Years ago, I wrote this post to help other women struggling with mammogram call back anxiety. Since then, more than one hundred women have provided mammogram call back stories of their own.
If a mammogram call back has left you feeling anxious or afraid, I encourage you to read this post and the comments below.
More than one hundred women have returned to this post to let me know their mammogram call back results were all clear.
I don’t know what your follow-up scans will reveal, but I believe you will find hope and encouragement here.
My Story
I walked into that examination room and up to the 3D mammogram machine without the tiniest bit of nervous energy. I chatted with the technician as she performed the test. She was a nice older woman who told me she loved her job and performed more mammograms than she could count in a day.
When the test was over, I thanked that smiling tech, put my bra and shirt back on, and cheerfully went about the rest of my day. I never thought I’d be back in that same exam room for a follow up mammogram.
I didn’t expect a call back mammogram on the same day of my exam, because I didn’t think the exam would reveal a problem.
Mammogram Call Back Same Day
So when my cell phone began vibrating on the table beside me I glanced down at the screen, but didn’t think much of it. I didn’t recognize the number, so I choose to ignore it. I flipped the phone over and returned to the game of Monopoly Junior I was playing with my four-year-old.
If the caller ID doesn’t show one of four numbers (my husband’s cell phone, my parent’s house, or one of my children’s schools), I assume someone is trying to sell me something. If it’s important, they’ll leave a message.
At that moment, it didn’t occur to me that the radiologist might’ve found a suspicious area during my annual cancer screening. It didn’t dawn on me that this was a call I didn’t want to miss.
The Dreaded Mammogram Call Back
Later that day, a bright red #4 appeared on the phone icon on my cell. I clicked on it and found two missed calls and two voice mails waiting for me.
I fully expected them to be SPAM. The first was a young woman offering to lower my debts. Yup, SPAM, just like I thought it would be, but the second message was not the robotic voice I expected to hear.
“This is the radiology department…,” the kind, melodic voice said. My heart started to race, and I immediately took a seat.
I restarted the message from the beginning. “This is the radiology department. Please call us regarding your recent mammogram,” the voice said.
Then the caller provided the call back number, a string of digits I couldn’t write down as quickly as she recited them. I returned to the beginning of the message over and over. By the fourth time, I’d gathered them all.
Before I called the radiology department, I tried to settle myself. I wasn’t prepared for the dreaded mammogram call back that morning. Who would be?
I took a deep breath and reminded myself that no one in my family has ever had breast cancer. Then I slowly and carefully dialed the number as though I was entering secret, nuclear launch codes. I paused after I pushed each button on the phone.
I Had a 3D Mammogram and They Called Me Back
The kind receptionist can’t provide many details. “I’m not a doctor. I can’t tell you what they see, only that you need to come back in for a follow up mammogram and ultrasound. The doctor requires additional imaging. Would you like to schedule that now,” she asks?
“Yes,” I say without a moment of hesitation. “That will cost $371,” the receptionist says. “Fine, fine,” I tell her as if money matters at all at this moment.
“Okay,” she says. “You are scheduled for a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound, but on the day of your appointment you’ll need a referral.”
I hang up the phone and immediately call my gynecologist. Of course, the nurse isn’t at her desk, so I leave a message. Slowly, I state my name. Then I spell it twice and repeat my phone number three times.
I want the gynecologist’s staff to call me back immediately, so I make damn sure they know who I am and which number to call.
I Am Waiting for Mammogram Results, and I’m Terrified
As I wait the world keeps on spinning. I wait for mammogram results that might change everything, and I’m terrified. It’s normal to feel anxiety waiting for mammogram results, but I can’t put my mind at ease.
I sit in my basement, watching my four-year-old race marbles. After each race, my son walks over and shows me the marble that won. I fight back my tears as I watch him and wait for the phone to ring.
Two hours later, the nurse calls back. “You were next on my list of patients to call,” she says, sounding surprisingly chipper. “Let me pull up your mammogram report and read it to you.”
Architectural Distortion Scared Anxiety
“There is a focus of architectural distortion in the left breast,” she says, “and suspicious microcalcifications.”
I’m immediately scared and anxious. My mind swirls with frightening thoughts.
“They want you to repeat the test with a follow up mammogram. This often occurs after an abnormal finding is found during your annual cancer screening. The technicians will get a closer look and then perform an ultrasound. The doctor already took a look at your results. He thinks it’s a good idea to get retested. I’ll send in the referral for you.”
