Performing self-examinations is the first step in finding any masses or abnormalities. Following up with your doctor is the next step. Being diagnosed early is one of the best benefits when diagnosed with breast cancer. When the cells are small enough to treat, there is a higher cure rate. However, the chances of having a higher cure rate decrease if a patient is misdiagnosed or the diagnosis goes untreated.

Let the Law Office of Kenneth Chessick help you with your case. We will examine your medical records, and go over everything with you step by step. Don’t wait to contact us, give us a call today.

Learn More:

What Are The Difficulties In Diagnosing Breast Cancer?

How Do You Feel After Breast Cancer Diagnosis?

Delay In Breast Cancer: Why Is Breast Cancer Diagnosed Late?

Video Transcript

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:27 Benefits of An Early Breast Cancer Diagnosis: Delayed Breast Cancer
1:10 Benefits of An Early Breast Cancer Diagnosis: Diagnosing Breast Cancer Early

Another question is what are the benefits of diagnosing breast cancer early? And frankly, the benefits are survival at the very worst, and reduction in the amount of breast needed to make a diagnosis at the minimum.

0:27 Delayed Breast Cancer

The longer the breast cancer is present, the greater the opportunity that it has to grow beyond the confines of the breast spread to the lymph nodes, and unfortunately, also spread to areas like the brain and the lungs, and the bones.

We all want to catch breast cancer while it’s still curable, while it’s still confined to the breast, and as still as small as possible. When breast cancer is small, under an inch in diameter which is considered to be stage one with no spread to anyplace else including the armpit, that’s got the highest, one of the highest cure rates.

1:10 Diagnosing Breast Cancer Early

The most, highest cure rate, of course, is when the diagnosis of cancer is made before there is a lump when it’s just a big finding on a mammogram that has been diagnosed with a needle biopsy. The smaller the breast cancer, generally, the greater the cure rate. 

That is why breast cancer needs to be detected as early as possible. There are considered to be different stages of breast cancer. We all want to make the diagnosis at stage one or even earlier when the cancer is the smallest it can be detected because that has the highest cure rate possible.

The post What Are The Benefits Of Diagnosing Breast Cancer Early? appeared first on Kenneth Chessick.

There are many factors that go into when a woman should get her first mammogram. It used to be based on a woman’s age. Studies had shown that women over the age of 50 were likely to show signs of breast cancer. In today’s world, it can be related to your background, family history, and many other things. It’s important to perform monthly self-examinations, and if you feel something is amiss, consult your doctor immediately.

The Law Office of Kenneth Chessick has much experience with breast cancer, and we are here to help. We have seen many situations, unfortunately, so we understand what you may be experiencing. Give us a call if you have any questions or need any additional information.

Learn More:

Can Breast Cancer Be Diagnosed By A Mammogram?

Can Breast Cancer Be Confirmed Without A Biopsy?

How Often Is Breast Cancer Missed? – Missed Breast Cancer

Video Transcript

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:31 When Is Your First Examination Performed?
1:12 Routine Examinations
1:42 Serial Mammograms May Be Required

Another common question, is when should a woman get a mammogram? And that depends. Not surprisingly, every patient is different, and factors that indicate when to get a mammogram vary considerably. And even the recommendations of the various organizations, the American College of Surgeons, and the American College of Radiologists, for example, have changed over the years.

0:31 When Is Your First Examination Performed?

It used to be that mammograms were routinely recommended once a year after the age of 50, and that’s still certainly a very safe program. But there are other patients who should have it before that. A patient who’s at high risk for breast cancer. And what’s high risk? Having had breast cancer previously is a high risk. Having had a mother or sibling who had breast cancer, that’s another high-risk factor that might trigger the need for a routine annual mammogram, perhaps at the age of 40. 

1:12 Routine Examinations

All of those are different than the patient who presents with a mass or patient who presents with bleeding from the nipple or dimpling of the skin or an abnormal examination by a physician or the patient, that when they’re there, there’s an abnormality on clinical examination of that breast, it’s time for a mammogram. 

1:42 Serial Mammograms May Be Required

And while we’re talking about mammograms, serial mammograms are often necessary as well. A mammogram may show some abnormal calcifications and may show the area of increased density, but it’s not highly suggestive of cancer. Nonetheless, it makes it possible, repeating that mammogram in three months or six months is a very very sound practice that most physicians should do when there’s reason to suspect that cancer cannot be excluded. So mammograms, when you should get them, it depends.

The post When Should You Get Your First Mammogram? appeared first on Kenneth Chessick.

