Confused

So one says all looks normal, the other says do biopsy but unlikely to be sinister- moreover the way the needle went in seems to confirm this… Having the biopsy, which then means you have to wait for a result, even though you’re getting the message that the result is unlikely to be bad must be frustrating! 
My experience was that at the ‘one stop breast clinic’ i was told straight away that my small lump was cancer and that the biopsy result would determine the extent of treatment beyond taking the lump out. The biopsy needle certainly met with resistance in the lump! 3 bits of tissue were taken and it hurt quite a lot when the needle went in to the middle of the lump!

From a couple of other posts I’ve read and my own experience oncologists and radiologists can sometimes see well enough to give an initial cancer diagnosis, with the biopsy giving further detail. I think though that it’s likely that even when it doesn’t look cancerous a biopsy could be taken to confirm that rather than possibly find out, say following  your next routine mammogram that something sinister had been starting to go on. 
The above is speculation on my part, but for sure biopsies are done in some cases to confirm a benign situation, in others to give necessary detail about something that looks very suspicious indeed,

All the best while you wait for your result and of course for the result itself xx

Hi Kated37f83b , sorry you’ve had such a confusing experience at the breast clinic. Thought I’d share my experiences over the years as there are some similarities.

My most recent GP referral was 7 years ago and not like yours. At the initial consultation with a doctor at the clinic, she said the ‘thickening’ felt suspicious, and this was backed up by mammogram and ultrasound images. By the time I left the clinic I had a good idea that I had cancer - confirmed a couple of weeks later with the biopsy results. 

But many years before, I had an experience more like yours, and also very drawn out as there were then no one stop clinics. So after the GP referral I was sent first for a mammogram - inconclusive. Saw the consultant and had an ultrasound and needle biopsy - results were ‘atypical cells’ - so again inconclusive. Had a core biopsy - results again just ‘atypical’, so nothing definite. Finally had the lump removed and it turned out to be a fibroadenoma - benign. So many weeks of worry! Massive relief of course once it was confirmed to be benign.
A few years after that I had another referral for ‘lumpiness’ in the other breast. Mammogram was again inconclusive but an ultrasound showed that they were cysts so no treatment needed. 
And eventually my cancer diagnosis 7 years ago. 
So…. Of course you will worry about the results, and it would have been so much better to be told straight away that there was no cause for concern. But I’d say it’s reassuring and encouraging that your consultant feels that it’s unlikely to be sinister. And it’s right that he has done a biopsy to be sure. I can only advise you to keep busy to try to take your mind off the waiting. It really is tortuous. Hope you get your results asap and that they confirm that there’s nothing sinister going on. Keep in touch here and let us know how it all goes. Love and hugs, HFxx