breast biopsy

Why in the world would anyone tell you such a horror story knowing you were facing this test? Do you really think that a test would be so bad and the medical professional would be so heartless? This test takes the place of a biopsy to make things easier for you certainly not worse. Going into something so frightened serves no purpose. I suggest you talk to your doctor about doing a regular biopsy if you really believe this horror story. Even masstectomy surgery is not as bad as you described, perhaps you could plan for that and you would never have to face a steriodactic biopsy ever. If I sound like a smart aleck, believe me your "friend" telling you all this makes me feel like one. That person needs a good talking to, especially if they know your medical history. Good luck and God Bless. MK

Boy can I relate. Had a questionable mammogram about 3 years or more ago. Then a suspicious ultrasound. It was my first one and I am am almost 50. I had a lot a questions about the biopsy and the fear I have of needles. And questions about some of the things I have heard about the procedure in general. The doctor ended up on the phone with me to answer my questions. At one point she told me the needle was no bigger than the needle used to draw blood and I was being ridiculous. And besides, she said they give you a needle to numb the area. She had be crying the way she talked to me. Hello? I am afraid of needles and now I find out I get more than one and that is a comfort how? So I ended up skipping the biopsy and asked for an MRI. The doctor made me feel so bad I never went back again. And haven't had a mammo since.

gma said...
Well, my dear little star, methinks you need to think this over.......... afraid of a needle? Believe me a serious illness, not just breast cancer, but others too, require more than needles to make you well and live. You mean to tell me you are going to let you health go and possibly turn into something worse because you are afraid of a needle? At age 50???? Come on. Many of the women who have survived breast cancer have fought long and hard to survive. Many young mothers who are friends of ours have lost very brave battles, enduring all kinds of surgeries and chemos and radiation only to lose their battles and you will not even have a biopsy????? OMG I better end it here. MK

You do not understand. As a young child, I needed some teeth extracted. They couldn't find a vein. And the more they tried, the harder it was for me to keep still. So they asked my mom to leave the room. And they tied my arms  to the chair. And they were not gentle about it. I woke up with bruised arms from the amount of times they tried to get the needle to work.  You do not understand the level of fear that can leave you with. Irrational to most but very real to me. The first poster's story about the woman who lunged off the table--when you are scared enough, your ability to reason isn't there. I went hysterical when I miscarried and they were about to scrape the remains of my unborn child out of me. They sedated me. I totally knew what was going on, but could no longer react. Could not speak, could not cry, could not tell them when something hurt. It was like being tied to the chair all over again. Totally helpless and totally aware. Passed out holding my daughter when she received her first vaccination.  Pass out if my dog gets a shot. You need someone to calm your fears, not to escalate them or make fun of them or to tell you not to be afraid. Cause you are afraid.  When people belittle you for your fear, it escalates the fear and you just avoid the situation. The breast dr made me feel like crap.  There were many reasons I was leary of a biopsy. Seeding of the needle track is a major concern of mine. First the dr told me there was nothing to worry about. Cancer does not seed from a biopsy. Then she told me the needle track is removed if the lump was indeed cancerous as an extra precaution to keep the cancer from spreading through the track. Huh? A little contradiction there.  And instead of doing anything to comfort my fears, she belittled me for them. Just as you did.  So I opted for a thermogram and the MRI. And to adopt the healtiest lifestyle I can so if cancer is in my future, perhaps I can delay it a bit. And if chemo is in my future, insulin potentiation therapy would be my first choice. Plus I have seen more than my share of routine tests and procedures and treatments gone bad. To name just a few--My grandmother had a test to see if the arteries  in her neck were clogged. She spent the rest of her life in bed as a result of the stoke from the test. My aunt had dye injected to check the functioning of her heart. It loosened a clot and she ended up in a nursing home partially parayzed. The inactivity coupled with her diabetes led to an amputaion of both legs over time. Friend went to get his wisdom teeth out. Needle damaged a nerve and he ended up with partial paralysis of one side of his face. Friends dad had cancer. Easily operable with an excellent prognosis. Gave him chemo to shrink the tumor before surgery was planned to preserve bladder function becasue of where the tumor was located. Chemo caused a blockage from the constipation and his intestine perforated and he died. Another friend had breast cancer. Caught very very early thanks to her yearly mamogram. Did a lumpectomy and they gave her a choice of having chemo as a precaution.  She felt the benefits of chemo outweighed the risks. She ended up with Chemo-Induced Thrombocytopenia. After the initial treatments failed, she had a bone marrow transplant. It was ultimately not successful.   An uncle threw up a lot from his treatment. Inhaled the vomit. Died from aspiration pnuemonia. Best friend died just 2 years ago of breast cancer in her early 30's. I took her to chemo. I went to Dr appointments with her. Was  there when she was told she had weeks left at best. Stayed with her in the hospital. And held her hand as she was dying. And even that is not enough to overcome my fear. At a guess, my fears will not make any logical sense to you, but they are real to me.