That’s it. The nurse hangs up the phone. She can’t provide any other information. A minute passes, and the phone rings again. It’s the nurse calling back, “Oh, sorry,” she says. “I misread the report. It says it’s NOT suspicious. I thought you would like to know that.”
There is a HUGE difference between suspicious and not suspicious. I’ve never been so grateful to hear the word NOT used in a sentence before. At least now, I’m only dealing with one abnormal finding on my mammogram report.
Dr. Google
I take a deep breath, one of those deep, deep breaths where it feels like your lungs sucked in all of the air around you.
Then I pull out my laptop and immediately consult Dr. Google. I have so many unanswered questions.
- How often do people get called back for a follow up mammogram?
- How often are forty-year-olds diagnosed with cancer?
- Where in the breast is cancer typically found?
I find the answers:
- Did you know that breast cancer occurs most often on the left side of the body?
- Or that 50 percent of malignant lumps appear in the breast’s upper, outer quadrant, extending into the armpit, where tissue is thicker than elsewhere?
- Did you know that younger women tend to get more aggressive cancers and have a lower chance of survival?
No? I didn’t know any of it either.
The tissue in question is on my left side, in the upper quadrant, and I am younger than fifty, so I’m batting three for three.
Mammogram Call Back Fear and Anxiety
This isn’t my first medical crisis. I’ve faced medical traumas in the past. I nearly died of a pulmonary embolism at age twenty-seven, but this time it’s different. An embolism occurs quickly. You don’t have time to worry about it. You barely have time to get to the hospital. Breast cancer is not like an embolism. It’s drawn out and painful, plus this time I have kids.
I am anxious and terrified. Having kids changes everything. I look down at my four-year-old and feel hot tears pouring down on my cheeks. I put down the laptop and snuggle my little one into my lap. The tears drip onto his face, and he looks up and asks why I’m crying.
“I just love you,” I tell him because it’s true.
The Facts: Architectural Distortion
Later that night, I decide to search Google again. This time I’m armed with specific questions about architectural distortion. I’m terrified. I mean, scared right down to the bone. I feel my hands shaking as I type words into my computer. Can I overcome anxiety as it rushes over me?
I’ve received questionable results from blood tests in the past, but I’ve never felt this frightened before. Every website tells me architectural distortion is the third most common sign of cancer and that the most aggressive types of cancer are often discovered this way.
I promise myself I can only search the Internet for a few more minutes. I’ll drive myself crazy if I keep reading about breast cancer. I search one more time and come across an article published in May of 2019 by Moose and Doc.
It says, “Breast cancer commonly causes architectural distortion.” It also says, “Architectural distortion uncommonly indicates cancer. More common is for architectural distortion to be ‘imaginary’ in the perception of the radiologist.”
Architectural Distortion Statistics
An article about mammogram abnormalities also says, “Specialists estimate that around 4% of women who undertake a screening mammogram present with an architectural distortion. The number of those women in which the architectural distortion would represent invasive breast cancer is very low, perhaps 5%-7% of the 4% with architectural distortion, which becomes a much small number.”
My heart stops racing. I have a 93% chance that this abnormality won’t be breast cancer. Why couldn’t I have found that link earlier?
Another helpful piece of information. According to the American Cancer Society, radiologists will call back 10% of women who have a mammogram for further testing. Some women will be called back for a mammogram on the same day they took the initial test. It all depends on how quickly the radiologist reviews images.
The good news: Doctors will give 90% of women returning for a call back mammogram the all-clear after subsequent tests are complete.
My Mammogram: Architectural Distortion
I open my digital mammogram images and scan for the architectural distortion. I’m not a radiologist, but I find the spot immediately. It’s a small, bright white piece of tissue surrounded by four or five long strands. It looks different than the rest of my mammogram.
I browse through the images of my prior annual screening. It looks different from those breast images too.
I take a snapshot of that image and obsess over it for ten days. I look at it once every morning and once every evening before bed. Oh, and another fifty times throughout the day. I can’t stop thinking about that bright white spot on my mammogram. What is it, and what does it mean for me? Will my next mammogram report reveal breast cancer?
The Follow Up Mammogram
On the day of my follow up mammogram and ultrasound, I try to remain calm. I find ways to distract myself. I try to think about anything other than this test or what a positive result might mean. But, no matter how hard I try, my mind starts to wander, and the anxiety builds.
Will they perform a breast biopsy? Will I find out if I have cancer right there on-site? How would I find an oncologist if I needed one? How quickly could I schedule an appointment to be seen?
