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So it's almost time for my 6-month breast fibroadenoma follow-up. Back in January my gyn felt a lump at my annual exam and I was sent for a sonogram right away, which revealed that the lump is a fibroadenoma and also showed one in the other breast as well. I was advised to not get the biopsy at that time but instead follow up in 6 months with a repeat sonogram, and I made the appointment. I'm kind of scared about it. I have to get a repeat sonogram to see if one or both of them have grown. If so, my understanding is I need to get a core needle biopsy. I have one in each breast.
For those of you who chose the surveillance method, rather than the biopsy or excision right off the bat, did your fibroadenoma change or grow after the first 6 months?
I agree that if both doctors are saying they don't think you need the biopsy, they must be quite confident that you have nothing to worry about. In this day and age of malpractice I doubt any doctor would say that if there were any doubt at all in his/her mind. As for the biopsy, I have had two CORE biopsies. One was stereotactic and the other, by ultrasound. Neither one was pleasant, but they really weren't especially painful either. In the first one they have your breast compressed but not as much as in a mammogram. That compression allows them to numb you without you even feeling it. The ultrasound method you do feel that part, but its not really that bad and once its done you feel nothing else. Good luck and let us know what you decide to do.
I just went through this as well and I am 34. My gyn found a lump also...I have a family history of Breast CA so I kind of freaked out. So she sent me for a mammogram and they did not see anything in the area of question. But found some other area they were questioning...I have very dense breast tissue so mamms are useless on me. So I went to a breast doc and he sent me for an Ultrasound. Again they did not see anything. But I have a history and very dense breast tissue so they felt the need to investigate...I ended up getting an MRI. The area in question (where the lump was felt) there was nothing. But they did find a small mass somewhere else. All of my doctors were 99.9% sure it was a fibroidadenoma but since I have a positive history of breast CA they wanted to biopsy it...so I went in for an MRI guided biopsy...They biopsied it and it was indeed a fibroidadenoma. And it was so small, they got it all out with the biopsy needle. I was given the wait 6 months and see if it grows option too..and I would have done that if I did not have a history of Breast CA...
They can tell what they are by their shape. If it is a rounded smooth mass it is a fibroidadenoma. If it is a spikulated mass it is usually something else...
If I were you, and you have no history of breast CA in your family, I would wait and see...the biopsy hurts like a mother!
Doglover, I hope everything turned out ok for you. It is VERY scary... I have had problems with lumps, biopsies etc. It got so bad, I started seeing my breasts as ticking time bombs...
Hope you got good news!
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The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. ~Henry David Thoreau
So I had my 6-month follow up ultrasound today. The results were inconclusive. I have one fibroadenoma in each breast. Both increased minimally--and both at roughly the same rate. Some of the numbers in the measurements increased, some of them decreased from last time. So parts of it got smaller and parts of it got bigger. I had a different radiologist do the ultrasound this time--just got whoever was on staff, and he said I should get a core needle biopsy. The last radiologist said I shouldn't get one because she was nearly certain (or as certain as they can be by ultrasound) that it is fibroadenoma. My gyn says I shouldn't get a biopsy. I made a new appt. with my gyn to go over these results and decide what to do.
On the one hand, they did increase, but both increased and both increased at the same rate. Plus, I have one in each breast, which decreases the chance that it's cancer. On the other hand, I don't want to get a biopsy if the risk of it being cancer is extremely low, which it seems to be. My breasts already hurt all month long (and have since I was in high school), and my main concern is that I'll develop some sort of chronic pain in the biopsy sites from the biopsies. The other bad thing is that one of the two fibros is close to my chest wall, and there is the risk of a lung puncture.
What would you do if you were me--go for the aggressive approach (biopsy), or do another wait-and-see approach and plan to just get regular 6-month ultrasounds for another 2 years (they recommend following them for 3 years).
I would do the biopsy. Why let the big question weigh on your mind. The radiologist that did your US today probably took your last test into consideration when he gave you his recommendation. I personally would not be able to deal with the worry day in and day out that it *could* be cancer. Just growing away...
I would do the biopsy. Why let the big question weigh on your mind. The radiologist that did your US today probably took your last test into consideration when he gave you his recommendation. I personally would not be able to deal with the worry day in and day out that it *could* be cancer. Just growing away...
Well, I'm really not worried about it being cancer. I wouldn't say it's weighing on my mind. My gyn felt the lump back in January and said "it's a fibroadenoma by it's shape and moveability, but get an u/s just to ease your mind."
The first radiologist from my Jan. u/s saw the images on u/s and said definitively, "it's a fibroadenoma. But if you want to be 100% sure, you have to get a biopsy. But I wouldn't recommend that."
My gyn says don't do the biopsy (but I made an appt. with him in a few weeks to discuss further). I really don't want to do the biopsy. I have no family history of breast cancer. My mother also had fibroadenoma and fibrocystic breasts, as I do also. I have one fibro in each breast, which the first radiologist said makes it even more unlikely that it's cancer. And while they did increase in size, they both increased equally.
But I'm still deciding. However, the core needle biopsy sounds absolutely horrible from what I've read.
So my gyn recommended that I not get the biopsy and just watch and wait. Said because they barely grew, that there's no reason to get the biopsy. So that is good news!
Doglover, I think I would wait also. Of course there is always a risk, but I would wait and see, if it isn't worrying you or your doctor. I once had an ultrasound that said I had a "mass" and the doctor felt pretty sure it was a fibroadenoma and the next ultrasound the radiologist did the ultrasound and looked for the mass and told me all she could see was a cyst. Best of luck to you!
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The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. ~Henry David Thoreau
I, too, am in the same situation. My OB/GYN felt lumps in both of my breast when I did my wellness exam. I was 29. Now I'm 30. She suggested for to got get a mammogram and an ultrasound, which I followed. Results showed that I have about a 3 cm mass in my upper left breast that feels like a shape of a peanut and a smaller mass in my lower right breast. We discussed my options as far as my next step and she suggested for me to consult a general surgeon to excise my fibroadenoma so I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore or do a biopsy. I have not done a biopsy, but I did consult a general surgeon. He, in turn, explained to me in layman terms on why I should consider to do the excision. He said that, in needle biopsy, there's a possibility that they make take a "good sample" which is not a representative of the entire mass itself (I thought it makes sense). I haven't gone nor done anything after that. The surgeon said that he highly suggests excision but it's up to me....it's "not an emergency". Lately, I have just been massaging the area in the hopes that maybe it will decrease in size.
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