Good practice guidance advice

Diagnosed with breast cancer Recently diagnosed with breast cancer
1

Hi,

On 18 June I went for my urgent referral after finding a lump. It showed on the mammogram as 19mm, had an ultrasound which showed it was 16mm. They took two biopsy, but this failed as I bled a lot so was told I needed another one. I asked if I could have an MRI while I wait for the second biopsy, they said that was a good idea. So I had my MRI on Tuesday (this week).
My biopsy is scheduled for tomorrow. So I left a message for the nurses today and asked if the MRI found anything extra, and if so could that be biopsied tomorrow as well. The nurse just rang me and said thanks for letting us know you had your MRI, and said the biopsy appointment time has been extended so they can biopsy some tiny bits that were also found near the original lump, (if it can be found on the ultrasound that is). Thankfully the MRI showed that the lymph nodes on both armpits were clear.

However I’m freaking out about the others bits on the MRI, and also wondering what else needs to happen, should happen. I feel like I’m coordinating my own care, and without my communication more delays would be happening.

Any advice on what good practice looks like and what should happen would be really helpful.

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Other bits could be something like DCIS or LCIS depending on what type of cancer, neither are invasive yet, so try not to panic. Its not unusual to have this mixed in and from what I’ve read its mostly a good sign, as tumours that grow from it tend to be slower growing than tumours that spontaneously appear.
It’s more standard to have an MRI with lobular as its harder to see the extent of it on mammograms and US, but its not standard for IDC as mine was, and the DCIS whas only found during surgery - it didnt change my plan much, just more radiotherapy in the end.

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Thanks for this info. It’s a minefield of information out there but I don’t want to read to much as it puts me on a panic. The nurse told me that it’s a consultant radiologist that’s doing my biopsy so I can ask questions about it then too.