MRI results

The next Breast Conference was a week from the first – April 9. I got a call from the oncologist after. He said they found a third suspicious mass in my right breast, in a line with the other two. Total length of all three: 7.5 cm or so. Too big for just a lumpectomy. Also they found a tiny spot in the left breast as well. So. Followup ultrasound-guided biopsy for both of those, which was scheduled for the next day.

There was some good news on that day though – I got a call from the genetic counselor who told me about the breast mutation gene tests coming back negative. Also, since the COVID-19 curve seemed to be flattening, they were starting to schedule surgeries again. So the Breast Conference said that I could get the surgery first and start hormone therapy afterward – the normal progression of things.

This news was the first time after my initial diagnosis that I got mentally a little thrown.

I had tried to go to the general cancer support group phone meeting on Tuesday, but it was scheduled right around the time of one of my project meetings so I could only “attend” the first half-hour. Since I was only going to be on a short time I just listened and didn’t talk. It was really too short to get much out of it – a couple of different people talked about their treatment, and there was a little discussion about toilet paper (there’s not a shortage of toilet paper per se – there’s still tons of commercial grade toilet paper that businesses aren’t buying because everyone is working from home). I thought it might be better to try the breast cancer specific group.

I got the second biopsy procedure on Friday of that week, 4/10. Also at Bellevue. I was an old hand at the drill so I knew exactly what to expect. They were able to successfully biopsy the third spot on the right side, but they couldn’t find the spot on the left side.

I had a phone appointment with the oncologist on Tuesday after the biopsy – 4/14. They still didn’t have results back but he did say we needed to do an MRI-guided biopsy on the left side. So I have that scheduled for this coming Monday, 4/20. He said it was possible that they still wouldn’t be able to find anything, in which case I would just have a follow-up MRI in 6 months.

The next day I got a call on the biopsy results: NEGATIVE. I was so happy. Even so, I thought it would make sense to go ahead and do a mastectomy and reconstruction on that side. I have small breasts, and that one is smaller than the left one anyway, and even if the new spot was negative for cancer I wouldn’t want to take the chance of it going rogue later down the line.

I had another phone appointment with the general surgeon on Thursday morning. She said that my lymph nodes all looked great on the MRI, which is good. She also wants to see the results of the MRI-guided biopsy on the left side before we settle the surgery, but she agreed with me that full mastectomy on the right is the best course of treatment.

So, as far as medical news, I think I’m now up to date. MRI-guided biopsy on Monday, and then I have a phone visit scheduled with the oncologist on Friday. And hopefully by then I’ll know my surgery date.