large mass in both breasts-dense breast tissue

[sweetie2040]

I am 44 and had a mamo and ultrasound. I have very dense breasts. Inside each of my breast it feels like they are very lump and I can palpate a large lump in each one that feels the size of a small golf ball. The breast itself feels dense and very little fat, more lump. The ultrasound and mamo came back fine saying I had extremely dense breasts. After the mamo they called me the next day to return for another pic and they said they say a cyst, but then after they rechecked they said it was fine. My dr said all is fine,but what I don't understand is how I can have too large cysts/masses in my breasts and it still be fine. Isn't a lump that large cause for concern. Is a bioposy warranted? I keep reading a lot about dense breasts and that there may be an increased risk of breast cancer. I just want to be a 100% sure i'm fine. How certain is a mamo with an ultra and why would they just dimiss large masses in my breasts that can be palpated?

[sweetie2040]

forget about the previous question, i got a all yesterday from my Dr. the lump is cancer. She said it is stage 1 and seems to be contained in that lump, but I need an MRI to check nodes,etc, they said they will go over everything with me,but mentioned lumpectomy,radiation, medication, I'm just in shock, I was so sure that lump was nothing becasue of my dense breasts, but yet I knew it was a "new lump" and I pushed for a biposy just to be sure. thank God I did! any advice on facing this?

[sweetie2040]

i had the core needle ultrasound guided biopsy yesterday. One thing that surprised me was that they put titanium markers inside me to mark the area in case they needed to go back in or identify it in the future. they took a pic of it after on the mammo so they have a record of the area. WHen I got home I felt a little unsure about this since now I have titanium inside me forever. I felt weird and wondered if this was really needed and if this would cause any problems for me in the future. THey assured me it was safe, but I just feel strange about it now, can you help me on this? also they said the lump looks pretty benign so far and don't suspect cancer,but have to get confirmation. The one thing that sort of bothered me was that becasue I have dense breasts my doc ordered an ultrasound which in turn showed this lump which is probably nothing but they had to put me through a bioposy because of it. The dr said it is the catch 22 of having both. so now I'm really confused and feeling like maybe I overreacted and should have waited on the biopsy, but I guess I'm really looking for guidance of how to handle this in the future.

[japdip]

Not really except to say "Good For YOU" ... and the new Dr.
You might "search" Core Needle Biopsy so you will know more about the procedure and what to expect. Sounds like you have made a good connection now and will be followed adequately without any more "Nonsense" .... Best Wishes and keep in touch.

[sweetie2040]

saw a wonderful dr today, breast specialist/surgeon. She examined me and did an ultrasound in the area in question, she confirmed everything the first ultrasound said and is sending me for a core needle ultrasound guided biopsy. She said the only thing that concerned her was the irregular edges, the lump is the size of a pea. I'm going next week. any advice?

[sweetie2040]

thanks again for your reassuring comments! I totally agree with you and after giving it thought  I made an appointment today with a breast specialist. I am bringing all my films and reports to her. She is going to read them and evaluate me. They can also follow me since I do have very dense breasts which may need more careful screening. I think I feel better just having a second opinion although everything points to things probably being ok, it's just that I want to know for sure and not probably! thanks again, my appt is next week and I will let you know how it went.

[japdip]

I believe that the comment "nonsense" is absolutely that; NONSENSE ! May I suggest that you take your films (all of them) and make an appointment with a Breast Specialist; either Medical or Surgical. You could wait the 6 weeks but it wouldn't hurt to secure an appointment now ... it might take some time to get one; depending on how busy they are in your area. I don't mean to show any disrespect to your Dr. but the Radiologists are specially trained in reading these films and do it day in and day out; thousands of times. If they see something then I would rely on that opinion. I don't think you should get stressed out about this at this point but I do think you should pursue it to some definite conclusion.  Keep in touch when you get additional results, OK ?    Thanks

[sweetie2040]

thank you for your reassuring comment. It does help. However when I went back to take an additional view of the right breast since they called me in, I told them my dr found a lumpy area in the left breast so they also redid the ultrasound in that area. I got the final report with an addendum regarding the U/S which said I had a palpable nodule in the axillary aspect of the left breast. There is a hypoechoic region 1.4cm. It is ill-dfined but does not provide any posterior acoustic shadwoing. They questioned whether it is an area of inflammation, but said they cannot rule out the possiblity of a mass. they recommended return in 6-8 weeks. If still there, I would need a biopsy. This report was sent to my doctor who said "nonsence" all is fine. I am sooo confused. if it is fine why does it say they need to watch it and possibly might need a biopsy. At this point do you think I should see a specialist? Of note the orginal u/s done 2 days earlier showed no issues , the follow up listed it as a birad (3) probably bengin. any suggestions?

[japdip]

If your testing came back negative then the lumpiness you feel is the normal feel with very dense breast tissue. This is often described as having lumpy breasts. These masses are breast tissue and not tumors; if there were any doubt I'm sure aditional testing would have been ordered such as a Breast MRI. Since you describe that the lumpiness is felt in both breasts and all your testing is OK I'm sure it's normal in your case.   Regards .....