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Called Back After a Mammogram? Here's What to Know
Brittany Schneller, NP-C, MSN shares what to expect when you're called back after a mammogram.
Featured Speaker:
Brittany Schneller, NP-C, MSN
Brittany Schneller, NP-C, MSN is a Nurse Practitiioner whose specialties include Psychiatry, Surgery - General. Transcription:
Called Back After a Mammogram? Here's What to Know
Caitlin Whyte: Welcome to Aspirus Health Talk. I'm Caitlin Whyte. And today we're talking about what to know when you're called back after a mammogram. It is not unusual for women who have had a mammogram to be called back for a repeat test because of a suspicious result. But you may be understandably frightened if this happens to you. Joining us for this important discussion is Brittany Schneller, a Nurse Practitioner at Aspirus. So Brittany, is it uncommon to be called back after a mammogram?
Brittany Schneller: No, it's not a lot of people tend to get called back for a variety of reasons.
Host: Can you tell us about those?
Brittany Schneller: So sometimes some people will just get called back because the radiologist sees something on the imaging, whether that be something suspicious, whether it be a cyst, whether they're scar tissue, just the radiologist will see something that they're concerned about. So they may call a patient back and then they would have to come in for either a diagnostic, mammogram and or ultrasound. A lot of times we do both diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound, which allows us to just focus on that particular area of concern.
Host: At what age is it recommended to get a mammogram?
Brittany Schneller: So standard care for a mammogram screening would start at the age of 40, unless a woman has predisposition to breast cancer. So say for example, there was a mother in the family who had breast cancer at the age of 30, we would want that woman to start her breast cancer screening 10 years prior to that family members diagnosis.
Host: What other tests could women go through? If a finding on a mammogram is not cancer?
Brittany Schneller: If someone gets called back in for a suspicious finding is typically how we would term that, they would be expected to undergo a diagnostic mammogram and an ultrasound, which allows us to focus on the specific area of concern.
Host: What does a mammogram allow a physician to see?
Brittany Schneller: So, it allows us to see the breasts, the tissue in the breast. So it compresses the breast and gives us images of the breast tissue itself.
Host: Can you tell us about 3D mammography?
Brittany Schneller: So, a 3D mammogram allows us to get better quality of pictures. It takes several different pictures of the breast and places them all into one picture. If you will. This allows us to at times, cut out some other diagnostic imaging. So if someone has an abnormal finding and they had a 3D mammogram, then we can sometimes tend to just go right to an ultrasound. So it is a better quality of a picture for the woman.
Host: And why is early detection so important?
Brittany Schneller: So, they're usually breast cancer is very small when we find it and it's not palpable, which means someone who is doing a clinical breast examination in the clinic setting is not feeling anything. When we go in with imaging and allows us to see things that we may not otherwise feel, this is important because a lot of times breast cancer doesn't come with any symptoms. So a lot of times breast cancer doesn't have pain. There isn't, you know, a huge lump that people feel certainly could be. But in most cases there isn't. So it's important for us to do imaging that can see things that we wouldn't otherwise feel.
Host: Well, thank you for joining us today Brittany. Find more information and podcast episodes like this one, at aspirus.org. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with your friends. I'm Caitlin Whyte, stay well.
Called Back After a Mammogram? Here's What to Know
Caitlin Whyte: Welcome to Aspirus Health Talk. I'm Caitlin Whyte. And today we're talking about what to know when you're called back after a mammogram. It is not unusual for women who have had a mammogram to be called back for a repeat test because of a suspicious result. But you may be understandably frightened if this happens to you. Joining us for this important discussion is Brittany Schneller, a Nurse Practitioner at Aspirus. So Brittany, is it uncommon to be called back after a mammogram?
Brittany Schneller: No, it's not a lot of people tend to get called back for a variety of reasons.
Host: Can you tell us about those?
Brittany Schneller: So sometimes some people will just get called back because the radiologist sees something on the imaging, whether that be something suspicious, whether it be a cyst, whether they're scar tissue, just the radiologist will see something that they're concerned about. So they may call a patient back and then they would have to come in for either a diagnostic, mammogram and or ultrasound. A lot of times we do both diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound, which allows us to just focus on that particular area of concern.
Host: At what age is it recommended to get a mammogram?
Brittany Schneller: So standard care for a mammogram screening would start at the age of 40, unless a woman has predisposition to breast cancer. So say for example, there was a mother in the family who had breast cancer at the age of 30, we would want that woman to start her breast cancer screening 10 years prior to that family members diagnosis.
Host: What other tests could women go through? If a finding on a mammogram is not cancer?
Brittany Schneller: If someone gets called back in for a suspicious finding is typically how we would term that, they would be expected to undergo a diagnostic mammogram and an ultrasound, which allows us to focus on the specific area of concern.
Host: What does a mammogram allow a physician to see?
Brittany Schneller: So, it allows us to see the breasts, the tissue in the breast. So it compresses the breast and gives us images of the breast tissue itself.
Host: Can you tell us about 3D mammography?
Brittany Schneller: So, a 3D mammogram allows us to get better quality of pictures. It takes several different pictures of the breast and places them all into one picture. If you will. This allows us to at times, cut out some other diagnostic imaging. So if someone has an abnormal finding and they had a 3D mammogram, then we can sometimes tend to just go right to an ultrasound. So it is a better quality of a picture for the woman.
Host: And why is early detection so important?
Brittany Schneller: So, they're usually breast cancer is very small when we find it and it's not palpable, which means someone who is doing a clinical breast examination in the clinic setting is not feeling anything. When we go in with imaging and allows us to see things that we may not otherwise feel, this is important because a lot of times breast cancer doesn't come with any symptoms. So a lot of times breast cancer doesn't have pain. There isn't, you know, a huge lump that people feel certainly could be. But in most cases there isn't. So it's important for us to do imaging that can see things that we wouldn't otherwise feel.
Host: Well, thank you for joining us today Brittany. Find more information and podcast episodes like this one, at aspirus.org. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with your friends. I'm Caitlin Whyte, stay well.