Surgeons , Radiologists and Biopsies

 Surgeons , Radiologists and Biopsies 

After seeing my  GP I went home and I still couldn’t believe this was happening. I kept feeling the lump  to see if it was there each night, I guess I just thought it would go away. It wasn’t very long before I got an appointment to see the surgeon. He went over the scans and explained what he was seeing and said there was a second area in the scan that looked a little wrong and he wanted that area mamogramed  and biopsied as well if it was in fact another lump. He sat and explained all about lumpectomy, what’s involved, risks and that he felt sure it was cancer but it had to be proven first through the results of a biopsy. 

The biopsy was to be a in a few days time and I was nervous and scared to say the least, not of being told I had cancer but of what the procedure would be like. I went in for a mammogram first on some new and fancy 3D mammogram machine. I was then sent up for them to do ultrasound and to do the biopsy. They were unsure what the second mark was but it was there so they wanted to biopsy that too. The Doctor came in and put heaps little shots of a local around to numb the area, but then they were unsure exactly which tissue was the tumour. They didn’t want to biopsy the wrong thing so they guided long wires into the lump and sent me back to mammogram again so they could check the wires were in the tumour.  Yes , it’s in the right place so back to a few more needles to numb it, and then she went in and done the biopsies on both lumps. I was so relieved, didn’t feel a thing and she was so gentle. I actually got up off the table and hugged her and said Thankyou. I was a little sore a few hours later but not to bad and no marks at all. 

I got my second appointment at the surgeon, yes it was cancer. Grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma. Grade 3 meaning the most abnormal looking and the fastest growing cancer.  The surgeon mentioned a satellite lesion which I don’t get but it’s another lesion that’s run from the original. He filled in my surgery booking forms but decided to ring The head dr who was Dr Lye, and check what to do about the satellite lesion. Dr Lye said the difference between one tumour or 2 would make a difference in how much tissue they would take to remove it all. He wanted me to go back and have another biopsie! Although the first wasn’t bad, I really didn’t want to go through it again.  A few days later I got my second biopsy appointment and back I went. Was a different doctor this time and it wasn’t so easy, he really had to push to get through the tissue to reach the lesion and this time I was sore and bruised . 

After biopsy

When i got back to the surgeon a week later they had good news that we were only dealing with 1 cancer and all the paperwork to book my surgery would be put in that day and my surgery would be classed as a cat 1 so would be in less than 30 days. The countdown is on.