Mammogram ? Follow up ultrasound.

[phred52]

Where I go for mammograms they read them right then and don't let you get dressed again until cleared by the radiologist. It is nice not having to go back another day for a follow-up. I also always ask to speck to the radiologist if at the end of the visit if my results are anything but normal.

The most times I've been pulled back into a room is FIVE times in a single day. THe fifth time was to a room down the hall, for a sonogram and aspiration. As the radiologist pulled her stool up close to me, I told her I was praying the cancer would show up clearly IF there was indeed cancer there. The doctor told me she never had someone tell her that, everyone else is praying nothing shows up...... I figure if it's there I want to know and get moving on doing something about it.

That particular mammogram visit was 3 years ago. I'm now a 5.5 year survivor of breast cancer.

OP I feel your pain. Keep your chin up and keep your follow up appoimtments!
When you are cleared, treat yourself to a massage.

 

[FergieTCat]

I just went through that this year. I had mammogram, an ultrasound and a biopsy wherein they marked the area with titanium clip. It was benign, but I had to have a follow up sonogram six month later (2 weeks ago). No change. Knock wood!

In the words of the breast surgeon, even if there was a problem, it doesn't help to panic.

 

[jsmith]

and Please-get a mammogram EVERY year-the "you only need one every two years if you are in your early 40's, have never had a lump and have no family history" advice nearly cost my sister in law her life. Her doc-and her insurance were firm that every two years was enough-in the skipped year she developed a rare and aggressive cancer that would not have been caught until much too late if not for a swollen lymph node.
OP-go back -and dont worry-ive been called back several times-but whats important is that you do it-and if they do find something-then you are aware early and can do something about it.

 

[quasar4legs]

Try not to worry (easier said than done).
I always need multiple mammograms to get a clear picture and have always had to get an ultrasound as I have dense tissue.

I attend a clinic that does all the screening and gives you the results on the same day. It does take a few hours but it means at the end of the day I have had the mammograms, ultrasound and seen the breast physician.
If you could find a clinic like this it does save a little worry from the call-backs.

Hugs
Quasar

 

[Deb & Bill]

I had the same thing and it was nothing.

 

[ckret01]

I'm kind of in the same boat. I am 37 and about 6 months ago I went for my very first mammogram for no other reason than my Dr thought I was about that age I should have one done.

Then after the first mammogram they had me go back for a 2nd mammogram because this was the first time I ever had it done they had nothing from previous years to compare it to because they found a lot of density.

Then after the 2nd mammo, they had me go for an ultrasound.

Then after the ultrasound they sent me for a breast MRI. They said they were a little bit concerned but didn't think it was anything serious. So I have a follow up MRI apt I need to make within the next two month becuase that would be my 6 month follow up. I am so scared.

Right before I had the first mammogram I had just gotten through having an ectopic pregnancy so needless to say I was a wreck. But everyone keeps telling me everything will be okay so I completely understand what you may be going through.

 

[bookgirl]

Well it seems that when they compared last years to this years I had a asymetrical change, but it appeared to be fluid so low worry but still needed to be investigated. They took some more focused shots (youch!) and there was a cyst looking area but odd shaped. The ultrasound revealed two perfect oval cysts that were smushed up so close that the outline of the two together were the odd shape that kept coming up.

They are less than a cm each so they are not going to aspirate them, in fact they said I didn't even have to do a follow up in 6 months. I do have to self check them, but they are not worried at all and unless I start feeling a lump or pain they are going to let them be.

I also have some fluid in the ducts, and some areas that look like they used to be cycts but are reasorbing.



Thanks for all the kind and encouraging words. Now I can go back to obessing over my upcoming trip instead of whether my breast was about to fall off.

Good luck to those of you going back for follow ups in the coming days.


PS, I WILL be going in EVERY October new guideslines or not, thank you very much.

 

[sweetpea29488]

I'll be going for my very first mammogram this Wednesday. I just turned 40 this year. I'm alot nervous, mostly because I don't know what to expect.

bookgirl, glad that everything turned out o.k.

 

[KimR]

I've begun to look at my screening mammogram as just a formality because I get called back for a diagnostic and US every single time. Fortunately, nothing has ever been found, but it is still very stressful. Last year, I moved my mammogram from Oct to Jan for that very reason. The fall is my favorite time of year and I hate to ruin it; whereas January sucks anyway, so I might as well add mammogram anxiety to list to the list of things I hate about it.

I really don't hate having the mammogram itself as I've never found it to be painful or uncomfortable. It's just the worry and anxiety I feel when I get the callback.

 

[phred52]

Thanks for the update, bookgirl. Sooo glad everything is fine!

 

[eliza61]

I'll be going for my very first mammogram this Wednesday. I just turned 40 this year. I'm alot nervous, mostly because I don't know what to expect.

bookgirl, glad that everything turned out o.k.

