So, a few weeks ago I had pain in one breast and went to the dr for it. It has since gone away, but she did send me in for a diagnositc mammogram. That is the one where the radiologist looks at it right after taking and either gets more images or send me home. They also said they had orders for an ultrasound if they found anything...I got sent home with no extra images or u/s, which I believe means he/she didn't see anything suspect.
I have moved states and had my baseline mammogram done at 35, about 3 years ago. The old mammogram just got sent to the radiologist and now they want me to come in as there was a change to my right breast.
I am trying not to freak out. No lumps were found. I assume nothing suspect was found in the mammogram last week. So...anyone have this happen? I am trying not too search the internet too much as I have health anxiety and will freak out even more. I have to wait until Wed for my repeat mammogram, which will also be with a radiologist present and looking.
Any words of wisdom to calm me down??
Not only have I had this happen, but last month I had the advanced mammo, u/s, and ultimately a biopsy (see my earlier questions). It all turned out fine. Changes at our age are pretty normal, apparently. Good luck!
A couple of years ago, my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. That January, when I went in for my annual and mammogram, I was called back for a diagnostic mammogram and possibly ultrasound..... (To top it off, my M. was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 86.... so yes, it was all scary....)
Yes, it scared the heck out of me! (My sister is 5 years older than I... she was 60 when it was diagnosed, so I was 55 at the time.)
Basically, they used a different plate on the mammogram, and said that depending on the results of that mammogram, they might do an ultrasound also.
So... they came out a few minutes later and said I would need an ultrasound.... yes, that got my heart pounding.
They did the ultrasound, and THEN explained that when they did the mammogram, everything was fine... but since I was there, they wanted to check on something else that had shown up several times... turned out it was some small calcifications... nothing to worry about....
And... my mammogram this year was just fine.... no repeat visit or anything.
Yes, you are younger... but younger people often have more dense breast tissue that makes the imaging a bit more difficult.... Also, just remember that a LARGE majority of repeat mammograms come up with no problems....
I've had a repeat mam along with an utlrasound for dense breast. It was worrying but it turned out ok. If you google you'll find that the vast majority of repeat mams turn out negative.
I've been told breast tissue gets denser as we age. Could just be something that simple. The great news is that they're "on it" and you are handling anything that it might be (not saying it is) immediately. Try hard not to get upset when you really don't know anything. Hang in there!
I had to have a repeat mammogram this year. I was scared to death! I kept running worst case scenarios through my head. I had a mammo and then an ultrasound. It came back as nothing concerning. I was told that breast tissue can change from day to day depending on where you are in your cycle. They want to err on the side of caution. It could be nothing. It will be hard not to worry about it and imagine the worst, but it very likely could be nothing.
I've been called back...I have dense breast tissue as well as multiple, sizable (5+ cm) cyst. My doctor always sends me for a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound on the same day to lessen panic since he knows they will call me back for more images.
Good luck!! My bet is that you are perfectly fine!!!
This used to happen to me all the time, and I had a lot of repeat mammograms so I understand the stress that comes from the first call-back and lasts until the "all clear". I've had repeat scans before I even left the facility, call-backs, biopsies, and so on. Everything was negative. There are all kinds of factors, from breast density to calcifications to bad imaging to a difference of opinion among radiologists.
Yes, stay off the internet. It's just going to freak you out even without the added factor of health anxiety.
For what it's worth, I also had to have a number of repeat pap smears. Equally stressful. Mostly they were due to "insufficient cells" but it was still frustrating and stressful.
After a whole lot of expense and worry I finally learned more about boosting my breast health and my overall immunity. That ended these repeats tests for both breast and pap. So it's been a breeze ever since.
For now, just sit back. Most of the time, these things are precautionary and nothing to worry about. I know that's so easy for me to say and so hard for you to do, but a few horror stories out there shouldn't outweigh the zillions of success stories and the reports of "it's normal." If you're not satisfied with the answer you get, you can ask for another opinion. A lot of women forget that - it's perfectly okay to tell a physician that you want to see someone else. They are used to it, and they respect it. It's your body.