The thing about breast cancer is it has no bias, especially if you have a family history of it. It does not care about your age, race, background, ethnicity, or anything else. Anyone is susceptible to it. That’s why it is important to perform self-examinations so that you can be aware of any changes in your body. If you’re not sure what you should be looking for or if you have a family history of breast cancer, you should perform monthly self-examinations and see your doctor regularly for checkups.

Contact the Law Office of Dr. Kenneth Chessick, and let our experts guide you through questions like what to expect, how often should you schedule appointments with your doctor, and if you’ve ever experienced a misdiagnosis. We are here to help!

Learn More:

How Do You Feel After Breast Cancer Diagnosis?

What Are The Difficulties In Diagnosing Breast Cancer?

Can The Diagnosis Of Breast Cancer Be Falsely Made?

Video Transcript

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:20 What Does A Lump In Your Breast Feel Like?
1:13 How Should Normal Breast Feel?
1:48 Signs To Look For In Self-Examinations

If a patient does a self-examination of her own breast, I think it’s highly advisable it should be done every month, what does breast cancer feel like, is the question.

0:20 What Does A Lump In Your Breast Feel Like?

And I can tell you that breast cancers don’t all fit into the same category, they may have different characteristics. Classically, breast cancer when you’re examining your breast, is a lump that’s hard that feels different than the surrounding breast tissue. That’s one sign of possible breast cancer. Once again, diagnosis can only be made by a tissue diagnosis by a biopsy.

But another finding that a patient may feel is that she feels a lump but it’s irregular. It’s not smooth like the surrounding breast tissue. That can be another finding. When she examines her breast, she may find that it’s fixed to the underlying covering of the chest wall muscles. We call that the fascia.

1:13 How Should Normal Breast Feel?

Normal breast is movable over the breast wall, fascia, but breast cancer, sometimes, if it’s attached to that fascia is not movable, and that’s a highly suspicious sign. As I’ve mentioned already if there are overlying skin changes. There can be some dimpling of the skin. There can be some findings where the skin has thickened over the mass. Sometimes you’ll see blood coming from the nipple particularly when that breast is massaged in that direction. Those can all be signs of breast cancer.

1:48 Signs To Look For In Self-Examinations

So in self-examination, a patient should examine her breast once a month, get an understanding for what her normal breast feels like, normal for her, and then when she finds a change, something that is different from what it was before, that’s the time for that lady to go seek a professional examination and further evaluation.

It cannot be stressed enough that serial self-examination is an effective way of taking care of yourself, and when you find that there’s something that’s abnormal and that’s changed from what is normal for you, that’s the time that patient should seek the care of a doctor.

The post What Does A Lump In Your Breast Feel Like? appeared first on Kenneth Chessick.

Some mistakes are easy to come back from. But being falsely diagnosed with breast cancer may not be one of those mistakes. Imagine being told you have breast cancer and require a mastectomy or even a double mastectomy. After having a follow-up exam, you come to learn that you in fact did not have breast cancer. The damages are irreversible.

If you feel you’ve been falsely diagnosed or have experienced some situation that has caused you damage, don’t wait. Get in touch with us at the Law Office of Kenneth Chessick today and let us get you the compensation you deserve.

Learn More:

Failure To Diagnose Breast Cancer – Negligent Management Of Breast Cancer

How Often Is Breast Cancer Missed? – Missed Breast Cancer

Delay In Breast Cancer: Why Is Breast Cancer Diagnosed Late?

Video Transcript

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:17 Can The Diagnosis Of Breast Cancer Be Falsely Made? A Pathologist Determines Breast Cancer

Another question is whether or not the diagnosis of breast cancer after it’s made can be wrong. And the answer is yes, it can be wrong. 

0:17 Can The Diagnosis Of Breast Cancer Be Falsely Made? A Pathologist Determines Breast Cancer

The diagnosis of breast cancer can only be made by a tissue diagnosis. It’s made by a pathologist who gets a specimen from a surgeon, and then stains it, looks at it under a microscope, and looks at it to determine whether it has the characteristics that are seen in breast cancer. I have had cases as a lawyer where a patient has been misdiagnosed as having breast cancer.

In this case, the pathologist looked at the slides and flat out missed that this was not breast cancer. This was an A-typical cell but was not a cancerous cell. Told the surgeon that and that resulted in a mastectomy with a major removal of the breast of this poor lady who did not have breast cancer. We know because the pathology report on the breast that had been removed showed no evidence of breast cancer. And when looking back at the specimen of the biopsy that was interpreted, realized that the doctor just flat out missed it. He thought there were findings of breast cancer and they were not present.

