Hi all.I wonder if someone can give me some advice to pass on to my aunt.She went for a routine mammogram last week and now she has been sent a letter from the hospital.In the letter it says she will have an appointment to see the surgeon and the radiographer.She hasn’t noticed any lumps in her breasts.Does anyone know what might be said to her at this appointment or is it a sure sign she has breast cancer even?Her appointment isn’t 'til wednesday and she is going out of her mind with worry.I was just hoping some of you ladies on here might have been sent the same at sometime or other and it was just another checkup type of thing.Thanks in advance.
Hi Typical. All this means at this stage is that there is something on the mammogram they think needs a closer look.
It is no “sure sign”. She will worry - that is normal. She may be given an indication during the appointment, but until the surgeon has has a look, and maybe taken a biopsy, nothing is certain.
She will meet the surgeon (or one of his team), and he will probably examine her. They may do an ultrasound scan as well - if they decide to take a biopsy, or if they think it is a cyst they will almost certainly use ultrasound to guide the biopsy or drain the cyst.
If they take a biopsy, expect another anxious wait for the results.
You may also be introduced to the breast care nurses - ask thm anthing you are unsure of.
Hope all goes well,
Paul.
Hiya,
No it isn’t a sure sign of having BC - it could be any number of things but the surgeon & radiographer are the best way forward to either rule out the baddy or get to grips with the bugger.
Others will echo that waiting is the pits but the appt on Wed should involve some or all of, a manual exam by the surgeon, an ultrasound scan, another mamogram & a biopsy. I had the results from my biopsy 2 days later but her surgeon might give her an inkling at the end of her appt.
I hope that your aunt is given the all clear but thoughts & best wishes are with you xx Chris xx
Thankyou so much for your advice which i will pass on to my aunty.There are some lovely caring people in the world and you are one of them.God bless you chris.
Hi Typical man just a thought perhaps your Aunty would like someone to accompany her to the appt NOT I hasten to add because I think its bad news. But these appts can take a while what with seeing surgeon and then having other tests done etc and its nice to have someone to talk to while waiting Jackie xx
Hi
I remember how scared I was when I received the dreaded letter following my first screening mammogram.
I went into panic mode, waiting for appt; I even called them to see if I could go earlier.
Anyway on the day the staff were really nice as they know how stressful this whole experience is.
For me I had another mammo taken of the area they wanted to have a closer look at; follwed by an ultra-sound to the same area. As this was inconclusive I went back 2 days later for a bi-opsy (this may take place on same day depends on staff and the hospital). The only thing I’d say is I felt a little sore after the bi-opsy and was grateful for hubby taking afternoon off to go with me & drive me home.
Unfortunatley I had to wait for 2 weeks for results (inconclusive) so had a WLE to remove the area a get a larger sample to test. This proved to be DCIS so although not good news it did mean I knew what was there and it could be treated, in my case with a further op (both as day surgery) and shortly 3 weeks rads. With DCIS, they have a very high cure rate.
Please reassure your aunt that 9 times out of 10 there is nothing to worry about, and you leave with good news and a lot of relief. Or if there is something to deal with, better sooner rather than later. I am grateful the DCIS I had was spotted (only shows up as small calcifications, no lumps or anything else) so early before it had the chance to become a proper cancer rather than a noninvasive form of it.
I wish your aunt(since I’m an aunty too) well for Wednesday.
Lynne