Waiting on pathology

It’s VERY tough waiting for results. It sounds like they are being extremely thorough on this one. Hang in there. It doesn’t necessarily mean concerning just perhaps not typical. Best

Thank you so much! Thats what my husband says, they want to make sure. Just worried because the first biopsy came back from them within 48 hours (the benign result). I’m trying to stay busy but have about given up on that lol. Bless all of you wonderful women dealing with this!

We are a tough lot!

Hoping you have the same benign outcome!

The toughest, I agree!

Great comments above. It is tough and okay to be stressed. What you can be reassured by is their being careful, you staying top of them and asking about results ( as suppose to not), and you communicating so well with your husband. You are taking back some control in your journey. And if the news is not what you want to hear, you got this….. with all of us here for you!

Tom Petty was right The waiting is the hardest part.

Any update, @tanyakem? How are you doing?

Hey! Thank you for asking. I did receive my pathology. Then took another week to get a game plan. (Just found out this past Fri). The good news is that is NOT cancer. I’m very grateful and relieved. The bad news is that it is mammary desmoid-type fibromatosis. Extremely rare finding which is why it has taken so long to get answers. Jacksonville sent it to Rochester for confirmation and typing. Only a handful of cases are found a year. Accounts for only .02 % of all breast tumors. Very aggressive but benign. Involved both inferior and medial margins. My surgeon summed it up like this.
“This was discussed in detail with our expert sarcoma pathologist, medical oncologist and my breast surgery and sarcoma colleagues. There is certainly a potential for local recurrence, need for medication and even potentially a future mastectomy.”
Apparently it has a high rate of reoccurrence (about 1/3 of the time). One of the few benign diseases that are handled by sarcoma doctors. Repeat diagnostic mammogram in May with physical exam (by my surgeon at Mayo) followed up every 6 months for a minimum of 3 years. I hesitated to post this because I’m struggling with wrapping my head around it. So many on here are fighting something that is a danger to their lives so I don’t want to sound whiny. I’m lucky in that regard. But I now have an issue that could cause lots of issues including a radical mastectomy. It doesn’t have the ability to metastasize but can grow into the chest wall and ribs. Because it is so rare there is limited information available and few studies. Less than 1500 desmoids a year in the US and mammary only account for less than 10% of those. The desmoid website doesn’t even discuss it. So……I will find comfort in the fact that it won’t kill me and learn to learn with a wait and see pattern. They know it’s still in there and in the 7 months it had already caused a retraction big enough to completely suck up the lower half of my breast……..I will just have to see what the future holds I guess. Grateful that I’m close enough to Mayo for all future care. Thank you again for checking on me! Sorry for the long post.

@tanyakem
I had a similar experience where my Pathology also took a very long time to get back. And It was because I also had an extremely rare situation……
a type of breast cancer called Low-grade Adenosquamous. It’s a type of Metaplastic Carcinoma and is less than 0.2 % of all breast cancers.
So, even though it is soooo hard to wait, it is comforting to know when something rare comes up, they really take their time and extra care to double check to be sure of an accurate diagnosis.
Hope you are doing well!
Take care!

Thank you! You are right, I’m glad they are diligent! I hope you are doing well!