Possible cancer in 2nd breast - devasted
I have left breast DCIS grade 3. I went through multiple mammograms, 2 biopsies, an MRI, and I just did my pre-op appointments and my surgery is scheduled for next week.
Today I went in to get Savi-Scout markers inserted, which is a mammo-guided procedure. It was awful though because I had a vasovagal response, my previous biopsies were on the lie-flat tables. For this, I had to be seated and pushed into the mammogram machine. I felt woozy as soon as the lidocaine went in (no epinephrine in it, but I have anxiety anyways). I had a needle in me and they couldn't lie me down, raise my legs, nothing like that. They were fanning me, putting ice packs all over me, cold cloths, in honesty they did great for me but it sucked and I had to wait til it passed to finish the procedure.
That was not the worst part of my day. Before we started the procedure, the Radiologist came in and said she had reviewed my MRI and saw another spot of concern on my right breast. She showed it to 4 radiologists who all concurred. It looks like a benign pattern but that's exactly what my left breast DCIS looks like. She recommended I get an MRI assisted biopsy on my right breast and called my surgeon to tell her about it. Btw, this is after 1) a radiologist reviewed and reported on my MRI 2) my breast surgeon reviewed it 3) my radiation oncologist reviewed it. So 3 doctors looked at it and didn't catch anything. I am not angry about that at all, these are microscopic dots on imaging. If anything, I'm thankful that this new Radiologist took a lot of care and effort into reviewing my case before my Savi Scout procedure and sought other opinions.
The first thing I asked was "will I be able to do the biopsy before my surgery" and she said "depending on scheduling it could push back your surgery." Also, I'm getting a lumpectomy with oncoplastic reduction for symmetry on my right breast, and she said that the area they take is at the bottom of the breast, and the area of concern is at the top of my breast, so they would likely not have caught any cancer in pathology after my surgery.
All that being said, I'm absolutely devastated. My MIL already has a flight booked for next week to come take care of me. I care about keeping my nipples and this puts that in jeopardy now, I was really looking forward to breast conserving surgery and maybe having cute perky reduction boobs. I have large breasts but love my boobs and never wanted a reduction for myself. Now I'm worried a double mastectomy is more likely in my future. I had a plan and now that plan is completely up in the air.
And wtf cancer in both boobs and ER-PR-?? I can't find good numbers on this but it seems rare. I just don't know what to think. I want to cry but I also feel paralyzed and numb. I had to take the rest of the day off work. I don't qualify for FMLA, I wish I could just take this whole time off but was only approved for 2 unpaid weeks for surgery. I don't want to lose my job on top of everything. A stressful project at work isn't helping either.
Posted Jul 10, 2026, 2:20 AM UTC