NEEDLE BIOPSIES: ARE THEY PAINFUL OR DANGEROUS?

I'm not a doctor or an oncologist. Far from it. I am an underemployed Certified Substance Abuse Counselor who holds a Masters degree in the Social Services field. What I may have to offer you at the moment, is reassurance that your doctor's recommendation that you have a core needle biopsy is probably a good recommendation.

MY OWN EXPERIENCE

Knowing that you might have cancer is never pleasant, and a whole host of fears come along with that realization. If you are like me, you are reading this article because you are also reading other information, and obtaining as much information as you can in order to make your decisions. Please understand that everything on the Internet cannot be trusted. People place ads and articles on line for a number of reasons. Unfortunately, advertisers and other writers know that people who may have cancer are afraid, and those who have been diagnosed with the disease are even more fearful. Consequently, this fear is often exploited by advertisers who quote statistics to their own advantage.

When I was advised to have a core needle biopsy, like you, I began to search for information on line. Unfortunately, I was not picky enough about my sources, as you might not have been either. After all, you are reading an article that is written by someone who does not have a medical degree. I read two on line ads that caused me concern, before turning to the resource I should have consulted first, The American Cancer Society.

The sources whose motives I strongly question both insisted that needle biopsies often spread cancer, and cause the woman involved to require more serious treatments, such as chemotherapy, due to the spreading of the cancer after a core needle biopsy. I question these sources today because one was an ad for a sonogram, with a suggestion that this be used in place of a needle biopsy; the other was an ad advocating alternative medicine, suggesting changes in diet to make your cancerous tumor disappear.

While I do not refute the use of sonograms, my surgeon recommended one before the biopsy was necessary, sonograms can rule out cancer in many cases, but they cannot prove or disprove that a solid mass is or is not cancer. Only a lab result can do that. Sonograms are rightfully used in order to rule out any growth that is fluid filled, and obviously not cancerous, and often makes more invasive methods of detection unnecessary. If a sonogram reveals a solid nodule, however, as it did in my case, it has given your doctor all the more reason to recommend a biopsy.

DIET AS CURE FOR CANCER

I strongly advocate diet as prevention for cancer, and the research supporting this stand is convincing; however, if you already have a cancerous tumor, simply eating more fruits and vegetables may not be enough. Once a tumor is present, you need to use every tool at your disposal to fight the disease, and that includes traditional medicine proscribed by your doctor. Ethical people who support cancer prevention through diet, do not advocate ignoring your doctor's advice. They do believe that the combination of an anti cancer diet with traditional medicine can increase your liklihood of success.

WHY SHOULD YOU HAVE A NEEDLE BIOPSY VERSES A SURGICAL BIOPSY?

A needle biopsy is a less invasive procedure, and will not lead to disfigurement. A needle biopsy will remove most of the tumor involved, and will obtain enough tissue to make an accurate diagnosis without leading to permanent scarring. The total recovery time for a needle biopsy is no more than 24 hours. My surgeon told me I could work out in the gym the next day at 100% my usual effort, and 40% on the actual day of the surgery. I followed his advice, with no pain at all.

Most tumors are benign, in fact, even with my family history, and some uneven borders involved with my tumor, my surgeon told me that the chances of my tumor being a cancer were only 10%. Why take a chance on lifetime disfigurement when your tumor is probably benign, anyway. Also, the American Cancer Society Website recommends a needle biopsy highly, and states that it is "highly unlikely" that your needle biopsy will cause your breast cancer to spread, if you even have it at all. In my case, as is usually the case, I did not have cancer, and a surgical biopsy might have caused a scar, plus a more difficult recovery period, when there was not even a cancer present.

DOES A NEEDLE BIOPSY HURT?

This is personal, and while I do not refute the testimony of any woman who insists that she experienced great pain from a needle biopsy, that was certainly not the case with me, or with my older sister who recently experienced a needle biopsy, and was diagnosed with breast cancer. The experience was somewhat stressful, but I have experienced much greater pain knocking my elbow against a cabinet, or barely burning myself with an iron. As pain goes, on a scale from 1 to 10, for me, this would not even rate as a 2. My sister experienced the biopsy as being just as painless as did I, and neither of us regret having had one.

DID MY SISTER'S NEEDLE BIOPSY SPREAD HER CANCER?

There are no absolutes in cancer; however, there is no evidence that it did, at this time. She was advised to have the standard treatment for breast cancer, removal of the lump, and six weeks of radiation. Her needle biopsy did not cause her cancer to spread to the point of requiring chemotherapy, and her surgeon did not recommend it. If you still have concerns about this type of biopsy, I would advise you to talk to your surgeon, and visit the American Cancer Society's website. As for me, I am grateful that I chose the needle biopsy that was recommended by my surgeon.

CLICK BELOW FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELATED TO CANCER:

http://hubpages.com/_2pvzhao591xs4/hub/PREVENT-CANCER-THROUGH-DIET

http://hubpages.com/_2pvzhao591xs4/hub/AWAITING-A-BREAST-BIOPSY-RESULT-THINGS-TO-DO-TO-TAKE-THE-EDGE-OFF