Posting from May Well, I had my mammogram on the 17th of last month. Today I heard back from the breast surgeon who had sent the mammo film out for two other opinions. The two people disagreed with Stanford and said that they did NOT see any substantial change in breast tissue since 1999, but to have another one in 6 months. OK, I'll buy that. Now about the new lump that they found... Here are a few things that I have learned: - They used to only give you MRI's if you had a cancer diagnosis. Now they just give 'em to see more. My insurance (blue shield) authorized them since they were recommended by the mammogram doc. - If you get an MRI, they can see EVERYTHING. But everything. As a friend of mine said, it's like being able to see every single freckle and wart on your body. You're only concerned about some of them, the ones that change shape and so forth. But you see all of them. An MRI is like that. Apparently when they first started giving them, the MRI-reading doctor asked the surgeon what he wanted to hear about: everything? Or just the worst stuff. . Without the wart/freckle analogy, above, this story made me nervous. - Diagnostic tools for breast cancer do not align. That is, if they find something in an MRI, there's no guarantee that they can see it or clear it with another diagnostic tool. And vice versa. - One of the best diagnostic tools that they have is to do a baseline and compare "action" to the baseline, as far as I can tell. I have gotten a few emails from you guys saying that some are going in for your first mammogram. I'm so glad. Breast cancer is DEFINITELY something that can be fought and won if you find it! - With breast cancer, the younger you are, oftentimes the more aggressive the cancer is. OK, given that, my surgeon called me up today and told me that all they know is what the MRI docs recommended about the new (5 mm) lump. (The MRI-reading doc recommended surgery. Said that it was probably fine but maybe not.) My surgeon said that we'll do an ultrasound with someone who is very very good at it and try to get a reading that indicates that it's benign. If it's not, I've decided to have it out, even though he gave me the option of just "leaving it in and checking it in 6 months." I love this guy. He's the antithesis of the "just want to cut" surgeons that I've read about. Smart, rational, our age, and a good communicator. So we're still plugging along. It turns out that the final mammogram report wasn't couched in as inflammatory text as the prelim one, and I just saw that last week, so it made me feel better. I also am stopping the relationship with my gyn (the one who was out of the office on mondays and fridays and ... oh yes, thursdays as well) and found a totally awesome GP who is right across the driveway from my surgeon! So ... we're hoping for the best and feeling better!