A (hopefully little) Bump in the Road

[LeaP]

I had my annual physical today. Everything is good - except that I appear to have a small lump in my left breast. So ... that first mammogram, plus an ultrasound, is going to be the day after tomorrow.

For some reason I’m unconcerned. We’ll see what Wednesday brings, I guess.

[Lana Mae]

Lea, hoping all is well with the Mammogram and Ultrasound! Hugs Lana Mae

[Laura912]

Lea, short medical opinion. If you are paying any of the expense, challenge them why both procedures have to be done. Ask why not the ultrasound first, which is cheaper, then if not clearly definitive, the mammogram. Radiologists tend to schedule both without good justification except making more money. If the U/S shows a cyst or lymph node, you are done. Good luck.

[LeaP]

Laura - thank you. Other than cost, are there unique advantages to each procedure? Is one always better than the other, more definitive, etc.?

[Emma Beth]

Laura, I've been finding out there is more of the conflict between my Doctors and the Insurance Company than I realized.

My Primary Care Doctor, outside the VA, ordered both a Mammo and Sonogram for my annual Mammography this year.

All I could get was the Mammo and not the Sono because of the insurance company. I was told that they would not authorize a Sono unless it was recommended by the Radiologist first. I had a look at my Mammo report from this year and it looks like I will be able to get the Sono next year.

The reason for the Sono is usually because of Dense tissue. My Dr. explained it like this, "It's a lot like looking for a pebble inside a pile of stones."

[Laura912]

The gold standard for screening for beast cancer is a mammogram. The database on which that is based is huge. However, there are studies that show the efficacy of U/S with lower costs and zero radiation exposure. Currently, U/S is used as an adjuvant to the radiological procedure. But if you knew which one generated the most income which would you bet would be used the most? OK, that is a little unfair but it explains, in part, why U/S has been slow in getting used. There are several comparison studies between sonography and mammograms by radiation with pros and cons for both. Dense breasts do better with U/S for example. Cysts, which are fluid filled structures, show up great on U/S. U/S is a little more operator dependent. Your physician should be the one making the call...and sometimes the insurance company does as well.

[LeaP]

Done. Mammogram ... then back in for more pictures ... followed by immediate ultrasound (not the one scheduled for later) ... followed by the radiologist coming in and doing yet another ultrasound.

All clear. Dense tissue makes things hard to see. And the area that’s painful was dense.

In the caf for a coffee and cookie!

[Kaitlyn Michele]

Glad to hear!!!

I know in the waiting room there might 4 or 5 women... and the practitioner comes in says...all clear... all clear... all clear...you, come with me.... yikes!!

Mine was some scar tissue around the incision ...

[Devi SM]

Good to hear everything is ok.
Every night while falling sleeping I thouch my boobs that now are B cup but since early December estrogens dose was increased. wife without knowing it told me my boobs are growing again.
Now, I notice the same symptoms at the beginning of HRT that the growth begins with some tissue under nipples area later with the sensitivity and tenderness.
Breast had reached a homogeneous volume.
The tissue inside in both breast is the same shape. Hopefully they're growing more.

[LeaP]

I know in the waiting room there might 4 or 5 women... and the practitioner comes in says...all clear... all clear... all clear...you, come with me.... yikes!!


That’s exactly how it went. The patients would go in. They would come out. They left. I was told to wait. And then it was back in for all the follow-up images after a half-hour wait and another wait for the ultrasound after the radiologist read the second set of images. (Thank GOD no needle biopsy ...)

Let me tell you, there is NO consideration for privacy in the mammogram world. Go into the exam room, tech says take off your top (and never leaves), no drape or gown offered. They were very nice, but it was awkward. On the other hand, it wasn’t anywhere near as painful as I’ve heard a lot of people describe. Perhaps one side view in the follow-up where it was up close to the chest wall and squished hard, but the rest were ok. “Move this way, put your arm here, hold the handle, lean back, that arm down, point your feet this way, move in closer, a little more this way, I’m positioning you ... lifting ... etc. ... down comes the press thingy ... hold your breath. Next ...”

I guess I must have been a little nervous. I felt relieved afterwards.

Vanessa, this wasn’t growth pain and, in any event, I stopped growing a long time ago as far as I can tell.

No explanation for the pain. The bump is just normal tissue (if dense). Maybe I hit myself and don’t recall. Oh well (for now).

[Emma Beth]

Lea, I think it all depends on the facility.

Both of mine have been with Zwanger-Pasiri Radiology here in New York.

After the first waiting room where you check in, they take you into the back and show you the changing room. You take off your top and bra and put on a nice robe with your stuff inside one of their bags. Then you wait with other Women in the back waiting room. They take you in and do their thing and then you get to go. And you get to keep the bag too. I was surprised at how nice, relaxing, and welcoming they are.

I had to wait a couple of days to get my results.

[LeaP]

It’s odd, Emma - that’s how the location was set up for my wife’s mammogram, including the changing rooms (or booths), gowns and robes, bags and lockers, and back waiting rooms. When I went - to the same radiology department, same building, same floor - the setup was different. It had its own check-in desk. There were perhaps a dozen X-ray exam rooms with mammogram-specific machines, each room with its own technician, a few ultrasound exam rooms, plus office space, supplies, etc. Perhaps it’s brand new. It looked new. Mayo Clinic and the staff was stellar.