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Be Your Own Health Advocate


I recently had a lump appear on my right breast that had me worried enough to go and get it checked out.  I went to my normal OBGYN and she ordered a mammogram and ultrasound, the radiologist reading the ultrasound really didn’t seem very confident to me and the mammogram came back inconclusive because of my breast density, but the letter from my OBGYN pretty much said all was a o.k. even with the conflicting results from the other testing.  Luckily for me I work in an office that coordinates the Care for Yourself program that handles breast screenings and a little encouragement to get a referral to a breast specialist, I opted for said referral especially since my mom had breast cancer at such a young age.  And also because I was not at all comfortable with that inconclusive mammogram report.

I met with the specialist and I was very happy with his thoroughness.  He didn’t brush off my concerns but rather confirmed that I was at a much higher risk due to my mom’s history and my breast density rating.  The norm for my age group is to not even start mammograms for at least 5 to 10 years, and I was never once informed how the density of my breast tissue would reduce the accuracy of a standard mammogram.  The breast specialist sat me down and talked about my risk factors and his recommendation is that I not only start annual mammograms at my age, but also that I consider doing MRIs which are closer to 94% accurate in women with dense tissue.  For most people, I would assume his explanations were a little technical, but I quickly caught the drift that he would recommend 6 month alterations of mammograms and MRIs for my risk factor.  Not ideal and never once in my entire years of annual check-ups where I made my history very known was this ever a suggestion.

He looked at the lump that I was concerned with and he really didn’t see any issues, but asked if I was up for my first MRI.  Um – yep, I certainly was after talking with him!  The MRI was not comfortable but I kept positive and felt confident because the ultrasounds, even from the breast specialist, looked good.  Results come back and sure enough, that lump was not concerning at all.

But….it showed two other lumps in the other breast that hadn’t even registered in my brain yet.  God’s divine intervention, absolutely!!  A follow up with the breast specialist, another ultrasound and things still aren’t looking concerning to him but once again because of my high risk he offered a fine point needle biopsy that I gladly accepted as a peace of mind at this point.  Biopsy comes back atypical ductal cells suspicious for carcinoma, further biopsy recommended….not definitive at this point and still could very much turn out to be absolutely nothing, but it is certainly not the peace of mind I had hoped for.  I have an appointment scheduled next week to take a bigger biopsy that will give them a little more accurate information as to what I am dealing with.

This post is not for sympathy, but rather for positive thoughts, prayers & vibes that it turns out to be nothing.  It is also a PSA for being your own advocate, doctors are busy and they see hundreds of people weekly and you need to be aware of your own risk factors and be in tune with your own body.  If something doesn’t feel right, speak up and don’t be afraid to ask for a referral to a specialist even if your doctor doesn’t think it’s necessary.  This is also a PSA for the Care for Yourself program that helps pay for these screenings if you have no insurance or a high deductible insurance. 

Is this just another bump in my road, absolutely!  Am I scared, most certainly!  But at the end of the day, I will handle it and it will be ok regardless of the outcome.  A few extra prayers my way wouldn’t hurt though!!  


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