Abnormal mammogram...now what? (venting)

I'm at the end of my rope! After spending the last year and half dealing with (what turned out to be) level 4 endo and having both ovaries removed by BSO just 3 weeks ago, I went for my long-overdue mammography yesterday and BINGO! They call me back and tell me it's abnormal and I need to come in right away for more films/tests. AAaargh!! I never want to see another doctor again, EVER!!! Can't I go a single month without someone telling me to be afraid?

Also, who are these cruel people who say that mammograms aren't painful? I have fairly large breasts (with a lot of "dense" tissue, they tell me) and mammograms are agony. I often cry and I'm usually sore and bruised for days afterward but the worst part is the techs who always sneer a little when you say it hurts. My favorite lines: "Your breasts are too big." "It's supposed to hurt." "Try to toughen up..it will only take a few minutes." "Most women don't have any pain at all." "You're overweight.... that always makes it worse."

(((soccer480))) I'm sorry you've had such bad experiences with mammograms. It really shouldn't hurt that much. As for the "too big" and "overweight" comments, my experience has been that they hurt more when I was smaller and less now that they are a little larger.

You might try calling the mammography department and asking if they have one of the new cushions designed to pad the machine during a mammogram, called MammoPad:
http://www.healthparkhospital.com/se.../mammogram.php

Many facilities have them now.

Even without the MammoPad, there are things you can do. You can take a Motrin before you go. I find that, for some reason, stepping in and leaning in hard towards the machine makes it much more comfortable, even though the instinct is to try to pull back.

I hope you can take comfort in the knowledge that something like 20-25% of women are called back for additional views these days, and of those, only about 15-20% end up having to have a biopsy -- and only about 15% of those that have the biopsy turn out to have something worth worrying about. So, the odds are greatly in your favor.

Let us know how it goes, OK?

s,
-Linda

Soccer 480,

I have also had a very painful mammogram last week due to a lump found in my breast. Just had surgery last june! They also did an ultrasound right after the mammogram (ouch). The **** lump did not even hurt till after the test! I have to have an aspiration/biopsy on Feb 6th to make sure. Hopefully this is only a complicated cyst. What exactly is a complicated cyst?

Just venting with you
ARC369

Clearly I had 48 year warranty, because it has surely expired this year......they found a suspicious lump and I'm scheduled for the biopsy on Wed. It would have been nice to have a had a whole month between cancer scares.

Sorry to hear that... did they say what sort of "suspicious lump" they meant? A fibroadenoma, perhaps? Or did they think it was fluid-filled, like a cyst? What type of biopsy are you having? There's some great information on different biopsy procedures in our Resources directory under the Breast Health section if you'd like to read about them beforehand.

I'll keep my that you are one of the majority whose biopsies come back all clear.

s,
-Linda