not cancer but what is it????

eph
eph Member Posts: 14
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I got my biopsy results today and the good news is it's not cancer. That's all I heard from the surgeon. I really wasn't worried about anything else until I got home and now I'm wondering what in the world does it mean?? Word for word this is what is written on the report...
Cystic change with occasional ductal basophilic calcification.

Any help will be appreciated.

Ellen

Comments

  • ladybug22
    ladybug22 Member Posts: 646
    SO happy for u call back and
    SO happy for u call back and ask happy dance for u
  • eph
    eph Member Posts: 14
    ladybug22 said:

    SO happy for u call back and
    SO happy for u call back and ask happy dance for u

    Let me add this...
    slides

    Let me add this...
    slides show multiple fragmens of benign breast parenchyma and adipose tissue.
  • cabbott
    cabbott Member Posts: 1,039 Member
    Medical Lingo
    I'm no doctor, but some of what you mentioned is vaguely understandable. (Doctors have a language all their own and it takes med school to learn it all). A cyst is a fluid-filled sac. It is not cancerous. Women who get breast cysts usually find that they come and go with their monthly cycle. If one comes and grows and grows, especially if it appears suddenly, it is worth checking out. But they happen to women so often that most doctors consider them perfectly normal. Mammograms can't tell a breast cyst from a lump of cancer. Neither can a surgeon's fingers sometimes, though cysts tend to be roundish and sometimes movable and cancer tends to be more like an irregular piece of gravel and sometimes fixed. An ultrasound can often tell the difference. A duct is a tube. Since it is in your breast, yours is a tube that carries breast milk from the cells that make milk to the nipple. A calcification is a bit of calcium deposited in the tissue. There are different sorts of calcifications. The macro calcifications (the bigger kind) occur in folks that have arthritis of the breast. Nope, I didn't know you could get arthritis there either until a near relative was found to have it. She did not have to have breast surgery since her calcifications were not the sort to signal possible cancer. The microcalcifications sometimes do signal a problem situation nearby. Apparently fast-growing tissues sometimes deposit tiny bits of calcium. If microcalcifications show up in a cluster on a mammogram, the surgeons know that it may mean that a bit of cancer is growing nearby. However, it is fairly normal and not an ominous finding if a solitary microcalcification is found in a mammogram. I had to look up what basophilic means. My medical dictionary says that it means having an affinity for dyes. I guess that meant it showed up well on the slide, but you would have to ask a medical person about that.

    C. Abbott
  • cabbott
    cabbott Member Posts: 1,039 Member
    eph said:

    Let me add this...
    slides

    Let me add this...
    slides show multiple fragmens of benign breast parenchyma and adipose tissue.

    More medical lingo
    Adipose I know. It means fat cells. That is normal to be in breasts. Parenchyma is another one of those fancy dancy doctor terms. Stedman's says it means "the distinguishing or specific cells of a gland or organ, contained in and supported by the connective tissue framework or stroma." In normal language, that means normal breast tissue cells that would be expected in that part of the body.

    C. Abbott
  • eph
    eph Member Posts: 14
    cabbott said:

    Medical Lingo
    I'm no doctor, but some of what you mentioned is vaguely understandable. (Doctors have a language all their own and it takes med school to learn it all). A cyst is a fluid-filled sac. It is not cancerous. Women who get breast cysts usually find that they come and go with their monthly cycle. If one comes and grows and grows, especially if it appears suddenly, it is worth checking out. But they happen to women so often that most doctors consider them perfectly normal. Mammograms can't tell a breast cyst from a lump of cancer. Neither can a surgeon's fingers sometimes, though cysts tend to be roundish and sometimes movable and cancer tends to be more like an irregular piece of gravel and sometimes fixed. An ultrasound can often tell the difference. A duct is a tube. Since it is in your breast, yours is a tube that carries breast milk from the cells that make milk to the nipple. A calcification is a bit of calcium deposited in the tissue. There are different sorts of calcifications. The macro calcifications (the bigger kind) occur in folks that have arthritis of the breast. Nope, I didn't know you could get arthritis there either until a near relative was found to have it. She did not have to have breast surgery since her calcifications were not the sort to signal possible cancer. The microcalcifications sometimes do signal a problem situation nearby. Apparently fast-growing tissues sometimes deposit tiny bits of calcium. If microcalcifications show up in a cluster on a mammogram, the surgeons know that it may mean that a bit of cancer is growing nearby. However, it is fairly normal and not an ominous finding if a solitary microcalcification is found in a mammogram. I had to look up what basophilic means. My medical dictionary says that it means having an affinity for dyes. I guess that meant it showed up well on the slide, but you would have to ask a medical person about that.

