Breast biopsy
HI all. I'm 56 and just waiting to have a breast biopsy. Basically I missed my previous breast mammograms (long story). Anyhow about three weeks ago a felt a bruising on my right breast which I couldn't initially account for. Over the next few days I found myself poking at it (as you do!) and it became somewhat inflamed and sore so I went to the GP. Only on that morning I remembered having hurt my breast, approximately the day before the first time I noticed the bruised feeling. Stupidly I'd leaned on the arm of a chair to pull out a plug rather than get up and do it properly. I remembered i leaned to hard. Anyhow when my doc saw it she immediately said there was a bruise and it looked like mastitis though the area wasn't that warm. She said it was very possible to get mastitis as a result of an injury. She booked me in for a mammogram anyhow as I had missed the other. She gave me antibiotics and sure enough all returned to normal very quickly. Last Friday I went to Beaumont and the doctor first did a physical examination and was very happy, saying it felt normal (i have small breasts so easy to feel anything out of the ordinary). I then had the mammogram and on my right breast they took extra images. Then the doc did an ultrasound. Now what she says was that she saw nothing sinister. What she did say was I had calcificatiions (she didn't specify what type and it was all new to me anyway) and that sometimes these can be a marker for trouble later on. She said that as she couldn't compare the images to previous ones, that she wanted to dot the "i"s and cross the "t"s , as she put it. She once more stressed that as far as she can see there is nothing so not to worry. I am now booked in for the 12th with results she said between 7-10 days later. I'm just wondering if she was only trying to not worry me by saying that though she did mention it a couple of times that it wasn't sinister looking. Also, the fact that a week before I had had some inflammation from the mastitis, would it have an impact on what would appear on the mammogram. Thanks in advance for any views.
Dear mmck, thank you for your post, it can be a very worrying time when having tests done. Breast calcifications are common in women ages over 50 and are mostly harmless, but as your doctor said that they may be an indication of precancerous cells, as you have not had a previous mammogram the doctors want to be sure these are harmless to rule out anything sinister, it is important to remember most breast calcifications are not a sign of cancer. If you would like to speak with a nurse the nurseline is available on 1800200700. I hope this information is helpful,
Kind regards,
Cancer nurse