biopsy

[boditty]

I am a 37 year old female. I had a mammogram done and they called me back for a spot compression mammogram and an ultrasound. I have a 10mm lump with clusters all around it, and a birad of 3.  As far as symptoms, I know my left breast feels differently.  Sometimes I have a burning through it.  Most times, I feel something that I don't in the other.  It's not really pain or discomfort, just a dull feeling.  They have also gotten bigger. Are these symptoms of breast cancer?  I had cervical cancer 7 years ago.I have big breast.  I wear a 36DD and actually, that's not big enough.  The lump is above my left nipple about an 1-1 1/2" and midway behind my nipple pretty far back. The ultrasound didn't show anything. My baseline mammogram 4 years ago was clear. I know there are different kinds of biopsies they do.  My question is with the location of the lump, what kind of biopsy will probably be perfromed?  I ask because I have gotten the runaround from my doctors office for the last two weeks on a time to see the breast surgeon.  After calling the surgeon's office yesterday, I found out they have never even heard of me.  I now have an appointment on the 30th of this month. I have already waited 2 1/2 weeks and I would like to be prepared for what kind of biopsy to expect. I appreciate any feedback you can give me.

[suzi-q]

Boditty- how did everything go?  Please post to let us know.  I truly hope all is well.

[boninclyde]

What steps will you take now? Are you doing Chemo or tamoxifen? Haven't you already done radiation? I still worry about the long term side effects of chemo.

My insurance said they will not pay for the test because it is still expermental and still being tested. Which it is not being tested any more though they are tracking women on it. That is with every drug. It has been sold to the public for 2 years now after the 5 year study.  So me and the Onco company have appealed. My cost was 3,460.00 also.

[Avidhiker]

Mine was 26 with a 16% recurrence in ten years when treated with tamoxifen.  1-17 low; 18-30 intermediate; over 30 high.  My onc said although he believes I am on the low side of recurrence (he would probably not have recommend chemo if it were 10%), I would benefit from the chemo by about 3% and will probably get an additional reduction of 50% or so from Herceptin, so I'm down to about a 7% risk (50% of 13).  I know it is only a stat, but I feel better that I am doing whatever it takes to hopefully reduce my risk for recurrence.  You know how I feel, once of this is enough!  By the way, the ONCO Type DX test is getting A LOT of attention now.  More and more women are demanding the test.  I spoke to a rep during the summer who advised that they went from about 600 or so cases to about 14,000 within a year!  My concern is that they are now conducting trials to see if women such as me who fall in the "gray" zone will really benefit from chemo.  My luck, in five years, they will say the risk outweighed the benefit!!

May I ask you if your insurance paid for it?  The test was billed to me at $3,460, my insurance paid $2,000, saying it was a genetic test and my maximum lifetime for genetic tests is $2,000. We are now appealing it, attempting to have my insurance company learn the difference between genomic and genetic, also on the grounds that Genomic Lab is the ONLY lab in the world performing this test so it must be paid as an in-network provider.  We'll see.  (Genomic Lab will fight to the max for you. If after three attempts, we lose, they will even provide a payment plan!).  

[Avidhiker]

I just finished 4 rounds of AC (was supposed to get Taxotere also but had a severe allergic reaction so that is out of the question).  I begin radiation next week for @7 weeks.  In two more weeks, I begin Tamoxifen for about 2 years and then another drug because by then I will probably be postmenapausal (thank God). I also will start in two weeks with weekly injections of the monoclonal antibody Herceptin, once a week for at least 24 weeks because my tumor was HER2+.

Good luck with your appeal!  I'm off to the onc now for my CBC (10 days after chemo) and probably another shot of Procrit to get those reds up!  I swear, it is living through chemistry!

[boninclyde]

Thanks for sharing.

[boditty]

Hi Ladies!

My surgeon's office just called and moved my appt. up from the 30th to Monday, the 23rd.  I have been waiting for 3 weeks already to get an appt. into the breast surgeon, because my dr's office gave me the runaround on getting the appt. scheduled.  Needless to say, I am anxious.  As I've said  before in my previous post, I've had cervical cancer 7 years ago and I don't know if the symptoms I am having are related to breast cancer but I will be relieved whether it's good news or bad news I get back after the biopsy just because the not knowing is so much worse.  Monday is the consultation and then she will schedule the biopsy.  Hopefully, it will be within a couple of days of that.  I really don't have anyone to share with, so I apologize if it seems I'm going on and on.  I have read all of your post and I want you all to know I personally appreciate how thorough everyone is with thier experiences. Whatever the outcome of my situation is, I will be prepared because of ya'll. My prayers and thoughts are with each and every one of you. God speed!

