Drug Use Which statement is the most accurate?
Question 2
In the cancer clinic where you work, you have to notify one of your patients that she needs to schedule an ultrasound because her routine mammogram showed several new areas of small calcifications.
In the cancer clinic where you work, you have to notify one of your patients that she needs to schedule an ultrasound because her routine mammogram showed several new areas of small calcifications. Her last mammogram was a year ago. She becomes very anxious upon hearing this news and wants to know what this means.
a. Explain, in lay terms, why it is important to have further tests to confirm these calcifications and determine their cause.
b. After hearing your explanation, the patient becomes even more anxious and is worried that she has cancer. Keeping in mind the other possible causes of calcifications, how would you attempt to allay her fears while remaining realistic?
c. What other assessments or diagnostic tests would help determine the cause of the calcifications?