Breast Cancer Support

Okay... had the breast ultrasound this morning. The tech does the procedure - it hurts, I'm sore as can be - and she's trying to be gentle but you do have to push a little bit, ya know? She finishes up, goes and has the doc review it...

Ten minutes later, she comes in and tells me they found multiple abnormalities but that I'm fine and I can go home. EXCUSE ME?! I'm leaking. My breasts are REALLY SORE. Last night it looked like there's a bruise on my left side, but I'm not sure because I'm so freaked out I don't know if it's real or if I'm just losing it.

And then after all of this - I see black splotches on the US screen, and I'm not uneducated. I know what a cyst looks like. I know what my existing fibroids look like. And these black spots? NEW. NOT my existing fibroids, not even in the same side of the breast!

And all I get is "well you have multiple abnormalities but you're okay"?!

I'm really flippin' upset right now. They don't say "cyst", they don't say "lump" they tell me it's just ABNORMAL and call it good? No follow-up appointment needed, just go on about your life, you're fine.

No, I'm NOT fine. They are bigger, they hurt, I'm leaking and I am not okay!! =(

How on earth do I find another doctor? Most places you have to get a referral with, and the doc who sent me to this lab (an hour from home, I might add) is moving in a month, so I'm basically cut off.

This. SUCKS. =( My husband is coming home at Noon... he says it's because he's bored, but I suspect he might be just a teensy bit worried. I was okay all last night and then wound up crying a bit before bed, just from fear and exhaustion. I didn't sleep for anything last night, and I feel awful today.

I'm so mad I could spit. What kind of a worthless doctor's office treats a patient like this?

Oh gosh, I understand your frustration and I'm sorry you're not getting any reasonable answers.  I agree, I think I'd be looking into finding another doctor as well.

(((hugs)))

I'd be flaming mad also, They call them abnormalities, well then what the heck are they, the abnormalities! When they called me July 6th to tell me I had an "abnormal mammogram on my right breast" I had to come in for another mammo and ultrasound. I saw the abnormality on the screen, it looked like a beebee with a starburst coming out of it,which was Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. The Radiologist read the films and told me it was probably cancer THAT DAY! I had to come back for the actual biopsy the following friday. By Monday, my family physician called me and told me IDC. I made an appointment to see my oncology surgeon the following friday, he scheduled my lumpectomy for the 31stof July. It was caught early, only 1.1 cm, I'm ER positive and HER2 negative. So I'll be getting radiation for 6 weeks, and hormone therapy for 5 yrs.

You NEED to demand answers! Ask them what is the abnormality and what causes it, and if it can be treated, will it increase my risk for Cancer if it isn't already. they sound like a bunch of yahoos!

I can't believe they didn't want to examine any of the fluid coming from your nipple. Read through this website.

http://www.imaginis.com/breasthealth.asp#nipple

Well, they do - that's part of the problem. Last week at my OB, he tried for about 10 minutes on each breast to expel some of the discharge, but it doesn't come out on demand. I've been unable to squeeze any out so far, and my doc wasn't able to either. Based on that, and the squishy masses he felt in both breasts, he thinks that I've got cysts - I guess with breast cysts it's common for no discharge to be able to get squeezed out, but it'll just ooze out whenever it's ready to.

I'm really, really mad at that radiology office. I'm calling the OB's office tomorrow and asking him to review the information. And then I'm talking to my sis-in-laws to see who their OBs are - mine is still an hour north of our house, and my in-laws all live within 5 miles of us. =) Hopefully one of them will have someone accepting new patients and will be able to help me out.

What a crock, though, right?!