Got a letter from my consultant.

[lily1]

Most people probably have read my last posts on here.

I am petrified of radiation and phoned my breast consultant's secretary last week saying about just an ultrasound they do on younger women.

I was all set reluctantly to have both mammogram and ultrasound but now my consultant has written to me saying he understands my fears of radiation and has arranged an ultrasound.

Does he understand my fears because he knows it is bad as he told me it was okay, or does he just understand in general.

What do I do now? Do I go for both knowing I will fear the radiation afterwards or just go for the ultrasound now.

I hate it when given a choice as I panic that the test wont be as through, but I have heard of women on here that have just had ultrasound.

The changes I noticed haven't got any worse and I have no 'lumps' if the consultant was concerned he would push me for the mammo surely?

Sorry for the ramble but you know how it goes and how desperate I feel :(

Any contructive advice is so helpful for mex

[Annie0904]

I think he has arranged just the ultrasound because of your anxieties about the mammogram. If he thought you really needed it then he would have encouraged you more to go ahead with it. Why don't you just have the ultra sound and see what the onsultant says after that?

[lily1]

Thank you :)

Yes, I thought the same, if he saw concerning 'dimpling' as they call it i'm sure he would have pushed for me to have the mammogram or at least said at my consultation 'I'm concerned' but he didn't.

I don't get to see the consulltant after the tests, I just get a detailed letter explaining the results. I think I will do that, have the ultrasound first and see what that comes up with...

I only had a mammogram/ultrasound 11 months before I noticed this change.

He also said to me dimpling can be caused by the tumour pulling on the skin. He couldn't feel any concerning lumps.

It's all so stressful and just to have someone reply really helps me thank youxx

[debs71]

I think that - and I certainly don't mean this to sound harsh but - you originally did not want to have the mammogram because of the radiation issue, so were hoping they would let you do that, so what is the difference if they had originally agreed when you called and the Consultant agreeing to that now in a letter??

I don't think for one minute that the Consultant is suggesting that radiation is bad and confirming you fears....he is simply doing what a considerate and fair doctor does, and working with the patient here, and giving you some say in your care, that's all...

....and that is a rarity, particular with high level doctors such as Consultants.

ALL X-rays use radiation. They all carry a risk, but this risk is minimal, unless we are being bombarded with it. The NHS website has some very interesting and enlightening info re. patient concerns about X-rays, and it really puts things in perspective. Also, millions upon millions of women are screened this way, and there is no way they would continue screening that way if the risks were greater than the benefits...not in this day and age.

As far as which to go for, I would go for both, as at some point it will be quite important for you to have a mammogram, and facing a fear like this is really the only way to go forwards, but I know that is easy for me to say, as an anxiety is an anxiety.

I have had a breast ultrasound, and I was seen to have multiple micro-cysts in my breast, however the Sonographer who did the scan advised me to still ask my GP to refer me for a mammogram, so I would say that each is as important as the other.

[lily1]

Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed post and I agree totally with what you are saying.

I think it's not the fear of radiation itself that started all this, it was reading reports that state that the premenopausal breast is the most sensitive to radiation and most women screened in this country are over menopausal age.

I know in America they screen from 40 so I hope they did all the research on risks for this age group before recommending it.

That said mammograms do contain very low radiation so im sure the risk is small. Maybe I just blow the risk out of proportion.

I just took his words 'I understand your fear of radiation' as he understood it was a big risk and not how it was meant :wacko:

It's because I fear this disease so much, any added risk sends me into a panic :(