Answers...Sort Of

This afternoon I had the ultrasound on my breast. I was pleasently surprised that they took my back quickly and I had virtually no waiting. First the ultrasound tech did the ultrasound. I could see the dark spot that appeared to be the lump, but I don't really know much about what's what. She said that it looked to her like a "Fibroadenoma," but she'd let the nurse or radiologist explain what that meant. Then she let me take a little catnap while we waited on the radiologist. After maybe 10 minutes he came in and basically said that they wanted to send me to have a biopsy done.

After that, they let me dress and then I went to the nurse's office. She was great. I spent about 45 minutes in her office going over everything. In her opinion it is most likely either a Fibroadenoma or a Complex Cyst. A Fibroadenoma is a solid mass and is common in younger women. A simple cyst is filled with clear fluid and shows up completely black on the ultrasound. A complex cyst shows up more cloudy and grey and is filled with "gunk" made up of blood, protein, or even old milk. Both cysts and fibroadenoma's are usually oval shaped and have clean edges. Cancerous tumors are much more irregular and may have lumpy or jagged edges or even spikes. My lump looks like a cloud.

The nurse said if I were a 65 year old woman, she would be very concerned based on the shape of the lump. However, she kept reiterating that at my age, it is very unlikely that it is something serious.

A biopsy needs to be done to determine what the lump is made of. The first step is to see a breast surgeon. The surgeon will do an exam, look at my films and possibly do the biopsy in her office. If she does it at that time, she will do a Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA). This involves a very thin needle. If it is a cyst, it should deflate. If not, she can draw up fluid or cells to send to pathology. If she decides not to do the procedure in the office, she will refer me back to radiology to have an Ultrasound Guided Biopsy. This procedure is slightly more invasive and requires local anesthetic. Again the collected fluid or tissue will be sent to pathology. Because she didn't know which way the surgeon would want to address the issue, she scheduled me for both appointments. I will meet with the surgeon on Tuesday at 5 p.m. and if needed will have the biopsy on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

I'm not sure how I feel right now. I am more concerned than I was before this appointment. The nurse from the doctors office said that even if the radiological results were fine, that they would probably refer me on due to the size. I guess in my head, I assumed that they would say it was a cyst and then my doctor's office would have the surgeon look at it and decide what to do. We didn't get that far, the radiologist wants the surgeon to look at it because of the radiological results (rather than in spite of them.) I am also slightly concerned about the irregular shape of my lump. Although, they did say that I could have a cluster of two or three Fibroadnoma's that would show up as a funky shape from the ultrasound.

Hopefully, I'll know more next week. I hope that by going Tuesday or Wednesday, I'll get the results before next weekend. Again, they keep telling me because of my age and no history of breast cancer, they are pretty sure it isn't a serious issue, but I'll be glad when there is a firm diagnosis. Continue to keep me in your prayers.