Breast lump and thermography

Hi Diane!
What a day! I got to make an appointment with a nurse practioner nearby, this morning and she felt that the lump should be looked at, so I was immediately scheduled for an ultrasound. I went to a wonderful woman's specialty Breast wing at Mill's peninsula hospital nearby where I was convinced to have my first mammogram, as they have the really fancy cutting edge digital ones which are no worse for you than sitting in front of a computer screen!
I had the mammogram....that was SO not fun but could've been worse. The ultrasound wasn't bad at all. They could tell almost immediately that the lump I was concerned about was more than likely some kind of complicated cyst. The doctor encouraged me to have a punch biopsy. He said that I would have the results tomorrow. He DID say that there was a 90% chance that the lump was nothing but a cyst but wanted to make sure.
I feel so relieved. Everyone was very nice. Thanks for your wonderful advice and help too, Diane.
One thing that I found out is that if you have very dense tissue (especially if you are at the younger side of the mammogram crowd), that the mammogram shows very little. They said that for me, the mammogram looked perfect so it was the untrasound that really showed the lump I was worried about.
The biopsy was very painful and I am sitting here now with an ice pack on my boob! LOL
Though I am still a little concerned about going the traditional route, I feel good that no one pushed me into anything or made me feel bad about my "hippy dippy" concerns!
Thanks again!

Hi, Anon,

So glad you found EmpowHer. Let's see what we can figure out for you.

First of all, please know that most breast lumps - about 80 percent - turn out to be benign. You probably do know that since you had a lump removed before, but I thought it was worth saying again.. Here's what the Mayo Clinic says about when to see a doctor for a breast lump:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/breast-lumps/MY00165/DSECTION=when%2Dto%2Dsee%2Da%2Ddoctor

If I were you, I would make an appointment with an ob/gyn for an evaluation. Gynecologists are specialists and will, naturally, be more versed in this area. It's not uncommon for a woman's gynecologist to BE her primary care doctor, in fact.

A good gynecologist will evaluate your lump -- remember, she or he examines thousands of breasts every month -- and talk to you about recommendations.

The best way to find a gynecologist that will fit your needs is to ask friends or coworkers about theirs. Women generally are happy to share this information, because a good gynecologist can make a lot of difference in her life. Ask about their bedside manner, whether they seem hurried or take their time, whether they offer lots of information, and whether they seem like they would be open to working with someone who may prefer natural healing solutions.

If you don't have friends or co-workers you can ask, the next best thing is to do a search of the doctors in your area and visit their web sites. Their web sites will give you a starting point. Is it clear and informative? Is it easy to use? Does it tell you everything you want to know? Are there profiles of the doctors that give you an idea as to specialties? One thing that can help with this is a site where real people evaluate doctors, like kudzu.com. You have to take the reviews with a grain of salt, because you don't know the person writing them. But they can be very helpful. Here's a kudzu page on gynecologists in your area and what reviewers have said about them:

http://sanfrancisco.kudzu.com/yellowpages/CA/San-Mateo/obstetricians-gynecologists.html

And to find a naturopathic physician (there are naturopathic gynecologists, too), you can go to the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians website and put in your zip code, and you will get a listing of those in your area. Here's what came up when I put in your zip code:

http://www.naturopathic.org/af_memberdirectory.asp

OK. Let's talk about the mammogram-ultrasound-thermography thing.

All three tools are valuable, and they complement one another. But they don't replace one another. Even the site breastthermography.com tells you that thermography is not a replacement for mammography. Here's a page where they show you the ultrasound, thermographic and mammogram images of breast tissue and talk about the differences:

http://www.breastthermography.com/mammography_thermography.htm

When you are screening for doctors, you might also consider calling each one on the phone and asking the office staff if the doctors there use all three techniques for examining breast tissue. If you find a doctor who does, it may be that she or he will be glad to use thermography first, since that is your preference, and only follow up with mammography after talking with you about the need for it.

Only a biopsy can tell whether a lump ultimately has cancer cells in it. None of these tests can tell us that for sure. These tests simply help the doctor know what they are looking at, and where.

There is also something available called a digital mammogram, which is stored on a computer rather than on film and uses less radiation than a traditional mammogram. It costs more, so it's not used as often. Here's a page describing it from breastcancer.org:

http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/new_research/20080129b.jsp

And here's a page from the Susan B. Komen web site on new and emerging technologies:

http://ww5.komen.org/Content.aspx?id=5324&terms=thermography

You've got lots in your favor here. You are young, healthy and have wonderful life habits. You have only recently noticed this lump. It's probably not worrisome, but if it is, you've found it early. Your task now is to find a doctor who YOU like to evaluate the lump, so you can talk to that doctor about the possible methods of doing so.

Does this information help?