This was a devastating injury on someone who did not have breast cancer. And that was the result of clear-cut negligence.

The post Can The Diagnosis Of Breast Cancer Be Falsely Made? appeared first on Kenneth Chessick.

When you get a cold, you may drink some cold medicine to feel better. If your sinuses decide to go a little haywire, you take some nasal spray to clear the passages. When you feel a lump or something doesn’t feel right, you expect your doctor to find what you cannot see. If your doctor does not perform a thorough examination, it can be all the difference in successful treatment and recovery.

Do you feel that your doctor did not perform a thorough examination when you expressed concerns about your condition or health? Let the Law Office Of Kenneth Chessick help you find the answers you need and get to the bottom of your case. Give us a call today!

Learn More:

Delay In Breast Cancer: Why Is Breast Cancer Diagnosed Late?

How Do You Feel After Breast Cancer Diagnosis?

Can Breast Cancer Be Diagnosed On An MRI?

Video Transcript

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:30 Reasons For Patient Visits
0:47 Thorough Examinations
2:10 Repeat Examinations Are Critical

What are the difficulties in diagnosing breast cancer? That is really at the heart of what the doctor must be aware of in order to accurately make a diagnosis of in a timely diagnosis of breast cancer in this patient. A patient doesn’t ever come into the office with a diagnosis of breast cancer unless there’s already been a biopsy that confirmed the diagnosis. 

0:30 Reasons For Patient Visits

They come into the office of the doctor with either a lump that they feel or a pain that they feel in their breast or some other symptom, bleeding from the nipple, dimpling of the skin, they may feel a lump under the arm. 

0:47 Thorough Examinations

They come to the doctor looking for an answer and it behooves the primary care doctor, obstetrician, gynecologist, family doctor, or general practitioner, to examine that patient in a careful fashion, and make sure that they’ve done a thorough examination. That thorough examination includes palpation of the mass but also feeling under the arm for any lymph nodes that might be in the armpit, looking at the skin as well to see if there are abnormalities of the skin overlying it.

Another way that cancer can frequently be missed by the primary care doctor is even after they order a mammogram, they don’t read the report, which is surprisingly common. Radiologists don’t always report a biopsy is mandatory. Many times they couch the report in terms that say that follow-up is recommended or cancer cannot be excluded and the primary care doctor doesn’t understand or doesn’t appreciate the importance of follow-up.

2:10 Repeat Examinations Are Critical

Repeat examination of that patient’s mass is critical by palpation if that’s what’s required, by repeat mammograms after a period of one or two or three months to see if there’s any change in them in the mass. It’s very very common that when cancers grow, they change over course. They get larger, they may cause increased skin changes, they may cause increased abnormalities in the examination, and so serial examinations either clinically and or by mammogram are required because you must reassure that patient by serial examinations that we have excluded breast cancer, and that oftentimes is not done, and that is one of the common causes of delays in diagnosis of breast cancer and negligent doctor delay in diagnosis changes in stages, and changes the chances for a cure.

The post What Are The Difficulties In Diagnosing Breast Cancer? appeared first on Kenneth Chessick.

Hearing that you have cancer is never easy. It is important that you get your checkups regularly, and do not wait until the last minute to see your doctor if you feel that you may have a lump or if your body does not feel like its normal self. With such a hard road to travel, you want to make sure you have someone by your side to walk that path with you.

If you feel like you did not receive the proper breast cancer supportyou should have received and were diagnosed with breast cancer, or any kind of cancer, let the Law Office of Kenneth Chessick help you. Contact our office today and let’s find out what happened and why it should not have happened.

Learn More:

Can Breast Cancer Be Diagnosed By A Mammogram?

Can Breast Cancer Be Diagnosed On An MRI?

Delay In Breast Cancer: Why Is Breast Cancer Diagnosed Late?

Video Transcript

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:28 The Importance Of Breasts To Patients
1:18 Surgeon Etiquette

Another question is how does the patient feel after their diagnosis, and are they receiving the right breast cancer support?

I can tell you as a practicing surgeon and breast cancer surgeon, in particular, that this is a devastating experience for the vast majority of patients, any kind of cancer is a terrible diagnosis that no one wants to hear.

0:28 The Importance Of Breasts To Patients

When it comes to breast cancer, there’s even more emotion related to that because of the importance of the breast in many patients’ concepts of identity and how they feel about themselves as a woman, and the fears of death of course, but also the fears of treatment which is always disfiguring to some degree. Sometimes significantly.

