In regards to the Diag. Mammogram you might contact the Susan Komen Foundation .... they fund some testing for under or uninsured women. Just a thought ... I have worked with them and also been the recipient of some funding. Never hurts to investigate. Good luck and best wishes with your other procedures. Regards ....
So... not going to update this again unless needed. Found the journal thing on the profile and will put questions, events, and such there.
Well.....
Sometime in the next six months I have to get the diagnostic mammogram with ultrasound - gotta figure out the price and if I have the $$ for that.
On July 10th I go in for a uterine/endometrial biopsy along with ultrasounds.
The doctor really wants to do the Hysteroscopy with DNC but I don't have the money for it.
If you haven't seen a Breast Specialist I suggest that you do so ..... I think someone who deals specifically with breast issues would be helpful in your case. This way there would be more attention paid to breast issues and this would result in more specific answers for you.
If you are positive that your Sister had mammography in the "missing years" then the reports might be of some value when it comes to "answers". If she didn't then you would just have to chalk it up to an aggressive type of cancer which by the way can even occur in the year between exams and often does. Women with dense breast tissue (lumpy breasts) often require Breast MRI for a good evaluation since Mammograms fall short when it comes to "seeing" through this dense tissue. Once again this is where a Breast Specialist would certainly be an asset. I have always been a firm believer in reports or films being exlained in detail to a patient rather than just a piece of paper being mailed to them.
As far as your other medical problems, I can't really address them since we deal with only BC issues but I wish you well in understanding your own health problems as well as coming to come closure regarding the loss of your Sister. Kindest regards ....
Looking at her reports that I have - 2007, 2008, 2009 that all occurred in July/August dates for the most part... they each state benign findings, microcalcifications in both breasts, and ACR category 2. The 2008 specifically stated scattered microcalcifications. A 2004 one that they refer to did not have any calcifications according to one report that I saw.
Now I do not see any mammograms for 2010 or 2011 but it was in Nov. 2011 when she got a pimple that at the start of 2012 became an open ulcer and in April was the diagnosis of breast cancer though one report does state there was an earlier DCIS but I can't find that report and until my niece becomes executer of her moms estate we can't get the missing reports. The one doctor had given her 2years not 3weeks but there are issues about her death. As to the spread of her cancer it was in the right lymph nodes near her arm and maybe liver but the didn't do a biopsy and the other places with the hypermetabolisms were also places of her pronounced osteoarthritis.
Glad to hear they are common in the 30's it was one of the things I wasn't finding other than they appear on up to 50%+ for those over age 50 and at a rate of about 1 in 10 for those between 40 and 50.
On my "summary report" the words checked off are Birads 2 (which I believe from reading is the same as ACR 2), benign findings, calcifications, and predominantly fatty tissue.
In a sense though I do not expect to hear anything more specific as my history is full o unknown, this doesn't make sense, and "don't know"'s.
With the unknown cause of low platelets going back to 2004 they have ruled out a lot of causes and the bone marrow biopsy didn't rule out immune but also didn't quite support it especially with my mpv values. At the same time other than when the numbers really drop the only place I really get the petechia rashes are on my breasts.
The menorrhagia with no cause since the same time the gyns through the years say the low platelets but my platelets are never low enough to cause it. Finally I have a good gyn but I can't afford the hysteroscopy he wants to do to see if he can locate any problems that the ultrasounds are not picking up.
The Iron deficiency showed up first in my bone marrow a year ago and points to a long standing deficiency with the "zero stainable iron" and other indicators but until a few weeks ago my blood levels of iron were just inside normal limits.
The b12 deficiency is very slight and the shots work with that - no weirdness in one area hehe.
Sorry for the long post.... most of the time I try to not think about medical stuff because the unknowns are aggravating but with my sisters death and all the new info. my mind isn't quite ready to go back into passive wait and see mode just yet. I do think I need the diagnostic mammogram and one that will actually be the standard summary of observations and impression not just a sheet of paper with a couple checks next to single words.
Slight typo - Family genes: Factor 2, Factor 5, and MTHFR