My good friend just called me all worried. She went for a mammogram this week, and they just called and asked her to come back for a repeat test on the left side. She is very concerned, especially because her mom just went through breast cancer treatment last year. I told her I thought it was common for them to want to take a better look sometimes, and it ends up being nothing. Am I right? Are there a lot of "false positives" with mammograms. I have yet to have one. TIA!
Thanks for the info so far! She is somewhat estranged from her mother, and her mother lives in a different state so I don't think she was given a ton of info about the treatment and testing that was done. I'll mention it to her though that she should find out more of the specifics so she can be tested. Hopefully this is just a scare and she'll want to do some preventative stuff to avoid it becoming a reality later.
Yes, you can get called back for additional films and most "questionable" areas on a mammo are NOT cancer. Her mom having had breast cancer can be a concern if it is the type that comes from a gene mutation. Was her mother tested for BRCA 1 and 2?
I was called back and my 2 best friends were called back. We were all fine it was just dense breast tissue. My doc told me that they can't tell dense breast tissue from a mass/lump when there are only 2 views (pictures). Therefore, they call you back. I think this is extremely common especially the younger you are. My friends and I were around 40 yo at the time.
EDIT.... Fyi... My doc did not consider it a false positive. They just needed additional views.
I just had my mammogram. While I was there and before I put my shirt back on, the tech went to the other room to check the pictures to make sure they were clear. She came back into the room and said she needed to re-do the left side because the tissue was thick. If she had not checked the pictures, it might have resulted in a call back for better pictures.
Where I get mine done they read on site so you wait five minutes and have your results. A couple years ago one of them wasn't clear. It wasn't that they saw something it just wasn't clear so they redid that side right then and there. According to the girl it happens all the time so saying they need it retested doesn't necessarily mean it is a positive it just means they need to take it again.
Yes, that happened to me and there was nothing there. She should make sure they are doing a digital one and always go to the same place so they can compare films.
I, too, have had to repeat a mammogram, complete with ultrasound, and also have had irregular results on Pap smears. Fortunately, both have been fine. In both cases, I was reassured that it's not unusual.
As I tell my kids, never panic til you know you have to.
I have had to go back the last two years for retakes due to dense breast tissue. Both the retakes came out fine. I hope your friend has the same results. :)
Sometimes it can just be they need to use more sensitive equipment to see through denser areas. With the family history, they will probably want to check more often as well.
It happens. Better safe than sorry. At the very worst, it is caught early.
