Breast Biopsy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had this and had a biopsy and it ended up being atypical hyperplasia which is not cancer but has a high probability of becoming cancer. I had it removed at Sibley. I will warn you that if this is the case for you there is no support in terms of getting support for women with these conditions. I am now followed by MD Anderson and found reconstruction is covered as well as custom made bras every 6 months. I was told of none of this at Sibley. It would have saved me a lot of money and the support would have been nice.
DC is very odd when it comes to patient support. They will assume you are wealthy and will pay cash.

What kind of surgery did they do for ADH that needed reconstruction? They should just do an excisional biopsy, not even a lumpectomy. And not all ADH turns cancerous, it’s actually only 30% of women diagnosed with ADH develop cancer after 25 years. Don’t try to fear monger, you sound like an extreme overreacter. Many women are treated in DC and have good experiences.

She is in the overtreatment cycle. BTDT. They will try to convince you that whatever thing you had biopsied needs to be excised for a full biopsy (a surgery+anesthesia for a lump already confirmed to be benign!!) and then will stick you with a reconstruction surgery oh and 6 month mammograms and ultrasounds for more money. For some breast tissue that you likely would’ve gone your whole life never having an issue with.

I’m the PP and have had two excisional biopsies. Never needed reconstruction, not even for the lumpectomy I had after my ADH did turn cancerous a few years after it was found. Odd that someone would get reconstruction with an excisional biopsy for ADH. Not necessary at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had this and had a biopsy and it ended up being atypical hyperplasia which is not cancer but has a high probability of becoming cancer. I had it removed at Sibley. I will warn you that if this is the case for you there is no support in terms of getting support for women with these conditions. I am now followed by MD Anderson and found reconstruction is covered as well as custom made bras every 6 months. I was told of none of this at Sibley. It would have saved me a lot of money and the support would have been nice.
DC is very odd when it comes to patient support. They will assume you are wealthy and will pay cash.

What kind of surgery did they do for ADH that needed reconstruction? They should just do an excisional biopsy, not even a lumpectomy. And not all ADH turns cancerous, it’s actually only 30% of women diagnosed with ADH develop cancer after 25 years. Don’t try to fear monger, you sound like an extreme overreacter. Many women are treated in DC and have good experiences.

She is in the overtreatment cycle. BTDT. They will try to convince you that whatever thing you had biopsied needs to be excised for a full biopsy (a surgery+anesthesia for a lump already confirmed to be benign!!) and then will stick you with a reconstruction surgery oh and 6 month mammograms and ultrasounds for more money. For some breast tissue that you likely would’ve gone your whole life never having an issue with.

I’m the PP and have had two excisional biopsies. Never needed reconstruction, not even for the lumpectomy I had after my ADH did turn cancerous a few years after it was found. Odd that someone would get reconstruction with an excisional biopsy for ADH. Not necessary at all.

You do recognize that whether or not you need reconstruction on a lumpectomy is entirely dependent on facts that vary from person to person?

I am DP but my lump was on the periphery of my breast and had I chosen to have an excisional biopsy or lumpectomy, I would have needed reconstruction have a normal breast appearance, and I probably would have needed bilateral surgery for symmetry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m so happy for you. I had a biopsy this past summer and also was completely freaked out, lots of tears. WRA was horrible and made me wait many weeks between appointments. I switched to another place and have been much happier.

I also had to wait many weeks for appointments at WRA, even when I had already had a biopsy/path report showing cancer.

I switched to Georgetown/Medstar and was able to have ultrasound, MRI and double mastectomy, finishing all that in barely more than the time WRA/Chevy Chase wanted to take to schedule me for my next follow up MRI.

[Anonymous]

Another breast cancer patient here, stage III by the time a biopsy finally found it. I will never go back to Washington Radiology - where I've diligently done all my regular screening mammograms for years. I had two diagnostic mammograms and an MRI from WRA - none detected the large tumor I could feel myself.

