CALCIFICATIONS

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JLGall103
JLGall103 Member Posts: 7
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I HAD A MAMMO ON 11/07/03. SHOWED MICROCALCIFICATIONS IN LEFT BREAST. HAD CORE BIOPSY ON 12/03/03. CANCEROUS CELLS. HAD 1ST LUMPECTOMY ON 12/08/03 TO REMOVE CALCIFICATIONS. ALL MARGINS WERE CLEAR EXCEPT SOME CELLS WERE VERY CLOSE TO ONE MARGIN. HAD 2ND LUMPECTOMY 0N 01/08/04 THOSE CELLS TAKEN FROM THE 'CLOSE MARGIN' WERE NOT CANCEROUS. HAD MAMMO ON 02/06/04. MET WITH ONCOLOGIST ON 02/13/04. SHE SAID THE MAMMO SHOWED A CALCIFICATION 'LEFT BEHIND'. I GO TO MY SURGEON ON 02/16/04 WITH MY FILMS TO SEE WHAT SHE WANTS TO DO. I ASSUME SHE WILL DO A 3RD LUMPECTOMY TO TAKE OUT THE CALCIFICATION 'LEFT BEHIND'. I'D LIKE TO START MY RADIATION KNOWING THAT THERE ARE NO CALICIFICATIONS LEFT IN THERE. HAS ANYONE HAD THIS SITUATION BEFORE. MY CALCIFICATIONS WERE 6 MM; DCIS NON-INVASIVE. NO LYMPH NODES WERE INVOLVED. WHEN THE DR. SAID THE MAMMO SHOWED A CALCIFICATION WAS STILL THERE---I GOT SO UPSET----PLEASE, IF ANYONE HAS HAD THIS SITUATION, PLEASE REPLY. THANK YOU

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  • cruf
    cruf Member Posts: 908
    #2
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    Hi Louise Katherine. I had DCIS back in 2000. I was treated with a lumpectomy and my margins were not clear. I had a choice of having another lumpectomy to clear the margins and then radiation with hope to have all the cells gone or a mastectomy and no radiation and know all the breast tissue was gone. I chose the mastectomy with immediate Tramflap reconstruction. I am very happy I did it that way and if I should have a similiar problem someday on the other breast, I would do the same thing. No regrets here! If you have any questions, feel free to IM me here and I'd help you as much as I can. HUGS!! Cathy
  • cruf
    cruf Member Posts: 908
    #3
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    Louise! I tried to answer you but I couldn't get the message to go thru. Please write to me at RPT1206@aol.com and I can answer your questions directly. HUGS!! Cathy
  • fisherdh1
    fisherdh1 Member Posts: 4
    #4
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    Louise Katherine, calcifications seem to be sneaky. Yes, let them get out as much as you can before radiation, because you will build scar tissue where you are healing from the radiation, and it will be easier for them to get clear margins now. Since you're already made the lumpectomy decision, I'd continue down that road until you had no other choice. You never forget that you've gone through all this, but you feel less "damaged" going the lumpectomy route. I have to ask. Are you happy with your surgeon? Have you checked to see if some of this should have been taken care of during the first lumpectomy? I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers while you find out what's going on. Donna
  • JLGall103
    JLGall103 Member Posts: 7
    #5
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    cruf said:

    Louise! I tried to answer you but I couldn't get the message to go thru. Please write to me at RPT1206@aol.com and I can answer your questions directly. HUGS!! Cathy

    HI CATHY, THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPLY.
    I WILL WRITE TO YOU TOMORROW, AFTER I SEE MY SURGEON. SHE, BY THE WAY, IS JUST GREAT, VERY THOROUGH, I'LL FIND OUT ABOUT THE CALCIFICATION THAT WAS ON THE MAMMO, I EXPECTED THAT AREA, WHERE I HAD THE LUMPECTOMIES TO BE CLEAR! I'LL KEEP YOU POSTED. THANKS AGAIN. YOUR FRIEND FROM CONNECTICUT, LOUISE K.
  • JLGall103
    JLGall103 Member Posts: 7
    #6
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    fisherdh1 said:

