Though I'm worried, should I be????

[1Finemom]

I had a call back from my mammogram. They took 4 more pictures which included spot compression (ouch!). Right after that I had the sonogram done. Words from the tech to the doctor while looking at my screening, "We can't get THAT on a CAT scan." It freaked me out a bit. The doc then recommended me to have a contrasting MRI which can't be for another 2 1/2 weeks due to my menstrual cycle.....YIKES! I'm going to go insane with worry til then. Apparently my right breast is asymmetrical from my left and there is something there they have not seen before....near the chest wall! ( I have mammos every year.) If they saw something, wouldn't they just order a biopsy or are they not clear on what they see or are they staging cancer before telling me???? Help! I'm a basketcase! bThanks so much for your input!

[Kimberly Sue]

You are in the most difficult time of diagnosis.....waiting! If you do have cancer, it has been there for a long time, quite a few years, and has only now grown big enough to be noticed. Be grateful that at this time they are using non-invasive testing to get a better idea of what you may be dealing with. 80% of lumps are not cancerous, so the odds are in your favor. It sounds like they are not clear on what they see, and need this one more test to determine if invasive testing is appropriate. With the mass being close to the chest wall, you may end up with a stereotactic biopsy....a rather difficult and invasive test.
My best advice is to try to keep yourself busy. Easier said than done I know, my testing took place over the course of almost 2 months...and yes, I was a basket case. But we knew we were dealing with cancer...it was just getting things pinpointed and making decisions on treatment that took some time.
I had a full bilateral skin sparing bilateral mastectomy in Oct. 2007, with reconstruction. I am a survivor. And plan to be one for the rest of my life....I may die from heart problems, or old age, but I'll be damned if I am going to die from breast cancer!!
Take a deep breath. Then take another one. Hopefully this will just be a scary episode and inspire you to be a supporter of a cure for BC. If you do have BC, it is not a death sentence at all. It is very treatable, especially if found at an early stage. Again, take a deep breath. Let me know how things go on your tests...I will be here to support and encourage you, and can give you some guidance on other things if you get a positive diagnosis. If not, I will celebrate with you that this was just a scare!
Blessed Be

[zouzi]

Hi,
Asymmetry means that there is an area of thickness in your right breast that is not found in your left breast.Many women have this difference and this should not alarm you so much.
You don't state what is your BI-RADS score reported on your mammogram/ultrasound.You could call the radiologist to find out about it,because it can tell you how suspicious the abnormality is.The score goes from 0 to 5.The higher the number the more suspicious the finding is.If the score is a 0,it means that the tests did not give enough information to reach a diagnosis.
You are right to say that if a lump was detected that looked suspicious,a biopsy would have been ordered,but it seems that the tests you had are not clear to the radiologist,most probably because you have dense breasts and that's why a MRI has been ordered.MRI's are excellent tools to detect abnormalities through dense breasts.
I wouldn't jump to any conclusion if I were you,thinking that you may have breast cancer.There are no tests that can say for sure what an abnormality actually is unless a biopsy is done and the tissue examined by a pathologist.
Many abnormalities that are found in the breast turn out to be benign findings..so try to keep this in mind and don't worry so much before there is a reason to be concerned.
Please let us know how things are proceeding.
Wishing you all the best....