Ok Sweetpea, we are your unofficially cheer leading squad. So what to expect, well it's more uncomfortable than painful. I call it the breast squeeze test as they have to try to "flatten" out your breast to take the picture. It's very quick, most places don't have you get completely undress you simply remove your bra and top..

I have what is called dense breast so I get the ultrasound also.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

I just went through that this year. I had mammogram, an ultrasound and a biopsy wherein they marked the area with titanium clip. It was benign, but I had to have a follow up sonogram six month later (2 weeks ago). No change. Knock wood!

In the words of the breast surgeon, even if there was a problem, it doesn't help to panic.

Same here. Thank God they have a test.

 

[sweetpea29488]

Ok Sweetpea, we are your unofficially cheer leading squad. So what to expect, well it's more uncomfortable than painful. I call it the breast squeeze test as they have to try to "flatten" out your breast to take the picture. It's very quick, most places don't have you get completely undress you simply remove your bra and top..

I have what is called dense breast so I get the ultrasound also.

Thank you for the info and for being my
I'll post back on Thursday with how it went.

Will they tell me how everything is while I'm there or will it take awhile for them to get back to me?

 

[DebbieB]

Well it seems that when they compared last years to this years I had a asymetrical change, but it appeared to be fluid so low worry but still needed to be investigated. They took some more focused shots (youch!) and there was a cyst looking area but odd shaped. The ultrasound revealed two perfect oval cysts that were smushed up so close that the outline of the two together were the odd shape that kept coming up.

They are less than a cm each so they are not going to aspirate them, in fact they said I didn't even have to do a follow up in 6 months. I do have to self check them, but they are not worried at all and unless I start feeling a lump or pain they are going to let them be.

I also have some fluid in the ducts, and some areas that look like they used to be cycts but are reasorbing.

Thanks for all the kind and encouraging words. Now I can go back to obessing over my upcoming trip instead of whether my breast was about to fall off.

Good luck to those of you going back for follow ups in the coming days.

PS, I WILL be going in EVERY October new guideslines or not, thank you very much.

I've had cysts several times, some large enough to feel. On the ones I could feel, they never aspirated them and they just disappeared on their own. One time I had a large one and they said if it became painful, to come back and the would "pop" it.

Thank you for the info and for being my
I'll post back on Thursday with how it went.

Will they tell me how everything is while I'm there or will it take awhile for them to get back to me?

It depends on where you go. At the place I go to, if you have a routine screening mammo, you call a hotline in a few days to get the results. If it's a diagnostic mammo (because you have a problem or a history), then they read it right there and give you the results. The diagnostic is more expensive and they will only do it with a doctor's order. A friend of mine goes to a different place and they give results immediately.

Good Luck!

 

[daisax]

I'll be going for my very first mammogram this Wednesday. I just turned 40 this year. I'm alot nervous, mostly because I don't know what to expect.
.

Different places probably have different procedures, but basically in my experience they give you a smock to put on (kind of like a bed jacket, tied in the front, and you keep your clothes on from the waist down), then they call you in and you walk up to a machine and they explain that very, very often women get called back, so if you get a call to come back most of the time it is NOT anything serious, just something they want to double check just to be safe. Then the tech tells you she will do everything and you can just stand there and relax. And she'll arrange your body up to the machine at a certain angle, and put the breast on the little shelf. When she's got it lined up just right, she'll lower this other flat shelf above it and it will squish you a little. Then she'll tell you to stand still, then go back to the machine, tell you to hold your breath, then press the button and then tell you to breathe and the squisher will lift off. Then she'll do the other side, or a different angle of the same side. Then she'll check the images and make sure they're of acceptable quality.

I don't find it all that painful, frankly, and the techs I've spoken with say it doesn't seem to matter whether you're larger or smaller but merely a question of pain tolerance. To me it's like that momentary sensation of "ouch" when a blood pressure cuff is too tight. Tight enough to not want it to go on longer than it does, but certainly not painful enough to dread.

This last time I got to see and compare my films from last year and it was cool. The digital mammograms are so clear it's fascinating that even a layperson can really see the structures.

 

[lovesmurfs]

Ok Sweetpea, we are your unofficially cheer leading squad. So what to expect, well it's more uncomfortable than painful. I call it the breast squeeze test as they have to try to "flatten" out your breast to take the picture.

Yep! I call it biblical: "We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed." 2 Corinthians 4:8.

 

[sweetpea29488]

Thanks again everyone for the help. I went yesterday and it went fine. It didn't hurt and it was over before I knew it. On the way home, about two hours later, I live about 50 miles from the city that I had to travel to so I added shopping in, they called and told me that my mammogram was neg. and I was good and they would see me next year.

Thanks again for giving me a heads up on what to expect.