My mind is racing, but I keep thinking back to that 93% number. The odds are definitely in my favor.
I’m perfectly fine until I go to get undressed. As I place that pink hospital gown around my bare chest, I feel the tears drop down my cheeks. I brush them away. I try to act brave.
My husband jokes about the urine colored walls and other fabulous decorating choices. Then I hear my name.
The technician shows me an image from my first mammogram. She points to that bright white spot of tissue that looks unlike the rest of my breast and explains that I’m being called back due to breast asymmetry. The appearance of that spot doesn’t look like the rest of my breast or my other breast.
She explains that she’ll take additional images and compare them to the images taken during my routine mammogram. If everything looks perfect, I won’t need to undergo an ultrasound. But if anything is wrong, I’ll need an ultrasound and possibly a biopsy. I start to cry. She tells me to try not to worry and lets me know I will receive my mammogram call back results that same day.
Then she places my breast on the imaging machine and presses a clear piece of plastic against it. She moves my body rolls my breast one way and then another, squeezing it each time between the plastic plate. She asks me to hold my breath while she takes the pictures and then says, “You’re all done. The doctor will look at your images now.”
Called Back for Ultrasound After Mammogram
I’m led back to the hallway. I return to my pea-green seat and quietly hope that everything looks okay. Here I am, waiting for mammogram results for the second time in two weeks. The terror begins to overtake my already shaky composure.
I try to console myself, at least I’ll receive same day results for this mammogram call back. At least I won’t have to go home to wait for the news.
The technician steps out a few minutes later. “They’ll need an ultrasound,” she says, and I feel the panic set in.
She just told me they wouldn’t call me in for an ultrasound unless they saw something on my latest mammogram. Clearly, they see something on the second mammogram.
This time my husband can come along. He jokes about the ambiance in the room, the dim lights, the fact that I’m taking my shirt off, and lying on a small bed. I’m thankful he’s with me that he’s able to take off work to sit beside me and crack jokes to ease my mind.
The ultrasound technician squirts gel onto my chest and then starts to move the wand across my skin. I can see the monitor as she moves it over me. A small, black, circular spot appears. She measures it once, twice, and then a third time.
She moves the wand further up and down my breast. Then she abruptly stops. “All I see is a lymph node,” she says, “nothing more. I’ll call the doctor in now.”
Within a minute or two, the doctor appears beside my bed. He shakes my hand, introduces himself, and says, “I don’t see any cancer. I didn’t see anything on your follow up mammogram, but I wanted to be 100% sure with the ultrasound.”
At that moment, I realize I’ve been holding my breath. I slowly and calmly exhale.
Calming Mammogram Call Back Anxiety
If you receive a call back for a mammogram, you are probably feeling overwhelmed and terrified. I understand that anxiety all too well.
Mammogram call back anxiety can leave you feeling nervous and tense. The moment you receive that call, you may feel an impending sense of panic and doom. Please know that you are not alone.
I know how scary it is to wait for a repeat mammogram or additional testing and how alone you might feel. If you are experiencing mammogram callback anxiety, please talk to a friend or reach out below.
Mammogram Call Back Statistics
I wish you the best of luck as you undergo further testing and I hope that your future scans are all clear too.
Getting called back for a diagnostic mammogram is not that unusual. Over a ten year period 50% of women will receive a false positive result. There is good news though. While a lot of women are getting called back to check their breast health, less than 1% will receive a cancer diagnosis.
If you are feeling terrified and anxious reflect on that number for a moment. The majority of women who return for a follow up mammogram will be given the all clear!
Mammogram Call Back Stories
Not so long ago, I scoured the Internet in search of happy endings. Now readers stumble across these words and leave their mammogram call back stories in the comments below.
If you are feeling nervous about a mammogram callback please read the words of the brave women who kindly shared their stories below. I hope their stories reduce your fears and anxieties.
If you receive good news after your call back mammogram please let me know. Each comment helps other anxious women who stumble across this post in search of good news.
** Part two of this story can be found here: Life is Fragile: Make the Most of Limited Time.
I promised myself I’d come back and post if I got good news today because all these stories helped me so much. I had my first screening mammogram in December, and I got the call to come back for more images several days later. The first available appointment was 4 weeks later. I did a pretty good job of staying positive while we were busy over the holidays, but once the appointment got closer, my anxiety kicked into high gear. My appointment was at 1:30, and they got started on images pretty quickly. It felt like they took a ton of angles on both sides. Then it was time to wait to see if they wanted an ultrasound. Eventually, they did take me back for US. Then there was more waiting to see if they’d want additional images. The nice mammographer eventually put in a call to nudge things along. After almost 2 hours total I finally got the news that one spot was nothing significant and the other is probably a cyst. I just need to go back in 6 months to see if it’s changing.
