Sorry for those who will see this elsewhere.
I'm asking multiple places to hit different groups of people. I realize I'm almost the oldest person amongst my followers. And I didn't start having mammograms until I was 49. So I'm not expecting that any of you have had a mammogram, except I do know some people start at 40 or younger if they have a family history.
I have no family history of breast cancer, so my doctor waited until age 49. Anyway, the first 3 years were normal. But my breast tissue is dense, they said that the previous 3 times. I had my mammogram yesterday. On the way out of work tonight, my doctor called and asked if I'd heard from anyone about it. I said no, but obviously I knew it wasn't a good thing for her to be asking. She said she was notified they found a "mass", but she said not to worry yet, because usually if it's something to be concerned about they will tell her how big it is. They didn't say anything about size in my results, just that it's abnormal and they want further testing.
She said it could just be dense tissue and not an actual tumor. So now I get to think about this for the next however long until I have another mammogram and get those results. Report said this:
- There are scattered areas of fibroglandular density.
- There is a mass in the posterior upper-outer region of the left breast. There are no suspicious findings in the right breast.
- IMPRESSION: Mass in the left breast requires additional evaluation. The patient will be recalled for additional imaging.
Anyone have any experience with an abnormal mammogram?
I got a call yesterday, and my follow up scan will be April 11th. That was their first available. I guess it's just 10 days, could be worse. It's going to be an ultrasound.
I have heard from quite a few people who have had abnormal results and they all ended up being "just dense tissue." So fingers crossed. 40% of mammograms end up with abnormal results, but only 5-7% are cancer, so those are pretty good odds.
