against the prior years' detected a small area of difference described as an "architectural distortion" which allowed the radiologist to pick it up with magnified views. At times, it makes me think the disease is actually sentient and knows exactly what to do to survive. (I know, I scare myself, sometimes!)

Grace,

Do whatever you need to do to give yourself comfort and sleep well at night. No one needs something eating away at their peace of mind. I have read enough of your posts to know you can firmly - yet gracefully - get your medical team to give you the requested attention and treatment. Best of luck to you, and please let us know your results.

PS - I have posted in the articles of interest forum a story on yet another new technology for mammography, called CT Laser mammography. It is not invasive, does not involve compression, and is reputedly able to detect angiogenic activity, which would indicate tumor growth. Hope it is available here soon!

Hopeful

[MGordon]

Cannot agree more with the "more tests" theme your hearing here - but I would lean more toward the ulrasound guided needle biopsy. MRI/CT etc are great - but for peace of mind with an already identified area of mass - the short needle biopsy can provide REAL metrics!

My 2 cents

Love and Light
Mel

PS - Congrats on staying so dilligent! Way to be part of your team!

Hi--thanks to all of you who responded. I called my breast surgeon's nurse and also send an email to the surgeon asking if I could have some further tests, or at least some reassurance that the BI-Rad3 finding was really benign. My surgeon initially responded that she preferred not to do an MRI this soon after surgery as I would probably get a false positive. She also said she would talk to the radiologist further but that it's usual to give all lumpectomy mammograms a BI-Rad 3 reading--she said it's a way to alert radiologist in the future to look closely, as this is someone who had breast cancer.

Today I saw her and her nurse, while there for my herceptin infusion, and she told me that two radiologists had reviewed my films and that what they had seen was, in fact, changes from surgery. She agreed that my next mammogram would be digital (my breast is still dense and difficult to see through). She did tell me, though, that digital mammograms are not as good at spotting calcifications, so that's a concern since I had DCIS as well as IDC. Oh well, I guess no test is perfect for everything.

Thanks again for your support.