I also love the MedStar Georgetown doctors and feel so lucky that my primary care physician sent me to them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got called back after my mammogram due to "focal asymmetry." My OB wasn't worried and it's quite common. I went in for another mammogram and ultrasound and the radiologist told me there is a bit of thicker tissue. She didn't see anything on the ultrasound but said I should get a biopsy. I am absolutely beside myself. I can't find much information about biopsies where there isn't a lump. Anyone been through this???

Also, I had this done at Washington Radiology and I found everyone I dealt with to be exceptionally cold. I know doctors aren't therapists, but they have to know how terrifying it is to go through this and there was very little explanation given for anything.

FWIW, I did not like WRA. I had my mammograms done there for years, which were always clear. I don't want to go into the details, but it is clear to me that I had at least 2 mammograms there which missed my cancer. Fortunately, I was insistent about a lump and got a follow up ultra-sound there, but it was also poorly done because it focused on the palpable lump I identified and did not even look at the rest of the breast (where there were other palpable lumps visible on subsequent US done at Medstar, one of which turned out to be cancerous). I was also frustrated that they basically refused to give me access to a key pathology document that I had to ask for multiple times, they seemed to think the doctor call was enough. It was not. No one processes surprising oral information well. Plus, the doctor did not fully report what the pathology report said, leaving out important information.

By coincidence in the middle of all this I had an annual exam with my primary doc who referred me to Medstar colleagues at the Medstar/Georgetown breast center. I switched to getting all my diagnostic imaging (more US and breast MRI) there and it was a MUCH better experience than WRA. WRA had been slow to schedule follow ups, offering me appointments weeks apart. By contrast, Medstar staff were calling me and offering me appointments within days. Because the Medstar Georgetown Breast Center is so integrated, I was handed back and forth between specialties quickly and my whole experience from initial appointment through all diagnostic imaging and to final surgery was less than 2 months. The radiologist who did the biopsies post US & MRI explained to me right away what was happening and even pulled me into her office and showed me MRI images of my biopsy spots and gently broke the news that I might start thinking about a mastectomy instead of lumpectomy.

I had cancer, but I clearly caught it early, no thanks to WRA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m so happy for you. I had a biopsy this past summer and also was completely freaked out, lots of tears. WRA was horrible and made me wait many weeks between appointments. I switched to another place and have been much happier.

I also had to wait many weeks for appointments at WRA, even when I had already had a biopsy/path report showing cancer.

I switched to Georgetown/Medstar and was able to have ultrasound, MRI and double mastectomy, finishing all that in barely more than the time WRA/Chevy Chase wanted to take to schedule me for my next follow up MRI.

That’s horrible. I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that. WRA shouldn’t be in business.

[Anonymous]

PP, the MRI at WRA didn’t detect your cancer despite the palpable lump? That’s disconcerting - I get MRIs there once a year due to high risk. Did you have lobular cancer, by any chance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, the MRI at WRA didn’t detect your cancer despite the palpable lump? That’s disconcerting - I get MRIs there once a year due to high risk. Did you have lobular cancer, by any chance?

Also - which WRA did you go to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, the MRI at WRA didn’t detect your cancer despite the palpable lump? That’s disconcerting - I get MRIs there once a year due to high risk. Did you have lobular cancer, by any chance?

The WRA mammogram missed my cancer. MRIs are generally better at detecting cancer than mammograms. However, the follow up appointment offered by WRA for a follow up MRI was so many weeks out (3+) after I already had a biopsy proven cancer lump, that I switched to Georgetown for the MRI. I was offered an MRI appointment within a few days at Georgetown, not weeks as at WRA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, the MRI at WRA didn’t detect your cancer despite the palpable lump? That’s disconcerting - I get MRIs there once a year due to high risk. Did you have lobular cancer, by any chance?

Also - which WRA did you go to?

WRA Chevy Chase. Not lobular cancer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, the MRI at WRA didn’t detect your cancer despite the palpable lump? That’s disconcerting - I get MRIs there once a year due to high risk. Did you have lobular cancer, by any chance?

Also - which WRA did you go to?

WRA Chevy Chase. Not lobular cancer.

Thanks for your responses.