After so many images and so much waiting I was convinced it would be bad news. I feel so much better, and I’m hoping my body gets the memo not to wake up freaking out in the middle of the night anymore. If you’ve found yourself waiting, there’s much to be hopeful about.
Thank you for returning to tell your story Crystal. As you know, each positive story gives another woman hope. Your words of encouragement will be read thousands of times!
Thank you all for sharing your stories. I have my call back appointment today and have been sick with worry. This site has been such a blessing to find. Prayers for all.
Thank you. I hope you’ll return with a good news story.
Thank you so much for this article! I had a bit of a scare this week. I’d put off my yearly mammo for too many years and with every passing year became more anxious about getting screened. Being the expert avoider I am, I went about my business until my new (amazing) husband urged me to go. I went for routine screening on Monday. Tuesday I got a text asking that I call to schedule “the procedure” my doctor ordered. Panic! I called and they said I needed to schedule a follow up ultrasound. The report listed density, scattered fibroglandular elements, numerous asymmetric tissue densities, and the dreaded architectural distortion. I spent the next 12 hours googling, getting more upset, and thankfully ran across this blog, which was so helpful. I went today for the ultrasound. All is well. I have very dense breasts, a bunch of cysts (which apparently run in my family) and now they have a baseline. I’ll be repeating in 6 months. I must have asked the tech half a dozen times if she was sure there wasn’t anything suspicious, lol. She was amazing and reassured me they don’t let anything suspicious “cook” for 6 months. If there was any concern there’d be further tests done now. I do want to mention that the ultrasound was VERY thorough. It took a good long time and she took many pictures, which sent me into a downward spiral. She left the room and was gone for the longest 5 minutes ever, and returned with the good news. I hope this helps someone else in the excruciating waiting period.
Thank you for this article and for all the stories. They gave me hope when I thought I was going to lose it completely. Had a mammogram last week, something I dread considering there is a history of breast cancer in my family and I have dense breasts. But my mammograms have always been ok and I didn’t expect last week’s to be any different. I was grocery shopping 2 hours later when I got the results in the portal. Asymmetry and possible nipple retraction, they wanted me to come back for further evaluation. I just about freaked out, felt I was either going to pass out or vomit and ran back to my car. My heart was beating fast, I was shaking and hyperventilating. I called the Imaging place right away and they asked to schedule a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound, but the first opening was 5 weeks away. I honestly could not see myself in this state of anxiety and fear for that long and I begged them to put me on a waiting list and find me an opening sooner. When I returned home, I jumped on my computer and started googling away. Very very bad idea, everything I was reading always had the word “cancer” associated with it. I wish this blog could be at the top of the google list!! The Imaging center called me back the next day saying they had an opening this morning (7 days after the initial appt). Thankfully I found this blog and started thinking that maybe there was some hope for me. I don’t even know how to describe what I have felt for the last week. I barely ate, I could not sleep, I cried, got angry, got hopeful, felt sorry for myself, got sad and thought of my children growing up without me, thought of having to lose my long healthy hair. My mind was all over the place, I could not prevent it from going to the wrong places. Part of me was convinced it was cancer (after all, my Mom was my age when she was first diagnosed), the other part of me kept reading and re-reading this blog and kept hoping…. Fast-forward to today. I was shaking and felt nauseous when I got to the appt. The tech was nice but so blank and neutral that it was not reassuring at all. She redid the mammogram, went to talk to the doctor, said the doctor wanted more photos, so we kept going, photos, doctor. Then she said the good news were that there was no nipple retraction (it went away with re-positioning), but they saw a small mass and wanted to go ahead with the ultrasound. I can’t even tell you what I started feeling at that point, because I don’t remember.. it was as if I was having an out of body experience, I don’t even remember if the tech talked to me, I was almost like in a trance, with my mind millions of miles away…. After what seemed like hours, (but it was only 10 min later), the doctor came in and told me the asymmetry did not persist with additional imaging and was caused by superimposition of normal breast tissue. What looked like a small mass was actually an enlarged duct, caused most often by hormone fluctuation. So there, I am fine and they don’t need to see me for another year!! So hopefully my story can give hope and strength to someone going through the same situation. Call backs are so so scary but it doesn’t mean the dreaded word. Don’t lose hope!