[boninclyde]

Can I ask what your Onco score was? Just got mine 20 1/2. My oncologist recommends chemo with 25 and above.

[boninclyde]

I am glad you found our site. Maybe. Please keep us posted on your results. There are alot of us here that have no one else. Me being one of them.

[Avidhiker]

I'll be 52 in December and have been diligently going for yearly mammos since I was 40.  I had absolutely no symptoms.  This year's mammo showed a cluster of microc in the right breast.  Compared to last year's, it was brand new and warranted investigation.  There was no palpable lump felt by me, my boyfriend,or my OBGYN.  The surgeon felt a little "thickening".  Since there was no lump, I had to have a blue dye injected in the exact area of suspicion the night before the biopsy so that the surgeon could remove the correct suspicious area. Although it returned as infiltrating ductal carcinoma, I have a very good prognosis because mine did not spread to the nodes and it was highly fueled by estrogen (ER+).  However, because it was 2.4 cm, and my ONCOtype DX test revealed an intermediate score (the cancer was somewhat aggressive), two oncologists recommended the additional benefit of chemo to reduce the risk of recurrence.  The reason the cancer is treated in so many ways, surgery, chemo, radiation, hormonal, is to REDUCE THE RISK OF RECURRENCE.  Believe me, you only want to go through this **** once!

I begin radiation next week.  Prior to treatment, the radiologist will give you 4-5 TINY black tattoos on and around the breast area to help guide the beam direction.  They are permanent and each felt like a quick pinprick, repeat QUICK.  If you have sun spots, beauty marks or freckles in that area, you'll never be able to tell them apart.  If not, you'll acquire some tiny "beauty" marks!  It will be an approximate 2-3 minute treatment every day, Monday through Friday, for about 33 times (7 weeks).  The side effect can be sunburn, again everybody is different, so it could be mild or severe. My breasts have been exposed to the sun before (all those Caribbean and Mexican trips!) so we'll see.  I know it will be a cakewalk compared to chemo, just a daily inconvenience.

Whatever you do, and I know it is easier said than done, don't change your routine.  You caught it early, and I am sure you too will have a very good prognosis!

[Montana girl 06]

It's too bad that every we day we wait we have to worry. Keeping busy helps me, but I need some quiet time, too, and that means time to worry. Hope your biopsy can be scheduled soon.

[boditty]

Thanks so much for your reply!  I am so very sorry yours was cancer.  I have lost a best friend and brother-in-law to cancer within 5 years of each other, so it has been a big part of my life for the last several years.  If you don't mind me asking, did you have any symptoms at all before or after they found it?  My left breast feels like it is burning sometimes and most times, a really dull feeling.  Sometimes the nipple itches. I know there is something going on in there because my right one feels normal.  Any reply would be helpful to my mind whether or not it's good or bad news!

[Avidhiker]

I am by no way a medical expert, but I believe that, unfortunately, you will have to wait till you see the surgeon. He needs to examine you and look at your mammos to determine the correct biopsy procedure for you.  I thought I was going to have a stereotatic, so did my radiologist.  The surgeon recommended an open, so an open I did have.  Glad to hear you are doing this.  Better to be safe than sorry.  Mine was a BIRAD 4 and I was one of the unlucky ones, early, but nevertheless, cancer.  Good luck!

[CCF-RN,MSN-JS]

Dear boditty,  There are several types of biopsy procedures.  The types range from a fine needle aspiration which is a non-surgical form of breast biopsy in which a small needle is used to withdraw a sample of cells from the breast lump, to an open excisional biopsy in which an entire mass is removed.  Other types of biopsies are core needle biopsy that remove a sample of tissue from the area of concern, locating the area through mammogram or ultrasound guidance. The type of biopsy recommended depends on how large the breast lump or abnormal area is, how it was detected (by a lump that can be felt versus a mammogram), where in the breast it is located, and the physician's judgement as to what would be most helpful.