Here's what's been going on:
January 9 - annual screening mammogram
January 11 - I received a call that the mammogram showed new clusters of calcifications and that I would need a second mammogram with magnified views. My doctor told me that she believed a biopsy would be probable.
Worry starts setting in.
January 20 - I went to another facility for what I call "super squash" views. The radiologist said that the calcifications look suspicious and that I would need a stereotactic biopsy at least one week later (you have to avoid ibuprofen for a week before such a procedure).
Worry intensifies.
January 30 - I had a stereotactic needle biopsy (as opposed to a surgical biopsy). This is when they use mammography rather than ultrasound to guide the process because calcifications can only be seen by x-ray.
That was a very weird test and frankly rather a trial. I don't think I'll go into extreme detail here, but suffice to say that I was laying face down on a table that had a hole in the middle of it, which was then raised about 5 feet off the floor. The test was done from below and I couldn't move for about 45 minutes.
February 1 - I was called by a physician who told me that the biopsy revealed that I have cancer. It's a mixture of infiltrating ductal carcinoma and ductal carcinoma in situ. She had no information to tell me about treatment and prognosis although she said that in general women with this diagnosis do very well.
This was a really terrible day. More on this maybe in another post.
February 3 - I talked to my primary care physician (PCP) who referred me to my health insurance group's breast surgeon. I already had her name and was checking her out as much as I could online and also with the physicians at the place where I had the biopsy (which is out-of-network. Long story why I went out-of-network).
Tomorrow I will call the breast surgeon's office and ask for a consult appointment.
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