drainage, lumps, pain but neg mammo/US

gmthul

Hi, everyone. Just wondering if anyone has had my experience. I am currently an active thyroid cancer patient (follicular variant, if anyone cares), with a positive tumor marker and negative whole body scan (which means I have active cancer that isn't big enough to detect or doesn't take up the uptake stuff). I have received multiple doses of radioactive iodine, one treatment just 1 week after I weaned my son. Apparently the radiation concentrates in breast milk, so I was warned that I was at greatly increased risk for breast cancer sometime in the future. 8 weeks ago, I started having bright gold discharge from one breast. It was dismissed by one doctor 4 weeks ago as hormonal (milk? although I have no infants now). 3 weeks ago, my breast started to ache and I noticed my bra was bothering me a lot on that side. 1 week ago, I found two lumps in the breast, one about 1/2" and one about 1". Those lumps, the drainage, and the size difference between breasts have all been confirmed by multiple doctors since I found them. I had a mammogram and high definition ultrasound yesterday, and I got the news that they were both "normal". I am scheduled to see a surgeon on Friday and trying to decide what I should do if he offers my lumpectomy.

My questions are these: has anyone ever had a negative mammo/US and still had cancer? Is it possible to biopsy a lump they can feel but can't visualize on U/S? Should I go ahead with a lumpectomy to rule out cancer? What else could this be?

Thanks - sorry to dump questions here but I don't know where else to turn. In some ways, it would have been better if the mammo or U/S showed something to point me in some direction for my decision.

Genevieve, age 31
FVPTC thyroid cancer survivor since 6/2008

Marcia527

Sometimes breast cancer
Sometimes breast cancer doesn't show on mammograms and US. Mine didn't show either. I had a tumor that was 6cm and 3cm and another smaller one and nothing showed. The first surgeon I saw did the biopsy in the wrong place because of it. I went to another and he had to repeat the biopsy. It did show on the MRI scan which they did when staging me. I'd listen to the doc and if it sounds reasonable do what he says. In my case I knew the first surgeon didn't have the experience to deal with me (she said I had DCIS when the whole breast was solid) so I went for a second opinion.

Fabu

Marcia527 said:

Sometimes breast cancer
Sometimes breast cancer doesn't show on mammograms and US. Mine didn't show either. I had a tumor that was 6cm and 3cm and another smaller one and nothing showed. The first surgeon I saw did the biopsy in the wrong place because of it. I went to another and he had to repeat the biopsy. It did show on the MRI scan which they did when staging me. I'd listen to the doc and if it sounds reasonable do what he says. In my case I knew the first surgeon didn't have the experience to deal with me (she said I had DCIS when the whole breast was solid) so I went for a second opinion.

You mentioned the doctor was
You mentioned the doctor was going to perform a lumpectomy. Do you mean he will biopsy the lump(s) first. That would seem to be the best way to detect what is going on since the lumps are not showing up on mammogram. I wish you all the best.

greyhoundluvr

Hope All is Well
Genevieve - As the others said, there can be abnormalities that don't show up on mammo or US. For example, my primary tumor did show but when they did the MRI, it showed 2 satellite tumors that did not show up. I would see what the surgeon has to say and how comfortable you are with the information you get from him. They may go the MRI route or they may try to biopsy. There are multiple ways they can do this either with a needle (if they can locate the area) or with an incisional biopsy. I have never seen them offer lumpectomy without a positive biopsy but things can certainly vary from region to region. Just FYI in case it helps in the future, there are surgeons who specialize in breast surgery. Although I picked mine because I knew him from working in the ER, my daughter had him checked out within 15 minutes of my appointment and decided he was OK when she saw his specialty.

Good luck to you -let us know how it goes!

Chris

Megan M

Have you had an MRI yet? I
Have you had an MRI yet? I had all 3, the mammo, ultrasound and the MRI. Then, they did a core needle biopsy that was guided by the ultrasound. If I were you, I would at the least, have that done. You need to find out. Good luck!