Over the past four years, I have been asked to return three times for follow-up tests following my annual mammograms. Of course, there was great fear - not in the tests to be performed, but in what the results might show. I also have the condition to which Ms. Erbe referred, fibro-cystic disease. The last option is the one I chose and the procedure that Ms. Erbe experienced. Ms. Erbe complained of the pain, the cost, the bruising.
Stitches are required, the procedure is much more invasive, and scars remain.
When I had the procedure done, I was very grateful - for many things. The radiologist at Buena Vista County Hospital did not require me to wait six months. The worry for six months was not acceptable. For some women, the wait may not be a problem - and that option could be exercised by them. I was grateful not to have the excisional biopsy done because of the less invasive nature of the stereotactic biopsy.