I really thought I'd learned my lesson about waiting after the thyroid nodule. Turns out you don't learn it, you just get better at describing it.
Routine mammogram three weeks ago, my second one. Letter today: "we would like to invite you back for further tests", appointment in nine days, possibly an ultrasound and "other tests if needed", which I'm reading as biopsy. No detail on which side or what they saw. Nothing feels different, I've checked about forty times this evening.
I know the answer is "most recalls are nothing". I've read it on this very site. But knowing it and believing it at 10pm are two different activities. Has anyone been through a recall and what did it turn out to be?
Recalled at 51. They did extra views and an ultrasound on the same morning and it was a cyst, a little bag of fluid, told me before I'd even put my top back on. Discharged back to routine screening. Nine days of dread for twenty minutes of "oh that's nothing".
The waiting is the worst part and nobody can make it shorter. Book something nice for the evening of the appointment, whichever way it goes.
My sister's been recalled twice in ten years. First time a cyst, second time they did a needle biopsy and it was a benign lump with a name I can't spell. Both times fine. She says the second one was easier because she knew the drill, which isn't much comfort for the first.
My mum got the same letter in the spring. She was sure it was bad and it was "dense tissue they wanted a clearer look at". Only thing I'd add is she took my aunt with her, and having someone to talk rubbish to in the waiting room made a big difference apparently.
Thank you all. Three different benign endings is doing more for me than the leaflet did. Taking my sister, booked dinner, and I've written the boring true sentence on the fridge again: "a recall means they want a closer look, not that something is wrong".
Extra views, then an ultrasound. Two small cysts on the left side. The radiologist showed me them on the screen, round and black, and said they're very common at my age and need nothing doing. Back to routine screening at the normal interval. Out in under an hour.
For whoever finds this at 10pm with their own letter: I can't promise yours is cysts. But the people who recalled you are doing exactly the job the screening is for, and most of the people sitting in that waiting room with me walked out with the same boring news. The breast screening guide on here explains the recall bit properly if you want to read something calmer than search results.