This is always an emotional experience for the patient and requires the surgeon to be understanding and recognize what a great loss this is to the patient, and be sensitive to those things, and coach their answers in ways that recognize that emotional distress. 

1:18 Surgeon Etiquette

But at the same time be absolutely honest and forthright. The surgeon has an obligation to that patient to be the source of accurate trustworthy knowledge for that patient. So as a surgeon, being sensitive to that patient’s emotional state, but also their absolute right to know the facts is paramount. 

It’s oftentimes important that the patient have another person present with them because I can tell you from experience, that many patients when they hear that they have breast cancer for the first time, don’t hear a lot of what is said, and frankly that discussion has to be repeated. It’s always good to have someone present so that they can answer the questions as well.

The post How Do You Feel After Breast Cancer Diagnosis? appeared first on Kenneth Chessick.

Testing for lumps after the age of 40, especially for women who have a history of family cancer need to regularly perform touch tests. But touch tests are not enough. You should get a yearly mammogram that can reveal any tissue signs of cancer, and receive further testing if necessary.

If you believe you may have signs of cancer, don’t wait. Make an appointment today. Let the Law Office of Kenneth Chessick give you the knowledge and education you need when it comes to diagnoses and your health.

Learn More:

What Are The Difficulties In Diagnosing Breast Cancer?

How Often Is Breast Cancer Missed? – Missed Breast Cancer

Diagnosing Breast Cancer – Can Breast Cancer Be Wrongly Diagnosed?

Video Transcript

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:11 What Confirms the Diagnosis of Breast Cancer: You Cannot Diagnose With A Biopsy
0:45 What Confirms the Diagnosis of Breast Cancer: Signs Of Breast Cancer

Can breast cancer be confirmed without a biopsy? The answer is no. 

0:11 Can Breast Cancer Be Confirmed Without A Biopsy? You Cannot Diagnose With A Biopsy

The diagnosis of breast cancer is only made by looking at the cells of the mass under a microscope and determining whether it has the characteristics of breast cancer. That is the only way. There are multiple tests which can be suspicious.

That’s one of the most common, of course, is that when you, as a surgeon,when you are a doctor, when you examine the patient’s breast lump, there are signs and observations that can be highly suggestive of breast cancer.

0:45 Can Breast Cancer Be Confirmed Without A Biopsy? Signs Of Breast Cancer

The breast cancer typically is very hard. It is usually painless, although not always. It’s usually irregular, the borders are not smooth, but we have little sense of things that are protruding from the mass. It’s different from the surrounding portions of the breast when you feel the breast on palpation. You can sometimes see some cardinal signs that are highly suggestive of breast cancer, dimpling of the skin over the mass that’s in the breast, and bleeding from the nipple is another one that again, is not diagnostic, but it’s highly suggestive of breast cancer. 

Of course, there’s mammographic findings that can be suspicious. You can see against this irregular mass, sometimes there’s what we call little spicules, little sharp points that extend from the mass. When you have serial mammograms and you can see a progressive increase in the size of the mass over a period of time. 

Of course, that’s highly suggestive as well. So these are among the many ways that you can suspect breast cancer and which should lead to a biopsy, which is the definitive way to make that diagnosis.

The post Can Breast Cancer Be Confirmed Without A Biopsy? appeared first on Kenneth Chessick.

Missing breast cancer is more common than the average person can imagine. Whether because the primary care doctor was never made aware of findings, or x-ray requests were never followed up on, it is a serious issue nonetheless.

At the Law Office of Kenneth Chessick, we are here to help you through your entire process, from start to finish. Whether it’s to gather information or to file a suit, we are here with the knowledge and experience you need on your side.

Learn More:

Diagnosing Breast Cancer – Can Breast Cancer Be Wrongly Diagnosed?

Failure To Diagnose Breast Cancer – Negligent Management Of Breast Cancer

Diagnosing Breast Cancer – Negligence In Breast Cancer Management

Video Transcript

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:29 Missing Breast Cancer

The question is, how often is breast cancer missed? And the fact is it can be missed with great frequency. There are different steps in the diagnosis and after, there’s an initial presentation, and any of those missteps can result in missing the diagnosis of breast cancer. 

0:29 Breast Cancer

A patient may feel a lump and presents to her doctor, and the doctor may misunderstand or inadequately examine the patient and not appreciate that this is a suspicious mass that needs further evaluation. There can be abnormal mammograms that show abnormal chaos locations that are missed by the radiologist. That’s another way it can be missed.

Another one, of course, is that the radiologist reports their abnormality and it’s not properly read. The report is not read by the primary care doctor that ordered it.

