Has anyone had an ultrasound guided needle biopsy for diagnosis?

I am asking alot of questions of everyone I see here. What was your treatment after.
I am
Starting tamoxifen soon and think it will be awful! 😢

I had one it was painless

@salamander - I'm Triple negative and BRCA 2+ so my treatment will be different than yours. I had chemo first, bilateral next, then because not clean lymph node margin then I had radiation. I'm now awaiting approval to start taking Lynparza - hopefully only for one year. I've done what I think will give me the least chance of recurrence in the long-term. I've tolerated all my treatments well and I'm still working - well at least for one more month. I'm past retirement age and have decided its time to get to doing more of those things I've wanted to do during the day.

Hi @salamander

I had stage 1, BCRA2+ so I had a double mastectomy and ovaries removed to be done with it. Instant menopause at 54 when ovaries were removed. No radiation since I had the mastectomy and lymph nodes were clear. I was ill advised to skip Tamoxifen telling me it would make little difference since my chances of recurrence were small.

7 years later I had BC in my chest wall and pectoral muscle. My new oncology team told me the assessment and advice I received from that original team was inaccurate. I was told taking Tamoxifen would have reduced my chances of recurrence by as much as 50% (opinions vary on %). Ironically, NOW I'm on Letrozole to block estrogen (also had tumor resection, radiation and am taking Kisqali this time around).

Like you, I'm always afraid of side effects since I'm missing some liver enzymes needed to properly metabolize a lot of meds so they sit in my body and become toxic. I also have a lot of allergies. I've had a lot of bad side effects from various meds in my lifetime. I've been on the Letrozole for 29 months now and will continue. I have side effects, but they are very tolerable for me.

Keep in mind, you can always stop the Tamoxifen if you can't tolerate the side effects. If I had to do it all over again back in 2013, I would take the Tamoxifen. Hindsight is 20/20. Best to you with your decision and journey. Blessings, Zebra

I had core needle biopsies in each breast. They numbed each spot, then did the biopsies. Just a little sting. Minor, and I hate needles so for me to say minor is good!

I had 3 needle biopsies from my left breast following a suspicious mammogram. The biopsy sites were injected with numbing medication. One assistant literally held my hand and comforted me throughout the procedure. Markers were injected after tissue samples were obtained. These markers were identified in breast tissue samples following my mastectomy. There was small amount of discomfort, but very manageable and I was asked throughout procedure how I was feeling. Don’t be hesitant to ask for more numbing if you need it. Good luck to you.

Thank you for your response!
That is very helpful! I do think about the risk.
I am sorry you had to go through that again. 🙏😌
This is all so new to me.

Yes I recently had one after my yearly mammogram showed an irregularity. MDACC did the needle biopsy using an ultrasound. I watched the whole thing on a monitor. As soon as I got the results, I decided to get treatment at MAYO.

I'm about to have two tomorrow--fortunately I think I have one of the best people in the world doing it. Seventeen years ago I had a stereotactic biopsy and two MRI-guided biopsies (resulting in L mastectomy). The first one was awful--I'm a bleeder, and was literally bleeding all over the machine onto the floor. I learned yesterday I need two biopsies and that it's now ultrasound-guided. I appreciate what everyone's saying. I'll definitely take my nasal DDAVP and some pain meds up front.

I also have pretty bad EDS and it's common w/ us (and redheads in general, anecdotally) that local anethesia wears off quickly. I've found that just telling docs this up front--even the local-wears-off-quickly--tends to get drs to be more proactive in pain control, w/o treating you like you're a whiner or hypochondriac (got that a lot as a kid and young woman, when doctors routinely treated females like that and they didn't understand EDS or bleeding disorders).

I'll make sure to give the guy a heads up tomorrow, but also want to suggest to others here who are worried that local will wear off to simply proactively say something about how your dentist or whomever normally has to give you more to work--they'll usually take it at face value, as long as you reference another physician.

Good luck tomorrow! Hopefully the anestesia will be just right.