    Louise Katherine, calcifications seem to be sneaky. Yes, let them get out as much as you can before radiation, because you will build scar tissue where you are healing from the radiation, and it will be easier for them to get clear margins now. Since you're already made the lumpectomy decision, I'd continue down that road until you had no other choice. You never forget that you've gone through all this, but you feel less "damaged" going the lumpectomy route. I have to ask. Are you happy with your surgeon? Have you checked to see if some of this should have been taken care of during the first lumpectomy? I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers while you find out what's going on. Donna

    THANKS FOR WRITING, FISH...I WILL SEE WHAT THE SURGEON SAYS TOMORROW ABOUT THE CALCIFICATION THAT WAS ON THE MOST RECENT MAMMO. SHE IS GREAT, SO MANY WOMEN HAVE BEEN HER PATIENTS, WITH GREAT SUCCESS, AND GREAT REVIEWS. SHE ONLY OPERATES ON DISEASES OF THE BREAST. SHE'S WITH BREAST CANCER CENTER AT ONE OF OUR LOCAL HOSPITALS. EVEN THE NURSES AT THE HOSPITAL ALL SAID, IF THEY HAD BREAST CANCER, THEY ONLY WOULD WANT DR. MARY TO TAKE CARE OF THEM. I'D LIKE TO HAVE ONE MORE LUMPECTOMY IN THAT SPOT, TO TAKE OUT WHAT SHOWED UP ON THE MAMMO. THEY GAVE ME 'TWILIGHT SLEEP', WHICH WAS GREAT---DIDN'T FEEL A THING. WAS HOME A FEW HOURS LATER---A LITTLE TENDER, BUT BACK TO NORMAL THE NEXT DAY. I'LL LET YOU KNOW TOMORROW, WHAT SHE SAYS. THANKS AGAIN. YOUR FRIEND FROM CONNECTICUT, LOUISE K.
  • sunnyskye
    sunnyskye Member Posts: 31
    #7
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    I never knew what a calcification was prior to having them show up on a routine mamo ... i had invasive breast cancer 9 mm. two lumpectomies, the first did not have clear margins...and 6 weeks radiation. not a candidate for tomixifen. if it were not for the calcifications showing up my prognosis would have been worse by the time they found my cancer. in my case, i consider the calcifications a gift from god so the cancer could be found early. the first radiologist told me to come back and have them checked in 6 months. i looked them up online found what they were and was seeing another radiologist within one week. within 2 weeks of being told to wait 6 months i found out ihad the most invasive breast cancer there is. it had not yet gone to the nodes ... i consider myself lucky to have had calcs and luckier even to have been proactive in finding the reason for them. please have them all taken out .... even one lil stray, do not wait.
  • withGodshelp
    withGodshelp Member Posts: 1
    #8
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    Louise Katherine:
    I was recently diagnosised with stage 0 DCIS calcifications in one local area about 2" above my left areola. I am going to the greatest hospital in the country - UW of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics. I had first a new type of biopsy where you lay face down on a table with your breast put thru a whole in the table where they do a light mammogram (I mean they gently compress the breast only to hold it in place). They then have a computer behind me that shows my calcifications on a grid screen. This helps them to be exactly in the right spot to biopsy. They then talked me thru each step as it occurred as I could not see anything. They told me that I would be inserted with a very tiny hollow needle and I would feel a slight poke in which they would quickly insert lidocaine until I was numb. Then they told me I would hear the sound of sort of a sewing machine as they cut and extracted my calcifications. It was over very quickly and whenever I would even feel a pinch, they quickly inserted more lidocaine with the same needle. I was diagnosised with cancer of some of the calcifications so I am opting for a lumpectomy with nipple saving and will have some radiation. I also had 2 calcifications in my right breast in which they were not concerned but I wanted them removed and biopsy. I had the same procedure, (in which they told me this process was very new) and were able to remove just the two calcifications without any kind of lumpectomy even mentioned. They were both benign. Did you know that 99.5% of all calcifications are non-cancerous? See if this type of biopsy is available to you somewhere. They can with this hollow needle process remove your single calcification and biopsy it without more trama to you. MY user name is withGodshelp but I'm 48 and my name is Debbie.
    I would love to here from you my friend.

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