Those are the most common ways in which the diagnosis of breast cancer can be missed, and it happens with a great frequency. 

In my practice, the failure to diagnose breast cancer in a timely fashion is the single most common failure to diagnose cancer that I’ve seen in my thirty years of practicing law.

The post How Often Is Breast Cancer Missed? – Missed Breast Cancer appeared first on Kenneth Chessick.

When you go to the doctor, you have an expectation that your doctor is looking out for your best interests. You want to know your doctor cares about your health and well-being. And it’s not to say that your doctor does not have your health and well-being at heart. But mistakes happen, and these mistakes can cost you.

The Law Office of Kenneth Chessick has your best interest at heart, to ensure you get the healthcare and compensation you deserve for your troubles and pain. Give us a call today to discuss your case and let our knowledge and experience work for you.

Learn More:
Failure To Diagnose Breast Cancer Cases – Negligent Management Of Breast Cancer

Diagnosing Breast Cancer – Can Breast Cancer Be Wrongly Diagnosed?

Holding Doctors Accountable for Malpractice

Video Transcript

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:20 Diagnosing Breast Cancer
1:01 How Can Breast Cancer Be Missed?

Another question is can breast cancer be missed? The answer is yes.

0:20 Diagnosing Breast Cancer

There’s several stages that ultimately leads normally to the diagnosis of breast cancer. The patient may feel a lump and she presents to her doctor, or there’s a routine mammogram performed and that shows some findings which are commonly seen in the presence of breast cancer and are suspicious for breast cancer. There can be symptoms like dimpling of the skin, of the breast, or bleeding from the nipple that either the doctor doesn’t realize can be a sign of breast cancer, or the patient does not. All of those things can result in a delay in the diagnosis and a delay in the treatment for breast cancer.

1:01 How Can Breast Cancer Be Missed?

There’s another way that the diagnosis of breast cancer can be missed or delayed and that’s that there are the findings of breast cancer or the findings suggestive of breast cancer on a mammogram. There may be an irregular mass that’s seen. There may be abnormal calcifications that are present within the mass and the radiologist does not recognize that those are consistent with breast cancer, and does not report that to the doctor that ordered the mammogram. That’s another way that breast cancer can be missed.

And then finally, of course, radiologists can issue a report saying that this is suspicious for breast cancer or breast cancer cannot be excluded and the primary care doctor either doesn’t read the mammogram report or doesn’t understand the significance of what the words mean and doesn’t refer the patient for further treatment and care.

The post Can Breast Cancer Be Missed? – Missed Breast Cancer appeared first on Kenneth Chessick.

Going through cancer is a tumultuous time for the cancer patient and the family. Even more so when you have to go through it because you were misdiagnosed. Many cases of cancer could have been treated fairly early had they been diagnosed.

The Law Office of Kenneth Chessick is here to help you understand how misdiagnoses can happen, and how we can help you overcome them. We can help you understand the medical jargon, get you through the red tape, and help shed some light on your situation. Give us a call today to discuss.

Learn More:

Failure To Diagnose Breast Cancer – Negligent Management Of Breast Cancer

What Are The Difficulties In Diagnosing Breast Cancer?

How Often Is Breast Cancer Missed? – Missed Breast Cancer

Video Transcript

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:12 Delay In Diagnosing Breast Cancer
1:02 Catastrophic Results From Delays In Diagnosing

One question we hear is why is breast cancer diagnosed late?

0:12 Delay In Diagnosing Breast Cancer

There are a couple of answers to that. Well, certainly one common way is that the patient has an abnormality in her breast, she feels a lump and doesn’t present to medical care. Obviously, any delay coming to the doctor can be a delay in the diagnosis, but there are other negligent ways in which to misdiagnose breast cancer.

Late dismay, many times the primary care doctor, the family practitioner, and the obstetrician doesn’t recognize that the lump that the lady is presenting with is suspicious and doesn’t do a mammogram or doesn’t refer to a general surgeon for a biopsy that could result in a delay in the diagnosis. 

1:02 Catastrophic Results From Delays In Diagnosing

And a delay in the diagnosis can be catastrophic. If it’s too long a delay, the breast cancer can spread beyond the confines of the breast and such that they’re not surgically curable. Another way that breast cancer can be diagnosed late is that the pathologists can get a specimen and misread it. The signs of cancer are there, but the pathologist doesn’t read it properly.

That is also evidence that too gives a false sense of security results in a delay in the ultimate diagnosis and oftentimes, catastrophic results.

The post Delay In Breast Cancer: Why Is Breast Cancer Diagnosed Late? appeared first on Kenneth Chessick.