biopsy

[dorcas1999]

i am having a core needle biopsy this monday(19th). Got a rating of BIRAD 4.  Although the breast specialist seems to think that it is benign because the nodular is wider than taller.  This past week it seems to have grown both ways.  Was wondering how long the results will take and would i hear  back soon if it's found to be malignant?  Given the holidays i'm not expecting to hear anything back until the following week. Deep down inside i feel it is not benign but i'm not doctor, just a gut feeling.  

[Cleveland Clinic]

Dear dorcas1999:  The length of time to get a biopsy result can vary widely depending upon the instituation.  It could come back in a matter of 2-3 days in some situations and in others (particularly if the specimen is sent out) can take a week.  You should ask the breast specialist at the time of biopsy when and how you will be able to get the results so that you know this information in the beginning.

[Twocapes]

Thanks for your nice comments. No, I do not have any knowledge about Crohn's except for a friend's daughter and how awful it can be. I've been more in the secretarial/administrative end of the medical field but still have learned a lot.   You certainly have a "full plate".  I'm dealing with two parents who have been diagnosed with the early signs of Alzheimer's, a husband who has a benign brain tumor that has recurred after surgery three years ago, a benign brain tumor myself that I have been able to "watch" for six years with little or no growth,  and recently some weird blood results on myself that may indicate cell disruption (my BC was over 3-1/2 years ago).  My oncologist set up a website that the patients can get into and view their results with a password.  I probably shouldn't have looked as I do not have an appointment for three more days and, of course, have been thinking of the worst scenerios.  I feel pretty good and hopefully it is just a lab error.
Please take care and I'm hoping and praying for you.

[lizziecee]

Dorcas -
I don't know how the medical insurance works in the US, but in England if you have seen any kind of doctor for a medical problem and not disclosed it on your insurance proposal, it will be invalid. Although you don't know yet if you have cancer, the fact that you have been referred for a biopsy, with a BIRADS 4, means your case is suspicious for malignancy. I got Crohn's when I was 24 yrs, and many years later when visiting friends in the US I had a severe rectal haemorrohage and was hospitalised for 5 days. It cost $15,000 and the travel insurance company refused to pay - at first., as I had not disclosed I had Crohn's.  Took me some 9 months to get the money back, because we were not sure if aspirin (for what I thought was flu) had burst the ulcers and crypt abscesses in my intestines. I didn't know that I should not have taken aspirin when having Crohn's. We do live and learn.

Twocapes - Many thanks for your input from the "horse's mouth" as it were. I guess I was exceedingly lucky that in England the GP does not get involved - once referred for a biopsy the breast care centre at the hospital does all the work up and communicates directly with the patient. They probably copy the GP, but I have never seen mine in 4+ yrs for my bc. We have some of the poorest survival statistics in Europe for breast cancer - including Eastern Europe, but now we have National Health Service guidelines for GP's to refer women with a breast lump for urgent referral to a breast care centre within 2 weeks. My problem was I didn't have a palpable tumour....and therein lies my particular problem, as we only get 3 yrly mammos from age 50. I religiously went for them from 50 yrs, and it was at my 3rd mammo when I was 58 yrs  the tumour was found.    My cancer had spread to the lymph nodes when I was dx, and I feel if we had yrly mammos, I would have had a much better prognosis. Even with bc, we only 2 yrly mammos, which is almost insulting. How would I know if I had a non palpable recurrence? Yaaargh - our NHS sucks, but at least we don't have to worry about the cost - we just need to get seen quicker.
Okay, off my soapbox ......good to vent at times.

Sorry to hi-jack this thread......Twocapes, lovely to see you posting again - your responses are always so erudite and intelligent. Do you know anything about Crohn's and strictures in the small intestine? I had an MRI 2 days ago and am looking at resection of that part that is narrowed. I have never had an MRI in 37 yrs of Crohn's, so can't figure out what this will tell my gastro. He has already dx a stricture through an endoscopy. Do you have any advice/knowledge?

Liz.

[Twocapes]

I worked in a pathology lab in a large hospital for over three years.  The minimum time it took to do a regular breast biopsy (not a frozen section) was 48 hours.  It really ticks me off when the surgeon's office would get the results and not have the patient come back for one, two, or three weeks, or even call the patient when they got the results.  We had a friend who had a prostate biopsy that went through the lab where I worked.  The surgeon told him it would take two weeks for the results.  We had the results in 24 hours and I personally faxed them to the doctor's office.  I knew the results in 24 hours but because of privacy laws I had to watch our friend agonize, lose sleep, and reach high anxiety for those two weeks.  I even suggested to our friend to give the doctor's office a call just to see if the report came in early (knowing that it had been faxed over and was there).  The doctor's office had the nerve to say it wasn't in yet!!!

[lizziecee]

BIRAD4 is a "suspicious finding" - but,  some 80% of lumps are bening, so hang onto that stat right now.
The time it takes to get the results of a biopsy depends on where you go. I had my biopsy, ultrasound and core biopsy in a 3 step breast care clinic - got the results 4 days after. But, it took some 2 months from my 3rd mammo, at 58 yrs old, to be referred for a recall to a breast care centre.

I live in England where we have socialised medicine, like Canada, and presume you are in the USA so cannot comment on the insurance question posted by McMadre.
Sure hope it doesn't take as long for you. The waiting time is horrendous - once you get a diagnosis, benign or malignant you can move on.

Wishing you B9.
Liz.

[McMadre]

I'm not a doctor and can't answer the q you posed, but I want to say something I wish I'd known when I was pre-diagnosos.  You haven't been diagnosed yet, so any insurance you buy between now and diagnosis should cover you without pre-existing exclusion.  My coverage was sorely insufficient for the hundreds of thousands it costs to treat breast cancer.  Medicaid would be an option if I was diagnosed at one of their clinics.  The past 3 months have been as least as trying in regard to funding my treatment as they have in regarding to the shock and unwellness that follows diagnosis and beginning treatment procedures.  I wish you all the best for a benign finding, but I urge you to do what you can to take care of funding the worst-case.

Susan