    C. Abbott

    With this kind of answer
    With this kind of answer maybe you should've been a doctor. This is great! ! Thanks so much for the info.
  • Akiss4me
    Akiss4me Member Posts: 2,188
    Ellen....
    That is good news that it is not cancer!! Happy for you! :) Pammy
  • outdoorgirl
    outdoorgirl Member Posts: 1,565
    cabbott said:

    Medical Lingo
    I'm no doctor, but some of what you mentioned is vaguely understandable. (Doctors have a language all their own and it takes med school to learn it all). A cyst is a fluid-filled sac. It is not cancerous. Women who get breast cysts usually find that they come and go with their monthly cycle. If one comes and grows and grows, especially if it appears suddenly, it is worth checking out. But they happen to women so often that most doctors consider them perfectly normal. Mammograms can't tell a breast cyst from a lump of cancer. Neither can a surgeon's fingers sometimes, though cysts tend to be roundish and sometimes movable and cancer tends to be more like an irregular piece of gravel and sometimes fixed. An ultrasound can often tell the difference. A duct is a tube. Since it is in your breast, yours is a tube that carries breast milk from the cells that make milk to the nipple. A calcification is a bit of calcium deposited in the tissue. There are different sorts of calcifications. The macro calcifications (the bigger kind) occur in folks that have arthritis of the breast. Nope, I didn't know you could get arthritis there either until a near relative was found to have it. She did not have to have breast surgery since her calcifications were not the sort to signal possible cancer. The microcalcifications sometimes do signal a problem situation nearby. Apparently fast-growing tissues sometimes deposit tiny bits of calcium. If microcalcifications show up in a cluster on a mammogram, the surgeons know that it may mean that a bit of cancer is growing nearby. However, it is fairly normal and not an ominous finding if a solitary microcalcification is found in a mammogram. I had to look up what basophilic means. My medical dictionary says that it means having an affinity for dyes. I guess that meant it showed up well on the slide, but you would have to ask a medical person about that.

    C. Abbott

    I really appreciate
    that cabbott! Thanks for all your research.
    Ellen,I'm glad that you don't have cancer-that's awesome!
  • dmc_emmy
    dmc_emmy Member Posts: 549
    eph said:

    With this kind of answer
    With this kind of answer maybe you should've been a doctor. This is great! ! Thanks so much for the info.

    No cancer! Wow, that's great news!
    I know that you had a real scare, but I am so glad that it was not can**r! I can't imagine getting better news than this when it comes to drs, masses, and breast exams. Whew! Now, it's time for that happy dance!
    dmc
  • bfbear
    bfbear Member Posts: 380
    Akiss4me said:

    Ellen....
    That is good news that it is not cancer!! Happy for you! :) Pammy

    Hooray
    Hooray for you!!! SO happy to hear it's not the Big C.

    Debi
  • Jeanne D
    Jeanne D Member Posts: 1,867
    Akiss4me said:

    Ellen....
    That is good news that it is not cancer!! Happy for you! :) Pammy

    Ellen
    What great news! No cancer! Now you have so much to celebrate!

    Hugs, Jeanne