Some questions - please help - Cancer: Breast Message Board

In Hiding · 01-15-2006, 02:18 PM

I found out a few nights ago that my mom has to go in for some type of procedure this week. She said she had 2 aspirations and had a clip put in but now her doctor wants her to go in for something else. She mentioned that the doctor doesn't think it is anything, don't get scared, etc. But she didn't say much else about what is going on.

I've been reading on the internet about these things but I still don't understand what it is all about.

Does this mean it is cancer? Or the doctor wants to do something else because the aspirations were inconclusive? She goes for mammograms regularly (it is the only thing she keeps up with on a regular basis as far as doctors go). I'm kind of scared.

Does anyone know what this could mean?

Kalie · 01-21-2006, 11:03 PM

Do you have any other information? Your description of the situation is so vague it seems she could be going in for anything.

In Hiding · 02-01-2006, 06:53 PM

Sorry -

What I know is that she had 2 needle aspirations done already and a clip inserted. They were going to do another procedure (I'm guessing whatever comes after a clip insertion?) but now they can't because her blood pressure is high. She doesn't have a history of high BP so she thinks it is stress, etc. The doctor gave her medicine to bring it down.

Basically, my question is what could they have found after the clip was put in? From what I understand, they biopsy whatever comes out of the needle during the aspiration, right? So if that stuff was biopsied, what reason would they need to go in again? Is something like this usually cancer? Or could it be lump that they just want to take out? And if what they found after the needle aspiration was something bad, they would have said, "this is cancerous, it needs to come out", which they haven't said at all.

I overheard her talking today saying she thought her high BP was stress-related but that she isn't nervous about the breast procedure because she just wants whatever it is out so she knows what it is.

Kalie · 02-03-2006, 12:11 AM

The clip is placed so that the site can be easily found again if the biopsy is positive for cancer. Does she have her biopsy results yet? They can take a wk to ten days. Sometimes even with a negative biopsy the Dr will go back in to remove the lump if she feels that it could become cancerous or otherwise interfere with the patient's health. I hope everything turns out negative!

In Hiding · 02-16-2006, 07:17 PM

She goes for this procedure tomorrow and I am still confused over what exactly it is. I asked her all about it tonight and what she said was this: she went for a needle aspiration a few months ago to drain a cyst. Then she had to go back 2 weeks later to see how it was doing and it had refilled it so they drained it again and placed a clip in. She said she had been getting a mammogram (but i dont remember if it was one after the aspiration - do they usually give mammograms after an aspiration?) and the doctor found a "shadow" in the breast where he had put the clip in (but it is not the place where he put the clip in)

She says tomorrow's procedure is one where the doctor will "look at the shadow" and she assumes he'll be taking a biopsy. I asked her when the results would be in and she said, "hopefully tomorrow, i dont know." She also called the doctor about this with some questions but he didn't get back to her so she doesn't know a lot about what is actually happening. She is also the type who doesn't really ask a lot of doctor questions, so I am REALLY confused and nervous because I don't even know what this is.

What is a "shadow"? I thought breast cancers and stuff were lumps? And does anyone know what kind of procedure this could be?