Hi MickeyM,

A very warm welcome to our forum. 

Stereotactic biopsy will give your team the chance to look at your breast in more detail. This doesn't always signify bad news, but is a good sign that your care team is being thorough. It is impossible to find out much until the results of your biopsy come back and you know exactly what you are dealing with. You should find some information about DCIS and calcifications on the Cancer Research Website. Try to avoid consulting Dr Google, as much of his information is out of date, poorly researched and aimed at the more spectacular cases. This will only serve to worry you further.

There is a lady called Karen1971 on the forum. She has been posting under the title ‘Waiting on breast biopsy results.’ If you do a search for her, you may be able to help one another through this.

Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Thank you Jolamine, your reply was really helpful and appreciated. Thank you so much for taking the time xx 

No problem. I hope that all goes well for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Ok, so I'm now officially in meltdown - consultant told me I would have my stereotactic biopsy within two weeks.  As you know he won't give me my results of my lump biopsies until he's done these ones.  He gave me a timescale of within two weeks for next set of biopsies and then six weeks total til I got all my results.  The stereotactic biopsy has been scheduled for 16th November - WHAT!!! I rang and they said this is first available apt - I explained consultant said within two weeks - she asked who the consultant was (like I was told or can remember!) - can't wait that long - not sleeping as it is and barely functioning now off HRT too - HELP! Xx

Hi MickeyM

So sorry you have to wait around for tests/results. Sounds like there is a huge demand for their services right now. 

Could you get in touch with your MP to try and move things along?

When I was diagnosed with DCIS, I had to wait 3 months for my operation and then another 3 months for margin clearance. It is hard to deal with mentally and tried my best to keep busy and push it to the back of my mind.

Keep pushing them for the care you are entitled to x

Hi there, 

Thank you so much for responding.  I hadn't thought about MP. I'll ring hospital again in the morning, no-one rang me back.  I was struggling enough with wait consultant told me, but I took him at his word as he said he was trying to manage my expectations. 

I'm sorry to hear about your DCIS diagnosis and delays in treatment.  How are you now? Was that long ago? What were your symptoms? Don't worry, I'm not trying to self-diagnose, given up on that idea - I'm just aware it will be all or nothing with both microcalcifications and a lump xx 

Any tips for pushing it to the back of my mind/coping?  - I am so exhausted my usual exercise routine has fallen away completely.  The place they've put the marker makes it uncomfortable to wear a bra and heaven knows how long that will stay on the lump now. 
 

Sorry for all the questions, don't respond to any you don't want to, I understand, just curious by nature. 

Thank you so much for your support. Xx

Hi MickeyM,

I am so sorry to hear about this latest setback. When you phone the hospital tomorrow, they should be able to search the computer to see who your consultant was. It should also be on the referral for your biopsy, so it should be easy enough for them to find. Failing this, your GP may have heard something from him and know who he is. 

Once you find out who he is, you can always phone his secretary, who should be able to tell you whether or not there's been a mistake made with your appointment. You may have noticed that Karen has just got the all clear after her stereotactic biopsy, so it does happen!

This is always a worrying time and it is difficult to put matters to the back of your mind. Do you have any hobbies or pasttimes that you can become embroiled in? You will find it helpful to keep yourself busy with something like this. Failing all else, doing a jigsaw is quite a good way to lose yourself for a while.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi MickeyM! I feel as if I know exactly what you're going through as I had a lump and a 6cm día. invasive tumour surrounded by microcalcifications. I guarantee that this waiting period is the worst part because your mind will take you to a lot of places before they give you a treatment plan especially if you are the kind of person who prefers to face possibilities. 
 

I remember feeling anxious about the waits between biopsy / diagnosis / treatment but they assured me that the cancer was not going to run rampant during that timeframe and it would make very little if any difference. Part of the wait is because they run your diagnosis through a panel of specialist doctors who are looking at all the factors to make the best decision about your treatment plan.

After diagnosis I remember walking around in shock for weeks with the words 'I have cancer' in my head endlessly repeating. They decided on a mastectomy because of the margins of microcalcifications were too wide an area to treat by lumpectomy. While the thought of that would have terrified me before confirmation of my diagnosis, I was pleased to get rid of the core problem. I had a reconstruction at the same time and I love my new smaller boob and the other one was reduced in size a few months later to match. 

Here I am 6 years later with no evidence of disease. I am not saying that to say "lucky me" but six years ago it gave me a lot of comfort that other people had been through this and were living good lives. For me the crucial part was the biopsy of the sentinel axial lymph node and in my case I was lucky that no cancer cells were found there despite the large tumour. My tumour was also found to be highly hormone-fed so I'm on Tamoxifen for the next few years. I suppose the biggest problem was not being able to take HRT to treat the menopause, but my GP prescribed a low dose of Sertraline and it does the same sort of thing.

I wish you all the luck in the world and believe me, life will return to a place where it's not the only thing you can think about. Whatever treatment you're given, you will feel so much better just to be on that road to recovery. Take care! And best wishes for everything!

Hi Jolamine, thank you for the reply.  I chased several times today and was told someone would call me back.  This afternoon I rang again and said I was sorry for being a pain, but I didn't know if anything was going on in the background or not. I was then told that it was, but they had to consult with consultant and lots of people were involved and I would get a call back.  I thanked her and I did get a call back later and they've managed to bring my apt forward to 12th October. May not be the 'within two weeks that I was told by consultant, but it's five weeks before the original one they offered. I feel strong enough with all your support to wait another fortnight for this next stage. Thank you. 
 

I like to run and exercise, but I'm still a bit battered and bruised from first biopsy.  Also the marker and lump is just above my bra line and so wearing any support right now is painful. 
 

I do work full time (and some) but it's an emotionally demanding role and so it doesn't help me take my mind of it all - but I'm feeling more positive today now - just very tired xx 

Thank you again for your support xx 

Hi Pandastart, thank you so much for your honest and supportive reply.  Yes, I'm definitely the kind of person who prefers to be 'in the know' and facing all possibilities.  I found your response very helpful and supportive for me and so I'm truly grateful for that. 
 

I'm glad you're six years into recovery and I was pleased to hear you managed to get your other breast reduction (thank heavens) x 

Being told to come off the HRT immediately has been an additional struggle for me and so once again, thanks for telling me how you resolved that.  I will speak to my GP about that once I've had the next upright stereotactic biopsies done. 
 

Thank you so much for your positivity and kind words.  You can read my update in my response to Jolamine above, so I don't repeat it again (embarrassed face) xx 

I'll keep you posted xx take care xx