Fibrocystic disease stumps radiologists every time! Help!

Is anyone out there with a similar experience or knowledge of same? I have large, fibrocystic breasts and in only one mammogram was a radiologist able to see any abnormality, clusters of calcifications. (Upon surgical biopsy these were negative.) At this point I am perimenopausal, but with my most recent mammogram, the radiologist "could not see any tumor due to fibrocystic disease, except for scattered calcifications". My primary care doctor, a young woman, gave me this news with an added "There are no guarantees in life". How outrageous is that? Obviously I don't want cancer, but it is in my family, and I am so frustrated that there seems to be no other diagnostic option for me. Plus, the doctor never examined my breasts at all. When I examine my own breasts, there are so many lumps that I can't tell if anything has changed. I am treated at a prestigious medical center, but still get this BS. What to do? Should I insist on an MRI? I don't know if they would do it or if my insurance would cover it, but would this help a radiologist see my breasts better? Anyone out there who has a solution or simar experience, please respond!

Two women in my family were put on tamoxefin due to our family history. I have stage 1 breast cancer but did not get it until after menapause.  I had fibrocystic breast when I was younger.  I found that by cutting out caffine and limiting milk products helped.  I would read any books you can about diet and preventing breast cancer.  I wish I had.

Roseann

Sorry to hear about your cancer, but relieved to hear it's stage 1 (rather than more advanced at least). I did just finish my morning coffee as I read your note about cutting out caffeine! I haven't heard that is a cause of cancer. As far a dairy goes, I have hated dairy my whole life (which made my parents mad) and stopped drinking milk the moment I wasn't forced to do so. I did go through a gourmet cheese phase some years ago, but except for a little Parmesan on pasta, don't touch it. I use almond milk on my cereal, but now to save money I am switching to oatmeal, and also use egg white products for scrambled eggs for extra protein (I have high cholesterol). I used to be thin but a doctor put me on Depakote in 2000 for a while and my weight blew up up up, very common for that drug. Then I gained even more weight. I have been working as a gardener for over 1 1/2 yrs and lost 50 lbs, but still have a ways to go. I know this is probably the single most risk factor for cancer, not to mention cardio etc., due to the extra production of estrogen. I was a vegan for many years but then slipped into the vegetarian, then the fish and chicken category. Now I am trying to go more vegetarian again. My best friend, a personal chef, does serve me fish at times, but when I buy food I avoid fish because I know the oceans and even fish farms are poisoned. I'm sure you have heard this too; just the other day the news said the Defense Department has dumped evil radioactive and other poisonous material into the ocean. As have corporations - as if it were a toilet bowl instead of a delicate ecosystem with sweet animals and plants living there! So back to your advice, I agree diet is a major factor in cancer and struggle with it every day. For me it's one day at a time as if I were an alcoholic (I don't drink at all at least). But to give up my beloved coffee, that would be hard. I have always depended on getting the flu or something to give it up and switch to black tea, which of course is good for you. Then gradually I end up needing the caffeine for work and lastly switch back to coffee. When I worked in computer software I would drink 3 or more cups a day! Now I just have one in the morning and maybe a diet coke at lunch if I am exhausted - my work is very hard. But back to the fibrocystic disease: you say you used to have it, implying it went away! I have not experienced this yet and am 54 yrs old already; I have not gone completely through menopause yet. So have your drs said how the fibrocystic changes resolved? Important: did this allow the radiologists to see your cancer? Did you get the same BS I get with their abdicating any responsibility in terms of searching for tumors? I am so terrified of a tumor sitting there growing! Were you able to feel your own tumor or did it appear on a film? I can't differentiate my lumps as I said. They say cancer feels different and a friend with bilateral breast cancer told me this too - that she could feel it attached to her chest wall. I haven't felt this. One woman wrote to me saying I must insist on an MRI/ultrasound to check further, but I must check with my insurance first as well as find a dr who will stand by me. Thank you so much for your advice! I do agree as I said that prevention is number one. Yet I have also heard the theory that cancers really start early in life, in childhood, and back in the day I remember things like pork and meatloaf in addition to the milk that made me gag. And you wouldn't believe all the cancer in my family - mostly colon but not all. The surgeon did find three polyps during my first colonoscopy but told me he burned them off as they were small for biopsy. Like you with your family history I have to be very careful now to hopefully make up for lost time. In the meantime I will try to geta dr who actually cares about my breast issues! Please write back and tell me more! And good luck with your upcoming treatment - will it be chemotherapy or what??

I was also told I have Fibrocystic breast disease many years ago.  I am 42 and started getting mammograms about three years ago.  On my third mammogram, I was asked to return for a follow-up because they saw something they weren't sure of.  From there, they sent me for an ultrasound where they decided what they thought they had seen was not a problem.  However, on ultrasound, they spotted a small 5 mm density which had not been detected on the mammogram.  From there, I was sent fora biopsy which came back positive. 

I don't know the cost of ultrasounds, but it might be worth inquiring if they could check you out with that instead of an expensive MRI.