Hello again, I posted back in the Fall and I’m sharing an “interesting” follow up I had. I went to the scheduled 6 month follow up for an indeterminate 2cm density, noted as Birads 3, probably a scar. The new US was done and tech said they saw nothing that warranted even measuring, they went to speak with the radiologist, came back to me that it was just tissue and I was free to go. I’m glad it probably is nothing but also so confused. How did people see it so different or is it possible for an area to change- as in get less suspicious? If anyone reads this and had similar experience I would love to read it.
Hello. Thank you for creating this blog- it helped with my anxiety while waiting for my callback ultrasound.
41 yr, 2nd mammo (3-D) I got a callback 2 days after mammo to come back for an ultrasound because there was a new oval density in the left breast. It also mentioned scattered Fibroglandular tissue. BIRADS 0. I have health anxiety so I immediately started thinking the worst as my mother also had breast cancer (she’s a survivor).
I read my mammogram report over and over again trying to make sense of it and looking up all the terms on the internet. Luckily I was able to get a follow up appointment 2 days after the callback.
All went well and radiologist told me I have a cluster of micro cysts and I was fine, come back in 1 year. Great news!
Reading everyone’s story gave me hope that it would probably be ok and the imaging center was just doing their job and being thorough.
I had a mammogram last week and was called back due to architectural distortion and a small nodule. Like everyone else I was so worried and I went in today for my follow up. When I got there the tech did another mammogram and had me wait in the waiting room. Then she called me back for additional images and I was so worried. She said that I 100% had do an ultrasound I did the ultrasound and the tech went to talk to the radiologist who came back into the room with her and had her do the ultrasound again while she watched. I was so nervous as they spoke about what they saw. Then doctor said that what she saw looked like a bruise and she had no concern and whatever is there is likely benign but she wants me to come back in 6 months for a follow up. I burst into tears. This process is soooo anxiety provoking! So…I have good news that everything looked good, but now I have to wait 6 months for the “all clear” I will report back again then. Thanks so much for this blog. It helped to ease my mind a bit while I waited.
This site helped easy my anxiety so much I wanted to make sure I told my story in hopes it would help someone else. A few days ago on a Monday I had my first screening mammogram. That same day I was enrolled in a high risk program at the breast center I go to. My mother had breast cancer and I have extremely dense breast tissue. So with that said I’m on high alert already. The very next day after my mammogram I saw a number on my phone and my heart sank, I just knew. It was a call back to have a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound. My chart said I have focal asymmetry in my left breast. I feel very fortunate that I was able to get in just a few days later. The days in between appointments were filled with anxiety and googling everything I could think of about breast cancer and asymmetry. Let’s just say the googling did not help. Until Thursday night came around and I could not sleep. I was just counting the hours until I went in on Friday. I stumbled on this site and it was such a breath of fresh air to read these stories. I was in a better mindset Friday morning because of these stories, of course still extremely nervous though! They did the diagnostic mammogram and then took me back for the ultrasound. Which was the scary part because she was doing the ultrasound for a long time and measuring a lot of things. My mind went to the worst and I knew they saw something. When she was done she left the room and said she would be back shortly with the results. When she came back she said there is dense tissue and a few small cysts but nothing worrisome and they were confident that I can just have a rescan in 6 months to make sure all looks good. I feel happy this time but know with my history I may have a few more call backs at some point but this site has given me a different outlook on how to handle these situations. Thank you!!
Coming to add my own positive outcome! I waited four weeks for my follow-up mammogram and ultrasound TODAY. I stayed away from Dr Google and didn’t even fully read my report. I saw a couple of keywords and nearly blacked out, so I didn’t look at it again. I figured the less I knew, the less for me to worry about and I wouldn’t be tempted to look up anything specific. (But don’t worry; I panicked plenty anyway.) I DID look online for ways to deal with the anxiety of waiting for an appointment like this (“scanxiety”) but none were nearly as helpful as this post! I found it five days ago and kept the tab open on my phone all week. All the stories helped me tremendously make it til today without completely breaking down.
