FNA biopsy for Lancaster patients

Lancaster is about 70 miles from the office, normally an hour and a half on the CA-14 south through the Antelope Valley. Far enough that you want to make the trip once, close enough that there is no reason to make it twice.

The drive replaces the wait, not adds to it. For most Lancaster patients the round trip takes less time than the gap between a referral and the first available hospital radiology slot.

Local anesthesia, a few passes with a fine needle, no incision. The sample is stained and examined in the office rather than shipped to an outside laboratory.

Thyroid

Only 4 to 6 percent of thyroid nodules turn out to be cancer. Ultrasound guided sampling, graded on the Bethesda system, read on site. Thyroid biopsy

Breast

Most breast lumps are benign. If it is a cyst, draining it with the same needle often makes the lump disappear during the visit. Breast biopsy

Lymph nodes

Usually a node is simply doing its job. When it is hard, fixed, or has not gone away, cells answer the question in one appointment. Lymph node biopsy

If your Lancaster physician finds a thyroid nodule, a breast lump or a swollen lymph node, a referral is written and the sample goes to a laboratory somewhere else. The report comes back to your doctor, not to you, and it takes as long as it takes.

Two visits, two specialists, two waits

About two weeks of waiting

With Dr. Nadelman

One visit, one specialist, one trip

An answer inside of two days

Plan on about an hour from walking in to walking out, however far you drove to get here.

Dr. Nadelman examines the lump and looks at it on ultrasound first, so she knows exactly what she is sampling.

Local anesthesia, then a few passes with a fine needle. Most people find it easier than a blood draw.

The slides are stained and examined in the office lab while you wait. This is the step that does not exist anywhere else.

Preliminary findings usually within 24 hours, sent to you and to whichever physician you name in Lancaster.