Breast Issue - Scared

((hugs)) I know it's so scary!! But gosh, birads3 is awesome sauce. But I totally get the worry and nagging fear and what-ifs! And the every 6 month thing is tough. Again ((hugs)) and just place your trust in God and your docs. And know, you've just done the single most important thing you can do to keep any of those places from going rogue--lose a crap ton of weight. Right?!! Congrats!! Celebrate tonight! (With dense protein. )

I do go for these scary mammograms. I know already that whenever I have them, it will be completely unpleasant and frightening too. This appointment took 2.5 hours. So many X-rays. And then this confusing and non categorical discussion and follow up too. I'm glad it is Birads 3. My great grandmother died at 26 from breast cancer. Her daughter died of it in her 70s (my great aunt), and that great aunt's daughter died of it in her 70s. And then my paternal grandmother died of ovarian cancer, she was 82. So we know in our family that breast cancer is a bad thing to get, tho fortunately the current generation has not had any instances so maybe we are okay! But it would be so nice if the screening and tests could just be a little clearer... I mean, the guy said, multiple areas of abnormality and concern, then next day said Birads 3 which means that they aren't concerning that much. Just confusing.! And that scary little waiting room with tissues! Yikes.

It is SO scary! ((hugs)) I never saw the "waiting room" thing. Mine was always get the tests, go home, wait by the phone, yada yada yada. Or go get the bx, go to the exam room and wait for the doc to come in--which thankfully never took long. I'm really happy that they are monitoring you every 6 months! The BEST thing you can do is coppafeel every week and have your SO/DH do it too. Cuz if you get confident in what "your normal" feels like, then if that changes, you have to run, not walk to the doc to have it checked out. I do this weekly and it does give some small peace of mind.

I think for the docs (in big hospital programs and practices, usually work as a "tumor board" to evaluate new and current patients), it's like a brain trust made up of oncologists, radiologist, radiation doctors, plastic surgeons, breast surgeons, and they "operate" within the "standard of care window" proscribed by the AMA. So they have to go through all the gyrations for someone with your current tests, past tests, and medical history--and cancer treatment/diagnosis is almost never simple. It's So confusing, sometimes even for the docs who despite maybe their gut instincts still operate vis a vis "standard of care." So some of them might want to go in and treat you prophylactically, but they are bound by SOC. They probably are biting their nails for you, too! Even treatment is totally confusing from a patient perspective--and you have to learn a whole new process and vocabulary while you are in one of the most stressful cycles of your life!

I will go in for 6 month checkups for the rest of my life. The "scare"/dread/fear cycle is something like: have the latest exam and get a dating NED status [(No Evidence of Disease=NED). I will never be "cancer-free" because of my staging (IIIC). I will only ever by in active mode or in remission/NED.]; then I have a great 4 months without much thought or fear about it--but that took about 3 years to get that laissez faire with it; then for the next 2 months until the exam I become more and more stressed out and fearful of the exam until I'm 1 week from the exam--then I can't sleep, stress, etc.

With your history, you have just cause for huge concern!!! ((hugs)) Have you been tested for the BRCA gene mutations? Because you are very right to have concern with your family history of what looks like hormone positive disease?