Hello , I am new here and confused , scared etc. Here is a little history …I am 39 yrs old had an abcess on my right breast march of 2010 .My Dr thought it was inflammatory breast cancer. Had a Mammo and U/S (very dense breast tissue). Turned out to be an abcess. Was told to have repeat Mammo w/ U/S in a year. I had to be pushed to go in on March 24,2011 (did not want to be scared again) …Turns out nothing showed up on Mammo but U/S found a 10mm solid lesion at 6:00 postion under my nipple , far away from where the abcess was. Proceeded to get Core biopsy April 19 ,2011 . Pathology findings were “Complex Fibroadenoma” w/ myxoid stroma associated w/ sclerosing adenosis. Dr recommended Wide Local excision , Which I had done on May ,5 2011 it was needle guided due to it being not palpable. My incision is 4 inches under my areola, bigger then I thought. My question is and my confusion is , Path also said non malignant from the Core Biopsy. What are the chances of the excision biopsy being malignant ? When I talked to my Dr I was out of it from the general , so I didnt ask questions. I get full pathology report from this biopsy on th 16th (way to long to anylyze) . More questions lol…why so much tissue taken if it isnt cancerous , why is the incision so big and the surgery was longer then expected. And if she thought it as cancer wouldnt she check my nodes during excision? Sorry so many questions but nothing came up when I googled it. Please dont suger coat it ,I need honesty and I know I can find that here. Thank you in advance
Hello , Is there anyone that can give me some insight into what is going on , even encouraging words ? Did I post this in the wrong forum? I have no one to talk to and I am sooo scared …thanks in advance
Hi Sorry you have had to find yourself here. I don’t really have any answers, but didn’t want you to feel that you were being ignored. If the core cut biopsy showed the lump not to be malignant, surely the excision will show the same. Please don’t forget that 90% of breast lumps aren’t malignant. (Unfortunately most of us on here have found ourselves on the wrong side of the statistics.)
The scar might be longer than you anticipated because it was in an awkward place to get at! Or did they remove the surrounding area to check for clear margins? I think if the surgeon suspected cancer they would have removed the lymph nodes whilst you were under anaesthetic?
I know waiting is horrendous, but the 16th is not too long in the scale of things. have you been given the number of the Breast Care Nurse, who will be able to explain what they did?
Sorry I am not offering expert advise, just what I think!
Good Luck on the 16th, remember to post and tell us how you got on.
Thank you so much for your response 
. I do remember coming out of anesthesia and the surgeon was telling my husband not to let me go to my appointment by myself …ok scary ,and i was told by a RN friend that sometimes Complex Fibroadenomas can cover up malignancy , i just wanted other peoples perspective of it. And breast cancer does run in my family along with cervical (which I had) and my mom, Grandmother on moms side and cousin had breast cancer so that is anoher reason I am so freaked right now. And like everyone else I want to know NOW lol…thank you again
Hi there
none of the types of changes you have mentioned is cancer or specifically leads to cancer but what the pathology is telling them may be different from what they are seeing on mammo and ultrasound… we occasionally get a lady where the leision looks like a cancer but comes back as benign tissue, we normally do a repeat biopsy but if we are still concerned about it will recommend excision biopsy… some times it still shows up the benign changes but sometimes it shows a malignancy.
fingers crossed it is just benign changes but you know we are all here for you if you need us.
Lulu xx
In case you hadn’t guessed, lulu works in the field of breast cancer so knows what she’s talking about.
You’ve got a few minutes left before the helpline closes, (till 2pm on a Saturday) so if you can, give them a ring, they’re brilliant. If not today, then try on Monday.
Take a look at the publications area of this site, there’s a good leaflet that explains what some of the non-cancer things they discover are.
And keep asking questions, there’s no such thing as a silly question.
Finally, sorry your first post didn’t get a response, sometimes the site gets really busy and posts drop off the front page on the Latest Posts bit before people have seen them.
CM
x
Hi there, I had a regular health check in Jan this year. The mammogram showed nothing unusual. But the ultrasound indicated a lump on my left breast. My doctor said it didnt look serious- I could wait for another year to have it checked or go ahead and see a breast specialist . I decided on the latter. The breast specialist did a fine needle aspiration on the lump and the report said it was benign. None the less, she wanted me to remove it. So I had an excision done. This time the report came back that it was cancer. I then had to undergo another surgery to have the margins cleaned out. I am now undergoing radiotherapy.
I am so glad I decided to see the breast specialist even though I had the option to wait another year. And even tho the initial report was that the lump was benign, it turned out to be cancer. Just grateful that I was able to catch it early…
Hope this helps.
Thank you so much for your response , I feel a little better knowing more about the possible outcome. I will keep everyone posted ! Godbless