Such good news! What a relief!! I appreciate you sharing your experience with all the clinical details. Having read this will help if something similar happens to me and many others reading this. Thank you, Chana <3
Thank you for the update, Chana, and the information for others who may end up on the same diagnostic odyssey. So glad to hear your results were negative and you can breathe easy again.
That’s such good news Chana! And thanks for your attribution. In my career as a radiologist reading thousands of mammograms I’ve never heard a complaint from a woman having to undergo multiple negative biopsies if one of them subsequently reveals an early treatable cancer. But I hope you never have to undergo another one.
Thanks for being here to share your expertise and experience! I too hope to never be in the same boat, but at least I will know what to expect. I have seen some publications that false positives make women less likely to come back for future screening (so you may never see them!).
"Among women who had a true-negative result, 77% returned to routine screening in the following 30 months. By contrast, 61% of women who had a false-positive result that required a repeat diagnostic mammogram in 6 months (a short-interval follow-up exam) returned to routine screening, as did 67% of women who required a biopsy."
Those statistics are unfortunate. A more accurate screening tool would help. Over 10 years ago I attended a conference given by a German radiologist who screened with rapid, abbreviated MRI and had excellent results. If it could be done without need for contrast injection it might be practical. Research on that using Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) was in its infancy when I retired so I’m not sure what’s on the horizon for better screening currently. But I know you have some time to recover from your ordeal til next mammogram screening, which naturally will come with a bit of anxiety. That feeling should fade over a few years though.
Thank you for sharing this great news and the details of your experience!
Thanks for your engagement!
Such good news! What a relief!! I appreciate you sharing your experience with all the clinical details. Having read this will help if something similar happens to me and many others reading this. Thank you, Chana <3
Thanks, Daphne. It feels great to help others in the same boat.
Thank you for sharing the good news, Chana! A scary and frustrating experience for sure, but so glad you got the diagnosis you wanted.
Thanks, Margaret, for your engagement and well wishes.
I'm so happy and relieved for you, Chana. Thank you for bravely sharing your journey and insights.
Thanks, Sue! I'm glad to use my voice to help others on a similar path - one that is incredibly common.
Thank you for the update, Chana, and the information for others who may end up on the same diagnostic odyssey. So glad to hear your results were negative and you can breathe easy again.
Thank you, Robyn!
That’s such good news Chana! And thanks for your attribution. In my career as a radiologist reading thousands of mammograms I’ve never heard a complaint from a woman having to undergo multiple negative biopsies if one of them subsequently reveals an early treatable cancer. But I hope you never have to undergo another one.
John
Thanks for being here to share your expertise and experience! I too hope to never be in the same boat, but at least I will know what to expect. I have seen some publications that false positives make women less likely to come back for future screening (so you may never see them!).
"Among women who had a true-negative result, 77% returned to routine screening in the following 30 months. By contrast, 61% of women who had a false-positive result that required a repeat diagnostic mammogram in 6 months (a short-interval follow-up exam) returned to routine screening, as did 67% of women who required a biopsy."
https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2024/mammogram-false-positives-affect-future-screening
Those statistics are unfortunate. A more accurate screening tool would help. Over 10 years ago I attended a conference given by a German radiologist who screened with rapid, abbreviated MRI and had excellent results. If it could be done without need for contrast injection it might be practical. Research on that using Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) was in its infancy when I retired so I’m not sure what’s on the horizon for better screening currently. But I know you have some time to recover from your ordeal til next mammogram screening, which naturally will come with a bit of anxiety. That feeling should fade over a few years though.
We definitely need to develop more accurate tools!