Well, I called the surgeon who ordered the test, and requested some kind of sedation, he refused and passed the buck back to my family doctor. My family doctor knowing my history listened to me, and prescribed me something for pain durring the procedure and he prescribed me 2 mg. of adivan. I went to the hospital friday to get the test done. I was scared but willing to get it done. The lady who I had previously talked to on the phone told me she would be the one performing the test and would be sure to keep me numb. I tried to explain to her that I experience pain like no one I know. That when I go to the dentist just to have my teethe cleanedn I have to have severel numbing shots just to have that done, and to some degree it would still hurt. So, anyway I got on the table that lady was there, then all the sudden this man comes in, He plopps himself done real hateful like and says do you have any questions? I said no, because the lady had answered all my questions all week on the phone. The lady came back in the room, and the man went down below me and started cleaning the area to be tested. I was nervous, and I could feel my breast in the compression but that did not really bother me. Then he began to give me a numbing shot it burned sooooooo bad that my eyes were watering, I said to me omg, that burns so bad, what the hell, the woman put her hand on my back and said the burnning will go away in just a moment, then I still laid there and then I felt him begining to cut me, I screamed and I said no no no I am not numb yet please I feel that. So, then he gave me a little tiny bit more of the numbing shot, it burned it hurt I could feel it coursing through the area, then I said that hurts I know you are cutting me I can feel it, you have got to get me numb, and I was in such pain it felt like a razor blade and it was burning so bad, then the lady put her hand on my back and i heard some vaccuum sound then I felt a horrible pain, and came up off the table screamming. I fell off the bed into the floor hurting my knee and my back, and I was screamming the whole time. I felt like I was in a hitler torture chamber, them dumb azzes were going to continue that test and me telling them I felt everything and how horrible it was. I was just like that woman said a nightmare the only thing is I came off the table in time, or at least they removed the needle in time withouy ripping my breast open.

Monday morning the doctors office called, not the surgeons who don't really care, but my family doctors office, and said they had got the report of what happend. After a long talk they suggested that I go to a psychologist to get a recomendation to put out, that rely makes me mad, I did not psychologically feel what the many was doing to me, I physically felt it. At any rate, the lady from his office said that peoples pain tolerance is different, and I need this test done. and the only way they will be able to put me out for the procedure is with that recomendation of the phsycologist. This makes me mad because my own family doctor told that surgeons office to put me under versed. And now here I sit a week later still scared to death, no answers and now no medical insurance. I feel so robbed they should me out in the first place, I told them that and so did my family doctor. I guess I will never know now.

now, get this ladies, I got a call from my doctors office the other day. He is now refusing to be my family physician if I do not get either the open biopsy, or the stereotactic procedure done....OOOOHHHH, anyway he says he has searced high and low for a doctor willing to do the procedure with me under general anestsia but no doctor or surgeon, radioaligist will do it.... But, here is a flare in my azz... I called to make an appointment (a false one for my husban to get a testical biopsy and told all the hospitals in the area that we were doing the calling because we just wanted to make sure that he could be put out for the procedure) They said that wont be a problem, he can choose either local or general anestsia for his procedure.....Could some body tell me is there a medical reason why a woman can't be put out but a man has the choice.
My doctor wont see me no more because he says I am gambling with my life choosing death over life. I tried to explain to him I don't control these panic attacks if I did I all out would not have them, and I can't help that my body feels everything even with lidocain or what ever that was, it wasn't enough at all. So, really to me I think the medical field gives a man the choice to be put out so he may choose life, because not all men would do that awake. But, I guess I am not as good a man. I must die because I refuse to be tortured awake.

I did ask about that, infact they suggested that but then they told me I would have to be awake for the wire, and also that the scar could be as large as 3 to 4 inches at the very top of my brest so any type of a little low cut shirt would show the scars.

It always amazes me how dr's do not listen. I tell them I pass out with needles. They won't let me sit down for a tetanus shot. I pass out from a standing position. Told the pediatrician I pass out from needles. He said I was not getting the needle so nothing to worry about. Passed out with my infant daughter in my arms. Had to get an mri with contrast. Told them I pass out from needles. Passed out during the test and they start running all kinds of tests to see what made me pass out. Lots of $$$ later, they told me I seem to have a fear of needles. Some people have a different sensation of pain. A former neighbor had to have an emergency c-section. They asked her if she felt anything when they touched her stomach. She said she could feel the touch. They told her she was numb, and she was just feeling pressure. Then they made the incision and she was not numb. It doesn't seem like it should be such a big deal to just put you out for the procedure. If the dr really cared, he would do what is right for you so you can either put this all to rest or decide how best to fight. (((((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))))))))))

There are forums on Healingwell for Panic Disorder and Anxiety and also Depression that may be more helpful to you than this breeast cancer forum. The women here do all we can to survive breast cancer and do not understand panic disorders, etc. When you get to the breast cancer part if it is indeed cancer perhaps we can be of more help here. MK.

For all the people out there maybe it was not on this site but have been looking for a video of a stereotactic breast biopsy http://www.brustzentrum-wen-mak.de/englisch/brust_mak_dia.php#

I know this post is from 2009, but I had a needle core biopsy at a facility in Burbank in 2020 and it may help other women understand the reality so they can prepare better for Their Experience, my experience was not only painful as hell During and after it hurt like hell. Tylenol 600 did not do the trick. I had a bruised breast for a month it went from purple to green to yellow. I wasn’t able to sleep on that side for one month and that’s the only side of sleep on.

And the worst part for me personally is that I did not know what I was getting into, I tried not to read or google about it before going in so I wouldn’t be scared. But I wish I was more informed about the butterfly clip (Which I signed off on on the spot the morning of the procedure) Because they told me it was standard procedure and I knew nothing about it, I was there and I was determined to get it over with. Which I did, but the butterfly clip they leave as a marker has Nickel and it can come through while breast feeding. Plus who wants a metal inside their breast just so they can take a picture later? I don’t obviously if I go back and there is something there bigger and uglier they will find it. If I could go back in time I would do more research. Some of us don’t want Nickel in out breasts!

Every case is different so make sure to do your own research not just on Google ask real women you know in person.

Post Edited (LookingforSusan) : 11/20/2021 9:36:10 PM (GMT-7)