Had mammo today, found "Blip"

I went to have a mammo today because of some pain I was having on the edge of my armpit and breast. Come to find out, that was just a fat pouch she said, BUT they did see a tiny little "Blip" in the breast as he called it.

He wants me to come back in 6 months for a diagnosis, not a re-screening. My question is why 6 months? If it's cancerous wouldn't it grow between that time? His paperwork said today, "probably benign (sp) not cancerous". How can he be sure? Why wait 6 months? I mean this is part of early detection, right?

Anyone have any ideas why he would wait 6 months?

Ooh, 6 months. I'd wonder too. I had a breast cyst and my GP (general practitioner) sent me off to a specialist right away. Even that was a bit of a wait cause specialists are hard to get in to see, and I was pretty anxious even though I was sure it was a cyst (I'm a nurse so naturally I looked up the symptoms and diagnosed myself ha ha). The specialist poked a long needle in my boob (yikes!) and popped the cyst which made us both happy.

Can you get a referral to a specialist or go see someone else for a second opinion?

It really depends on what they saw... "blip" is not a medical term.

If what they saw was microcalcifications, most of those are benign. They can often tell fairly reliably by the configuration the microcalcifications appear in whether or not it's likely to be anything. Microcalcifications occur any time cells divide fast, whether that be cancer or just healing from a bump, bruise or pull. The ones that turn out to be cancer typically show very specific patterns, plus they tend to grow VERY slowly. Six months is a standard "wait and see" - they'll go back and take another look and see if anything has changed. Sooner than that, they couldn't tell, the changes happen that slowly.

A diagnostic mammogram just means that they'll only look at that one breast, not both, and they'll use extra compression and magnification so they can study the "blip" better. It doesn't mean they are expecting to diagnose anything.

I hope this helps.

s,
-Linda

Thanks surferbabe...makes me feel better. Yeah I know blip isn't a medical term it's what he said, lol....Either way, he didn't really say what he could think it was. It's REALLY small he said at this stage, so small they could only see it in one view.

Either way, it's still scary and nerve wrecking knowing "something" could be there. Especially with BC running in the family.

Thanks for the support, it does make me feel a bit better.

Yikes though on the extra compression, like the first one didn't hurt enough

I hope everything turns out okay.

I had the VERY same thing happen to me several years ago! I went for my first mammogram and they found a "spot"! The paperwork they gave me said the same thing Probably benign/not malignant. I was asked to came back in 6 months also. I then had a diagnostic mammogram and the same "spot" was still there. It turned out to be a calcification and it is just "normal" for me! I wouldn't worry to much about it! I have a family history of breast cancer and was concerned at first. It turned out great! Good Luck to you!