Just diagnosed with breast cancer and waiting for mri

Hello..........I'm sorry you have found yourself here but you are welcome.

I think everyone on this site will tell you the same thing  .......this is the worst part of the entire process. The waiting and the unknown.......Unfortunately there is no way to speed up the biopsy results....unless they guess. The radiologists who perform the biopsies have a rough idea, I am sure ( mine exchanged a glance with the nurse that I caught and I have always felt they knew) but they do need the laboratory analysis to confirm it. The biopsy will also indicate the type which will also determine your treatment plan. At the moment you are having to deal with the shock as well as the unknown. Once there is a plan, somehow it is easier to tackle. Don't forget too.....there are other explanations for the 'unidentified ' which may not be cancer. The MRI and ultrasound biopsy is just giving more accurate results. Perhaps the first one got damaged or wasn't sufficient?. It won't  mean that it's something unimaginable.  Todays individual treatment plans require accurate analysis.

If it is cancer, most of us have to wait around two weeks for biopsy results and then another two to four weeks for treatments to start. Don't worry that if it is cancer it will grow rapidly in the waiting gap. It will be ok. Several months might be different but not this relatively short wait . Most posters on here will have experienced similar. 

There is no standard treatment these days ...your protocol may be similar to someone else but it will be individual to the type of cancer and the size of the cancer and you will have some imput too on your own preferences. Once you know exactly what you are dealing with, you can discuss your double mastectomy questions with the surgeon or oncologist but it is possible that for you, if your protocol involves chemo first, even a large mass can shrink so that only a lumpectomy is needed. Now is not the moment to make those decisions. Let's wait and find out exactly what that mass consisted of.

Breast cancer is very  treatable these days. There is a high success rate. My own treatment was in 2015. I am about to have my 5th year mammogram which is a significant anniversary for the type of cancer I had. I think it is still clear. I have no reason to suspect it won't  be.

So try not to worry too much.....I know that's  ridiculous because we all do.....distract yourself by doing nice things that you enjoy if that's  remotely possible in this Covid dictated world......keep in touch on this site. ..ask your questions, usually someone has had a similar experience, ....express your concerns ..someone will be there to listen .......and hopefully you will not have to wait too much longer before you have some answers that suggest the next step.

Take care.

Love Karen

Hi mollymeggymoo So sorry that you find yourself here and I can totally understand your current shock and fear. You just want to know what the problem is and if it is cancer you just want it out of your body as soon as possible. Everyone on here will tell you that the waiting is the worst part of the whole process and that things improve once you have a treatment plan. I was at the start of this just a few weeks ago and couldn't imagine ever feeling better about it all. I still don't have a full treatment plan as I am now in the next waiting period following surgery and my thoughts and emotions are still all over the place at the moment. But I am now much more able to concentrate on other things that are happening in my life and am doing as much as I can to divert my attention - and to have some fun! 

Try to concentrate on the fact that,  although everything feels very bleak now, treatment for breast cancer is extremely successful. And so many people on here who have been through treatment say that it is all 'do-able' - at times not pleasant and it will be different for everyone but you will get through it. That is what I think about when I am dreading treatment. As my breast care nurse said to me 'You will be all right. Just view this as a blip along the road'.

Easier said than done - and even harder with Covid - but do try to continue with your normal life as much as possible and be kind to yourself.

Take care and good luck

Hi , Just wanted to echo what dear Lacomtekp has said. Try and take it one step at a time-I know from personal experience that is very hard at any stage but particularly so at the beginning. The tests are necessary so that you can have an individual personal  treatment plan formulated by your team.the waiting is truly the worst part of it all. Once the plan is in place you can have some peace of mind and know what will be happening. In the meantime I suspect your mind will be all over the place - don't fret about this , it is a normal reaction. Please do not look at dr google - often very out of date and misleading. It may help to speak to one of the Macmillan nurses , but you have already made a huge leap by coming on here- the majority have been just where you are now and do truly understand how you are feeling. They have been there and boought the t shirt. Breast cancer is very treatable now and you will manage to find a hidden strength. Sending big hugs xx

Hi I have just been diagnosed with grade 2.  Offered with lumpectomy or masectomy, if I choose lumpectomy I will need to have an mri to give them a more detailed picture of my breast, but I am sitting here thinking can I go through more tests.

Can I ask how yours went please xx