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Well, the news keeps getting better and better. During a routine mammogram they found three tiny, microscopic calcifications that might be malignant. No lumps or other peculiarities. After re-imaging they’re sending me for a needle biopsy. The doctor said it’s low suspicion & less than 30% chance that it’s cancer…but with all the misery and stress I’ve been under, I’m very scared. Have any of you had that biopsy done? The overall area itself is about a half inch square and the three microscopic dots are within it.
Yes I’ve had a needle biopsy and lumpectomy. And mine was benign. The biopsy came back as Grey.. Meaning it was unclear if it was malignant or not..so I had a lumpectomy. Half my breast was removed and it was benign. This 20 years ago. I was 30 at the time. I ended up having reconstruction 2 years later. I know how scared you must be right now. My thoughts and prayers are with you. If I can help in anyways please let me know…I will be thinking of you xoxo
I had the same thing happen a number of years ago. some tiny calcifications. The stereotactic needle biopsy was done out of an abundance of caution. The needle sucked up the calcifications, no cancer and I have had clear mammos since. (15 years?) As to the 30% chance of malignancy, even if true, these are seldom the kind that spread outside the duct. Your fear is understandable. The odds are in your favor. I feel in my heart of hearts you will be fine. Let your thoughts out here. We’re listening.
Gosh,arleigh. You really don’t need this right now.
On the plus side, I know many people who have gone through this. Every case was benign. I know you need to have it done, but you know they have to be super cautious and check everything out.
I’m sorry you have some more stress. You really have enough on your plate.
Arleigh,
Last February they scheduled me for a needle biopsy for the same findings, very small calcifications. When I got to the hospital for the biopsy, their specialist couldn’t find the calcifications at all and they tried for a long time and had extremely detailed xrays to follow from the first center. I went back to the original screening center, and THEY couldn’t find them again. I’m supposed to go back again this Feb for a follow-up, but I’m not going until I have insurance of some kind.
They are being proactive and no matter the outcome, which is usually benign for calcifications, caught this early, even cancer treatments are minimally invasive. Try to rest and give yourself extra care while you wait, the stress of waiting on an outcome is tough. We’re with you. Sending you strength.
Thx to all of you, that’s reassuring. I expect the worst out of everything, possibly also because the worst HAS consistently happened w/other things…the doctor and technician had sort of serious looks on their faces…the doctor said what you did, Lynn & beenthere: if it is cancer, it’s in the very early stages and is highly curable. Even saying that, I don’t know how much more I can handle. My major grant renewal was turned down, along with another grant that 2 colleagues and I put in. I have other, smaller sources of funding for my work but this is a real setback. Money is so tight at the federal level now that only the top 3-4 out of every 100 proposals gets funded. And the whole time wt is flying around, traveling, blissful probably, spending $$ & preferring whores and tramps over me. I have no one here I can really rely on & today has brought that home. I no longer have the support/cushion of a spouse. But if I have to have surgery, my mom will come to stay with me. She’s priceless.
Bless you mom, I hope she gets to be with you for the tests. Sorry that the grants didn’t pan out, that sucks. Glad it’s not going to shut you down, for good.
I’m having the biopsy done tomorrow afternoon and the results will be back on Monday :-O this weekend I’ll be working all day Saturday at our dept’s recruiting event. Lynn, my lab will keep going but I might not have enough $$ to keep my research associate on past June. I’ll do a resubmission & if necessary take it to other agencies. I just don’t have any energy to even think about that right now…the weather here is so bad that it hurts to breathe the outside air..
Tomorrow is also the 1st anniversary of hooker dday…is there such a thing as being trapped in a never ending hell?
I have had breats cancer and I have calcifications in the affected breast. My Dr keeps a pretty close eye on them. If it is any bigger next check up I think I will just have him take it out locally, as I cannot keep running to Singapore every 6 months. I know it is scary but it is likely benign. I have had needle biopsies too and didn’t hurt and was easy. Good luck and keep us posted.
When it rains it does seem to pour….I remember thinking “What next!!”There is supposed to be a never ending hell, but that’s not for you. And it’s not something these SAs have the authority to sentence us to, either. This misery from the SAs, it does have an ending. It’s like most grief, though. It has an odd fluctuation pattern in healing, where you feel better and then suddenly are caught off guard by a stab of sorrow. Or something you expected to hurt like hell doesn’t really, and you breathe a sigh of relief and feel good for the day.
The end of the hellswamp is not a definitive edge or moment: it’s a mix of life moving on whether you want it to or not; your intentional decisions; time blurring the edges of the pain; and new priorities that replace those you were forced to leave behind.