So, my appointment this morning: I needed two different views for each breast. Then I waited a while, had to retake one of them because the paddle was in the way, waited some more, then got called down for the ultrasound. The tech scanned my right breast incredibly thoroughly, going up into my armpit, with a lot of pauses, keyboard tapping and beeps. Then she did the same on the left. It felt like it took forever and I was starting to think the worst. Like how can it possibly be nothing after all of this? The tech left to review everything with the doctor.
The doctor came back in and explained what they were looking for. The spot on the left, she said, spread out on the mammo today when it was compressed so she wasn’t worried about it. The spot on the right, I don’t remember exactly what she said but she thought it was normal tissue. I need another follow-up mammo in six months to check an area on the left that the original doctor had marked as a concern but the doctor today sounded pretty calm about it so I’m not really worried. I have very dense breasts and a TON of cysts. She said the cysts all looked normal and nothing to worry about. That explained all the pauses and beeps as the tech measured and documented them all.
It didn’t seem possible that I could leave there with a positive outcome, but here I am! Thank you so much to everyone who has already shared their stories. And to new readers, it can really feel hopeless but hang in there. The statistics are on your side and we’re some of the real people with good news! One commenter here said her mantra was “Right now, I am still ok.” And I used that a lot all week and even on the US table. Thank you thank you
I came across the blog while I was searching for people dealing with mammogram callback anxiety. Most information on the internet regarding mammograms and breast cancer is that everyone will get it eventually and everything causes it. Doesn’t matter if you’re overweight or skinny. Doesn’t matter your age or family history. It’s all negative. When I found this blog, it was a breath of fresh air! So many POSITIVE things! I wanted to come back and share my story, hoping that it will give someone a little bit of peace.
I have been in pretty good health my whole life, with nothing more than the usual colds, etc. I’m 58 and have no chronic illnesses and do not take any medication. I also had never had a mammogram. I went for a physical, deciding I should probably do this since I’m getting older. The dr suggested a mammogram, along with a large list of other cancer screenings I should have been getting. So thinking, what the harm, I feel good, etc., I went off to get my very first mammogram. No anxiety, just checking a box. I want to preface the rest of what I’m going to say with….I wish someone had told me how common callbacks are with a first mammogram. I wish someone had told me the high rate of false positives with a first mammogram, or any mammogram for that matter. I wish I had NEVER consulted Dr. Google after receiving that callback. So……I went for my mammogram and that same afternoon I received the test results in my medical chart and it stated POSSIBLE MASS IN …..I didn’t see or comprehend anything after that. The biggest wave of panic and tears I have ever experienced in my life set in. I was hysterical. I’ll try to shorten this up a bit, sparing you all the details. When I called to schedule the diagnostic mammogram/ultrasound I was told it would be 6 weeks until the first appointment. Plenty of time for me to google and worry and plan my funeral. I read so much that I even came across things that said don’t go back. You’re probably fine and it’s a false positive, etc. So that’s what I did. Canceled the appointment and put my head in the sand. For a while that worked, but it was always in the back of my mind. What if….Every commercial on tv seemed to be about breast cancer and they were talking to me. Every conversation I had was about someone having breast cancer and I was next. Every ache, pain, twinge or whatever, was breast cancer gone wild in my body. Every hour of every day for over a year I worried about this. I would google an find something to put my mind at ease, only to be followed with another “symptom” I was experiencing that had me convinced I was doomed. A year later I finally got the courage to go back and get the follow up. I had to wait a month for the appointment. At times, it was empowering knowing I was taking control and finally getting an answer. At others, the anxiety and stress had me in tears the closer I got to the appointment. The day I went I sat for 30 minutes in the parking lot sobbing hysterically. When I went in, I didn’t have to wait long (thank goodness!), and the tech was the kindest lady. She could see that I was upset and was so caring and kind. I cried through the whole process. She assured me I would have an answer before I left. They did the diagnostic mammogram first, sent the images to the radiologist to read, then the tech called the radiologist to see wht was next. This all took about 30 minutes, with 20 of it waiting for the images to send to the radiologist. I sat in the chair and cried the whole time. Finally the tech got the call from the radiologist. When I heard the tech say, “She will greatly appreciate that news”, I felt the whole world finally lift off my shoulders. I was told it was a small cyst and that it had actually decreased in size since the last images. No cancer found anywhere, you’re all clear, continue with normal screening schedule! I felt like I had my life back! The tech hugged me for several minutes while I cried tears of relief. So to wrap this up, if you get a callback the statistics are definitely in your favor. Don’t google, don’t ask other people and just go back as soon as possible. I lived a year in literal He*l and I don’t recommend anyone ever doing that!