Additional Imaging

I went in for additional mammogram and ultrasound images today.  One thing I noticed is that they squeeze my breasts a lot harder during mammograms here than they did at the VA.  The first mammo and this one was painful.  I hated it.  I swear society likes to torture women in many ways.  

After the imaging the radiologist came and talked to me.  He gave me some bad news.  I had a highly suspicious mass that would require a biopsy.  I asked many questions, one of them being how likely it is to be cancer in his opinion.  His response was "I would be very surprised if it was nothing."

The mass was 1.4cm in my right breast.  There was also a probable satellite mass of 0.4 cm approximately 1.7 cm away from the dominant lesion.  I was told that the satellite mass would not be biopsied but treated the same way the larger mass would be.  

The radiologist went on further to say that it looks like we caught it early, and I should be just fine.  He told me of many women in his family who went through breast cancer and is fine.  While the thought of having cancer was scary, his words were reassuring and appreciated.

From what I understand, they move pretty quickly at the breast center.  From time of abnormal mammography to surgery is typically less than two months.  As much as I appreciated the VA, somehow I couldn't see them moving as quickly.  As wonderful as government provided healthcare is for those who have no alternatives, the system may not always be able to handle the volume of patients in a timely manner.  I was glad to have gotten my screening in private sector this year.