question cyst?calcification?& Thankyou To All on this site!

[pa43]

First To you All & your Comments I Read soo many posts and just reading what you all have written makes me feel somewhat better It makes me feel not so Alone to  read what you all have gone through..First of all I Suffer from Anxiety Disorder which doesn't help and breast cancer does not run in my family at all. I Am only 43 and my mammograms are always fine but this last time feb.2011 they told me they want me to come back in Aug for another mammo just as a follow up to make sure nothing has changed & told me I Had a microcalcification. Just last year they gave me a printed out paper stating that my chances of getting breast cancer over my lifetime was like 5% or less according to my family history & lifestyle.Now this year this so needless to say I Am confused & Anxious & for The person that answered saying to one of the posts on here that doctors or radiologists don't like to get the patient anxiety by doing a biopsy if not needed well from someone that suffers from anxiety just telling you to wait 6 months puts all kinds of thoughts in your mind & I Am filled with Anxiety & theirs so many maybes first they say its normal to have calcifications but then your told it could be something more serious maybe. For anyone on here how are we not supposed to worry??I Have to say if anyone can answer this any Doctors clinics on here this would help my aniety a bit for my personal situation as we all have different situations So to anyone that can answer this please any info. would be good help my anxioness. I Did talk to the assisting Nurse after the mammogram concerning my results & she told me I Had a Benign cyst on my left breast that was leaking liquid fluid something of that sort & scattered microcalifications so my question is will this turn to cancer over time? does this mean I'm more prone to getting breast cancer over time & do they leave a benign cyst in or remove it??Anyone go through this or now anything about this??please answers???? Thankyou. Bren in Pa.


This discussion is related to breast calcifications.

[pa43]

Hi I Just read your reply & I Agree everyones situation is different  and we should all talk to our own individual doctor or radiologist concerning ourselves. And I Was just giving my opinion on here that waiting 6 months at least for me gives me anxiety as would getting a biopsy but I Do see why radiologists don't want to cause a patient to worry by doing an unnecessary test  that would probably worry a patient even more. Thankyou for your input. Just reading others experiences has helped me with my anxiety.

[japdip]

Hi Bren:  First I will address the subject of calcifications ..... these are seen normally scattered about within the breast tissue and may increase with age. It is only when these calcifications are seen in clusters or groups that they become an area of concern. This clustering is the reaction to something that is not normal within the breast tissue. Not normal being ANYTHING ... NOT necessarily cancer. The reason for the clustering or grouping needs to be found and this is most often done by some type of biopsy. The presence of scattered calcifications does not increase your risk of developing breast cancer.Now to the cyst .... a benign cyst is just that ... a BENIGN cyst; a sac that contains liquid and may increase in size or decrease in size ... often related to the hormone levels in the body. When many cysts are present it is often advised to decrease or eliminate the intake of caffeine. Fibrocystic Breast Condition affects nearly half of all women who develop multiple cysts or fibroadenomas (benign breast tumors). Cysts can be left alone or removed depending on the particular situation. You are correct that routine self exams and routine Mammograms and/or Ultrasounds would give one the advantage of discovering a cancer (if it exists) at an early stage which of course would be more easily and successfully treated. Radiologists are trained to know what needs to be investigated immediately and what needs to be watched for a period of time. Jumping to an invasive procedure such as a biopsy unnecessarily is NOT good medical practice even though the waiting isn't always the most pleasant thing, it is often best. I would caution you about relating posts to your situation since rarely are two cases similar. We are all different and our conditions are also quite different.   Kindest regards .....  

[pa43]

Oh & I Forgot to comment my Mother Ironically whom is 65 this year had her mammogram in feb. had calcifications seen in her breasts & they did an ultrasound said its fine and no biopsy she sees a different doctor. But I Just thought that was Ironic we both had calcifications on our routine mammograms.One more question anyone can answer sorry for the mistyping in some of my words above I'm writing this quickly. If you get a mammogram & something would def be caught early then if you routinely get them as I Do, then if you would get breast cancer wouldn't it be extremely curable?