To cut or no to cut?

Hi,

In March 2003 I had a mammogram that came back normal.  In April I discovered a small lump in my left brast at the 5:oo position.
In June I went to my family prac. and he sent me to a surgeon.  The surgeon told me to come back in Nov.  I didn't, instead I saw my gyn in Dec and pointed the lump out to her.  

I had another Mammo which again was normal, but the lump is still there and sort of shaped like a canoe, feels strange but is hard and doesn't move.  

Sent back to surgeon, he says lump is bigger but probably nothing to worry about.  It's my choice to have it removed. Needless to say I'm a bit confused.  

Some back ground on me:  I'm 44, on HRT for 5+ years, had a biopsy on right breast in 2000, don't have " lumpy breasts", no kids.

Thanks for any help you can give me on this matter.

Diane

[CCF-RN,MSN-rf]

Dear Diane:  Without the ability to palpate the lump, it is difficult to comment on whether this is concerning or not.  Not all cancers will show up on a mammogram.  There are many lumps that are not cancer.  Ultimately, it is up to you and your doctor to decide on the comfort level in whatever the decision.

[Bet63]

Hi Diane
I wanted to respond because I'm in the same situation as you are. I had a normal mammo in Jan when I felt 2 lumps in my right breast. The surgeon thinks they are nothing to worry about but needless to say I am concerned. (Strong family history and I had 2 surgical biopsies last year in the same breast.) I was told to wait through 2 menstrual cycles to see if they change at all.(one has changed a little, it doesn't feel as smooth as it was previously and is a bit bigger) He said ultimately it's up to me to have them removed or not.
It is Very confusing - do I just leave them and hope that it's nothing or do I put myself through yet another surgery and have even more of my breast removed?
I guess utltimately it depends on the anxiety level of leaving the lump there and waiting. I personally am leaning towards biopsy, after all, it is the only way to know for sure.
Best of luck to you. Take care.

Bet

[surgeon]

generally if a lump is easy to feel, doing some sort of biopsy is not difficult. Another option is simply to have a needle sample taken (fine-needle aspiration ((FNA)), using a needle the same as those used to draw blood); if the mammogram is ok, and the lump feels like an innocent one, and the FNA sample is ok, the chance of it being cancer is very close to zero. It's the so-called "triple test." It takes literally a couple of seconds to have a FNA sample done. Ask the surgeon about that as an option if you don't want to go through the "cutting" but have a need for more reassurance.

[ps131]

I was diag. w/stage III bc a year and a half ago so I'm probably looking at this from a different viewpoint than others but I would definitely either get it removed or at least have them do a biopsy.  Personally, I don't think "probably nothing to worry about" is a good enough answer.  It very well could be something benign but there's no way to know for sure without a biopsy and if it isn't you don't want to let it go untreated.

[dammie]

I agree with the above post:  "probably nothing to worry about" just isn't good enough.  I, too, had a "probably nothing."  After finding a lump on a self breast exam, I had a normal mammo and a normal sono.  I decided to have it removed due to a strong family history of breast cancer.  It turned out to be cancer. So my probably nothing turned out to be something. You have to be comfortable with the decision.  Cancer is not something to take a chance on.  Good luck

[Di44]

Thanks for all of your answers and stories, they have made my decision easier.  I'm having the biopsy done on the 9th.  Probably nothing but with my luck if I leave it ......  For some reason my surgeon doesn't want to do the needle biopsy, I'm afraid wasn't paying great attention at the time so I can't say why.  Again thanks and good luck everyone.