Mammograms, biopsies, and MRIs

When I turned 40 I didn't get a mammogram right away. It was about 6 months later in January 2017 so I was still pretty close. I got called back in for a followup. So a week later I was back in there for additional imaging including an ultrasound which felt like it took FOREVER with the tech measuring things on the screen and pressing the button and digging that thing into me. The diagnosis? Dense breast tissue/fibrocystic breasts. So everything was fine. I heard this was actually pretty common for a first time. 

In 2018 I had a normal mammogram. Actually, I think that was the only year that everything was normal. Yay! 

In 2019 is when things started going south. I went in for my mammogram in March, then I got called back for additional imaging. No big deal, I'd done this before. I really didn't even think much of it. I did the additional pictures and then I ended up getting dressed and waiting in a room while the radiologist reviewed them. Then the tech came back and said, "come with me and the doctor will give you your results." Uhm. Okay? 

Into the doctor's office I went and was told I needed a stereotactic vacuum assisted biopsy for some suspicious calcifications they found in my left breast. They explained the procedure and I felt a little numb, actually. I called my doctor and she explained that at this point she would be referring me to a breast specialist. So three days later I met with Dr. Sherrie Thomas and she told me it was likely nothing but that she would monitor me moving forward. She did another exam and another ultrasound and a couple of weeks later I had the biopsy, which is exactly as fun as you're imagining. 

I got the call from Dr. Thomas that my results were not cancer. Yay! She said we would talk more when I had my followup to make sure everything healed nicely from the biopsy. When I met with Dr. Thomas a few days later she explained that while it wasn't cancer, it also wasn't not cancer. Oh. It was something called Atypical Ductal Hyperplasia or ADH. And it needed to be removed surgically. Oh.

ADH (and it's cousin ALH) are atypical cells that aren't really cancer, but they have the possibility of becoming cancer or of hiding other cancerous cells nearby. And a finding of atypical hyperplasia automatically catapulted me into a high risk category. Great.

In April 2019 I had my lumpectomy (surgery performed by Dr. Thomas) to remove it. In the pathology, nothing else was found outside of those atypical cells (no cancer lurking in there that the biopsy hadn't gotten) and I went on with my life but we would be adding MRIs into the mix. Starting the next year I would have both a mammogram and an MRI (with and without contrast) six months apart. 

In spring 2020 I had another abnormal mammogram on the right side and came back for more imaging and then had to go into the office for the doctor to "give you your results." Yep, another stereotactic biopsy. Which is exactly as fun as you're imagining in the middle of a pandemic. This time there were no atypical cells just "micro-calcifications." (No, I don't really know what that means either.) My MRI in the fall of 2020 wasn't a party, but it wasn't horribly awful. The contrast made me feel sort of icky, but I got over it.

In the spring of 2021 I had another abnormal mammogram on the left side and went to that damn office again to have the doctor "give you your results" and yep, another stereotactic biopsy. (Is there a punch card or something for this? I'm definitely a frequent flyer at this point.) Again, just micro-calcifications. Fall 2021 MRI was normal.

This year I went in for my mammogram in June. (I'm on schedule, it's just moved forward a bit after the surgery and biopsies and such sort of threw it off.) It was normal. I can't even begin to express how exciting that was. Dr. Thomas said if I could have 5 years of normal mammograms and MRIs, we could stop all that nonsense. Start the clock! Maybe I don't need a punch card after all!

In December I had my MRI. My other MRIs were fine so I was sure this would be fine. But then Dr. Thomas' office called. They found something on there. They need more imaging. I literally broke down in tears. I was so so sick of all this mess. So I went in for an ultrasound this time. And then, you guessed it, "come with me so the doctor can give you your results." Another biopsy. This time it's ultrasound guided which was infinitely better than the stereotactic biopsy for a bunch of reasons I could tell you about but just trust me. Way better.

Then I waited. And didn't have my results within a couple of days like I normally do. But it was Christmas and the office was closed for an extra few days so it was probably just that. But I still felt like something wasn't right and something was different. And I prepared myself in my head for the possibility that it wasn't what I wanted.

Dr. Thomas called me on December 29. "It's cancer."