Excisional Biopsy?

[Chelle67]

I had a core biopsy on Jan 13.  The doctor just called and said I needed an excisional biopsy because pathology said they didn't see the microcalcifications.  Then she called me back and said she's going to send the samples back through pathology before doing the excisional biopsy.  She feels she got everything they need.  I'm so confused.  I was already a nervous wreck.  Now it's even worse.  I have to wait again.  I feel like maybe I should just have the excisional biopsy anyway, just to be safe.  Any thoughts?

[Chelle67]

I had a consultation with the surgeon on Friday.  He's going to go ahead and schedule surgery for the excisional biopsy and if the second round of pathology comes back without abnormality than we'll cancel surgery.  I just don't understand why the samples needed to be sent back to pathology for a more thorough look.  I didn't know there are different levels of pathology.  Why don't they just check the samples at every level necessary the first time through?  It was confirmed that the calcifications were removed in the mammo I had after the core biopsy.  So why not just keep going until they find them?  This has just caused another week of waiting and worrying.  Any input from anyone would be helpful.

[iam1butterfly]

Something similar happened to me in 2005. Only, in my case, the doctors couldn't reach the area where the calcifications formed using the needle method. So, I had to have a surgical (excision) biopsy. That caused a delay in the whole biopsy process; which delayed having any conclusive answer as to the nature of the calcifications (which turned out to be benign). But, all of the delays resulted in a mounting wave of  anxiety. So, I can really relate to what you're going through. I would say, hope for the best but, be prepared to undergo the excisional biopsy, which would enable the doctor(s) to get a better sample of calcifications and surrounding breast tissue. And, keep in mind that statistically, microcalcifications are rarely, if ever, found to be of a cancerous origin. The odds are in your favor. Take care.