# I need ideas...



## kazzy3 (Apr 11, 2003)

Hi all. I suffer from a lot of anxiety and am taking xanax as needed. Anyway my mammogram showed microcalcifications in both breasts and they want to do a biopsy, this was a couple weeks ago and my biopsy is next week. Talk about anxiety. They tell me that most of the time it is non-cancerous. But of course I have read a lot about it on the internet which increases my anxiety. I am 40 and this was my first mammogram. Any ideas on how to cope with a scare such as this? Thanks.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Other than to reassure that the most of the time when they see something in a 40 something year old woman it is a nothing when they do the biopsy.Sure, every once in a great while it is a something, but the odds are seriously in favor of it being a nothing.This is why some doctors want you to wait until you are older to start mammograms. My doctors office does some pretty heavy education research on this (I've done some of their watch the video tapes and fill out the quiz things to see how well the tapes work for educating woman). Dr and I had a discussions about when to start the yearly screening and the big thing is starting earlier means pretty high risk that in one's 40's they will find a nothing that looks like a something.I started screening at 40 a) because I had some lumps that were new...just plain old cysts but I did have to have some of them biopsied as they looked potentially something on the mammogram and ultrasound. and







I'm pretty well clear that most of the stuff they find in a woman's 40's is a nothing. Lots of pre-menopausal changes show up on the exams. The FALSE positive rate is very high in this age group. So the % of the time the test says there might be a something when it is a nothing is very high.AND, it is hard not to worry and wonder, but try to focus on the fact it is much more likely to be nothing at your age, and trust that if it is a something you will figure out how to handle that if it comes.I hated the waiting for the biopsy and I usually don't have anxiety problems so that is a pretty normal response for every woman.K.


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## 17309 (May 7, 2005)

My sister works at a hospital, and she's told me basically the same thing Kath said. kazzy, my advice for coping until the exam is to do deep breathing/relaxation, exercise daily, and keep busy so you don't have time to think about it. But if you find yourself panicking, call someone and talk about it -- if you talk to someone about it, the stress will automatically subside somewhat.I wish you luck on your exam! Oh, and stop reading about it on the internet -- that's the best way to freak yourself out.


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## 21286 (May 7, 2005)

I had a mam done when I was 25 for the same reason.I'm ok.


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## kazzy3 (Apr 11, 2003)

Thanks for all your good thoughts. I am trying to hang in there, and relaxing as much as possible. The heat doesn't help much. Yuck! Thank goodness for air conditioning is all I can say.


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