after your core needle breast biopsy?

[Anonymous]

I'm 57 yo post-menopausal & just had a core needle biopsy for a 1.5 cm lump. I will get the results in less than a week, but meanwhile I would like to hear from others who have gone thru this. I am low risk and have had a fibroadenoma when I was very young, so I am not panicking, but that said, there was mild indistinct margin on one part of the lump, which is an indicator for biopsy, so I'm not that confident it's benign.

[Anonymous]

Hello- I just went through this and I tried to focus on the statistics that 80 percent of biopsies are negative so the odds are in your favor. Mine ended up being negative but I'm going to follow up with a surgeon to see if they want to change my screening moving forward.

Good luck I hope you are ok.

[Anonymous]

I had one a year and a half ago and it was stage 1 breast cancer. I am great today. That said, the radiologist was fairly honest that she strong suspected it was malignant, so I was very prepared.

[Anonymous]

Hi there. I had one this past summer. First, I’ll say that the “one week” for results for mine was more like two+ because the lab got backed up which I found nerve wracking. Second, try to get your mind off it as this is all 100% uncontrolled by you. It helped me to find as much distraction possible to get out of my head: I hung out even more than usual with my kid, met up with friends, shopped way too much, went to yoga, took a mild sleeping pill each night to avoid middle of the night anxiety/googling, etc.

I hope all goes well and your results are negative.

[Anonymous]

I had one a few years ago, and the diagnosis was LCIS. I had a lumpectomy and take tamoxifen daily and get alternating MRIs and mammograms every six months. It wasn’t fun or enjoyable, but it wasn’t really all that traumatic either. And the majority of biopsies do come back negative. I just didn’t happen to be one of them. Hope you get good news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello- I just went through this and I tried to focus on the statistics that 80 percent of biopsies are negative so the odds are in your favor. Mine ended up being negative but I'm going to follow up with a surgeon to see if they want to change my screening moving forward.

Good luck I hope you are ok.

If it's negative do they identify what the benign reason for the lump is?

[Anonymous]

I had a biopsy for a questionable reading on a mammogram. I am high risk (multiple females on both sides have had breast cancer). It turned out to be a calcification.

[Anonymous]

Mine was early stage cancer. Surgery, radiation, tamoxifen for treatment. Doing great how. Hope it is negative but if not, most breast cancers are treatable. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello- I just went through this and I tried to focus on the statistics that 80 percent of biopsies are negative so the odds are in your favor. Mine ended up being negative but I'm going to follow up with a surgeon to see if they want to change my screening moving forward.

Good luck I hope you are ok.

If it's negative do they identify what the benign reason for the lump is?

Yes. I have had two. They told me each time what the biopsy revealed it was.

[Anonymous]

I had one this summer. Took me 2 weeks to get results back. They were to my doctor in 2 days but the doctor kept not finding it (thanks, One Medical). It was benign. I felt certain it was benign because of the way the doctors phrased things throughout. They did tell me it was a cyst. I think I was able to stand waiting 2 weeks because I strongly suspected it was benign.

[Anonymous]

What has the Tamoxifen experience been like for those that have taken it?

[Anonymous]

I have been through this too (4 times) and am prone to fibroadenoma. A couple had questionable margins and all turned out to be benign. Sending good thoughts that you get reassuring news as quickly as possible. The waiting is awful, even when they don’t sound that concerned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been through this too (4 times) and am prone to fibroadenoma. A couple had questionable margins and all turned out to be benign. Sending good thoughts that you get reassuring news as quickly as possible. The waiting is awful, even when they don’t sound that concerned.

I lost 5 lbs when I was waiting for the results of the one where they walked me to the ultrasound right after the mammogram, used the ultrasound to look at my armpit lymph nodes, and asked me to schedule the biopsy for the soonest available date. It was really that bad looking/sounding. Nevertheless- not cancer. The wait is horrible though.

[Anonymous]

I’ve had 5 core needle biopsies, only once was cancer. I just go about my regular life. I am high risk and so when I got the diagnosis I wasn’t surprised. I for surgery and radiation and declined tamoxifen. There’s nothing you can really do, it’s either malignant or benign and no amount of worrying will change that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What has the Tamoxifen experience been like for those that have taken it?

I was very worried about it. I had some hot flashes the first few months (fewer than 10), mostly at night. Haven’t had one in a long time. Other than that, no side effects. I even lost 15 lbs.