Hi
I had my first ever mammogram last week. I’ve been recalled for further tests at the end of the month. Should I take someone with me and who do you recommend, a friend, a family member or my other half? Will I get definite results straight away or have to wait? I tried confused.com but got a car insurance quote!
Sorry but I need humour to cope x
Hi Helen,
That’s a bit of a bummer on your first one! However, many recalls are innocent, perhaps because the mammogram was blurred or unclear in some way or for other technical reasons. Also, the majority of suspicious things seen on mammograms turn out to be benign or nothing at all.
I do advise you to take someone with you. My OH has been to all my appointments with me as he would hate to be left out of the loop and apart from anything else, it saves me repeating what has been said. 
If it does turn out to be something sinister you will need another pair of ears because much of what is said will go in one of your ears and out the other.
As for what happens, this will depend on your clinic. Most clinics will do what is called a Triple Assessment. They do another mammogram then if necessary an ultrasound scan on the breast and armpit lymph nodes. The doctor may tell you that there is something suspicious showing and do a biopsy. You will get a local anaesthetic for this and it doesn’t normally hurt. In some clinics you can have the biopsy results on the same day, in others you are sent home and wait a week or two for the results. You will be allocated a breast care nurse who is your key worker for the time being and who will explain everything to you and answer your questions. It isn’t until you get the biopsy results that you find out what you are dealing with.
I wish you the very best of luck and hope it turns out to be absolutely nothing. Meanwhile … keep that sense of humour going! xxx
Hi Helen
A good sense of humour is essential while you are waiting. So sorry you are in this situation. Here’s hoping that like Lola says, it does turn out to be nothing.
Good luck
Poemsgalore xx
Hi Helen, sorry you have found yourself here especially after first screening . You should take someone with you as it helps to have support and equally to drive you there as concentration may not be good for driving.
Lela has given a good discription of what might happen. Be positive a lot of recalls are not cancer it seems. I was foundto have a tumour but grateful as the mammogram picked it up and it was growing in a long thin line , no lump. So no matter how much I had been checking myself I would not have found it, even the Consultant said she would not bother examining me as she would not find anything. So in some ways the mammogram was lucky for me otherwise the cancer would of got a grip and spread. As it was it was caught early and I am way down the road of getting rid of it all .
I took my hubby and whilst it was stressful for him as we’ll he wanted to know exactly what was going on.
The waiting bit in between is stressful so keep busy and try and get on with your normal routine. Once you know what you are dealing with you will feel more in control. Hopefully all will be OK for you. Do not google and keep on this site or the MacMillan one otherwise you will only worry youself . Let us know how you get on, best wishes, Katy
I use my sense of humour too very often regarding my BC…and it does help! 
Like you I was recalled for futher tests after my first ever mastectomy and I went back to the clinic one week later for my results.
My hubby came along with me and we knew from the recall letter to prepare ourselves to be at the clinic for most off the morning, which we were. So while I was having futher tests and a biopsy done the BCN said she would update my hubby. She went out to the waiting room and he was nowhere to be seen. Where was he? In Burger King having breakfast! 
He did however manage to wander back to the clinic, be seated and browsing through a newspaper when I walked back into the waiting room…and as we left the clinic I made sure he took me to the nearest place for a big cup of coffee, which was Macdonalds.