Arleigh, I’ll be thinking of you and keeping you in my prayers that everything is fine. Like beenthere said, I have a good feeling that all will be well for you. I’m just so sorry for all the many stresses you’re going through right now. Hang in there, sister. xoxo
We are with you AB. This is a really awful stretch for you. Our healing is a marathon and not fair at all. Keep venting. Keep sharing your heart. I am so glad you have your mother. I had major surgery while going through the hell of everything. It was girlfriends that kept me OK.
How I wish some of your stresses could be relieved. For me, I had to let go of things I never imagined would leave my life. SOS helped me realize that most of us experienced a life collapse……a life implosion…..unbearable pain…….. Somehow just knowing that was normal for us helped me go through those doors of hell.
I don’t wish you more pain, just want you to know this awful mess is an excruciating marathon. Your mother may be the most important for you right now. Let her do her magic!
Love and hugs for you. You deserve so much better than wt could ever give.
Arleigh,
I’ll be thinking of you today and know we are all with you. You’re fortunate to have a mother who will come and help you if you need her. I know it’s all really hard right now.
Love, NapAll of you are so kind and empathetic…it is so gratifying to see REAL empathy instead of feigned “concern” that disguises selfishness and corruption. I suppose I got used to that over the years with wt.
Lynn, that’s amazing that they couldn’t find the calcifications. They must have been really small. In my case, the area on the image was about one square half inch (well actually one cubic half inch) blown up to about 10×10 size on the image, and the calcifications looked like barely discernible pencil dots. There were some bigger ones too, which he said were not of concern.
I just came back to the office. The procedure itself was not too bad and they did it quickly. It was uncomfortable but not intolerably so; not much pain at all. The doctor told me he couldn’t tell much from the mammograms, X-rays or samples but he said 1 in 5 women who come in for a biopsy have cancer, and he said from the pattern of calcification it was 50/50 in my case. That’s worse than what the first doctor said. They found more calcifications that were sort of scattered in that area; I saw them and there are quite a few. I’m now living in a state of permanent dread and terror. I keep thinking things can’t get any worse and they do. Today is hooker DDay too. I am being ground down.
Don’t make yourself a worried mess yet 🙂 I’m telling you I have seen this many times and it has turned out to be benign.
I TOTALLY get that you do not need any more stress right now. I wish they wouldn’t do this to women. ESP on a Friday for crying out loud.
Worst case scenario: My good friend had numerous calcifications. She had lumpectomy & radiation. All has been well for her since. She is fine. This happened 7 years ago.
Not surprisingly, her H cheated on her. She said going through his cheating was worse than her lumpectomy/radiation. And yes, she went through them both at the same time.
We are here for you arleigh. You are an amazing person. You are strong. You will get through this.
OK breathe. Just try to imagine what they are finding is the best technology available, not there in our mothers’ day and that the good news is that they can find problems before they become incurable. Hope for the best, and know that we all pray for you.
Your connection to Ddays, however, should not be ignored by us sisters. We had no choice apparently but to find the dread hookers long after the condition became curable. Now it’s incurable, and we are grasping at life support and raging at the “experts” who should have had our backs and didn’t. Who should we sue for that malpractice? Who will pay me for the incalculable loss? The rage that no one is minding the store, and we are led by Carnes like lambs to the slaughter. And now we’re living on life support with “therapists” who are gazing at their own navels, maybe a little lower. All I can really say is try to believe in your own capacity to heal, create life, love and meaning, and connection, and you will be well. You know, I couldn’t have kids, tried everything, but found a way to make a difference in children’s lives. You have done more to change your student’s lives that I could every have imagined for myself. I was proud that I was able to teach artists for 10 years. You have major bona fides. Be proud. God doesn’t know what our path should be, only that we take the one that has our name on it. That your H threw this shit up at you, that’s his mess. He’s corrupt, you’re not.
Hi Arleigh, I just wanted to send my prayers and light your way! I have never been through this , but my thoughts are with you. I always love your posts and would love to meet you someday.. much love and peace.. gw
Hi ARleigh, I am sorry it is a hooker dday too.. I really cannot even think of those days or let my mind go there.. that is his storm.. stay centered in your goodness and peace… which overflows.. you are an inspiration to me.. and you express yourself so well.. much love,, gw
I talked to the doctor who prescribes my hormones. She told me we’d wait until Monday and if it’s malignant I would have to stop the hormones and will probably feel lousy after that. Also told me that I’ve been under an enormous amount of stress and that leads to “all sorts of cancers in the body.” How encouraging.
Your doctor doesn’t have much of a bedside manner. What a downer. Stress doesn’t “lead to” cancers. It inhibits the immune system which, when functioning properly, keeps cells in check and prevents and even kills cancers.
You have so much control over that, she made it sound like a done deal and irreparable. Every action you take to increase your immune functioning, like having fun or laughing or taking Airborne or walking in the sun, exponentially reduces stress and the EFFECTS of stress. Your body is made to seek homeostatis, not cancer.
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