Ultrasound next week - interpret MRI results?

ihatescreennames

Haven't been in this forum for a long time. Was diagnosed with cancer in right breast with known lymph node involvement back in 2009 at 32 y/o with no family history. Did chemo, herceptin, bilateral mastectomy w/right side axillary dissection, radiation, reconstruction. The whole shebang. Followed up with onc for 10 years, and was released from further onc follow ups in 2019.

Had an MRI done yesterday to check integrity of implants, and there are some enlarged lymph nodes on left side. (I didn't have cancer on left side before, I just opted for bilateral mastectomy.). Anyway, they said it could be related to C-19 vaccine, but my last vaccine was 9.5 wks ago - could it really be that? The report says one is 4.6 cm, which seems big! It says there was motion artifact, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I just moved or something during the MRI, and it's not actually that big?

Anyway, I have an ultrasound (and needle biopsy if they decide it is needed) scheduled for next Thursday, which seems eons away.

Here is the MRI report details if anyone cares to try and interpret. (Especially if you know of similar circumstances where the cause of the enlarged node was benign!)

Impression:

Right breast

1. Post mastectomy Changes
2. No MRI evidence of malignancy

Left breast

1. Post mastectomy changes
2. Prominent left axillary nodes are indeterminate. This may be secondary to COVID-19 vaccination or motion artifact. Targeted ultrasound is recommended for further evaluation.

Bi-rads category 0: incomplete evaluation. Additional imaging required.

Findings

Right Breast: The patient is status post mastectomy. There is mild background parenchymal enhancement. No suspicious enhancement identified. No right axillary lymphadenopathy. The right silicone implant is intact. No extracapsular silicone is appreciated. Postsurgical changes noted. Scattered fat necrosis present.

Left Breast: The patient is status post mastectomy. There is mild background parenchymal enhancement. No suspicious enhancement identified in the breast. The left silicone implant is intact. No extracapsular silicone is appreciated. Postsurgical changes are noted. Scattered fat necrosis present. There are prominent nodes within the left axilla including the following: A 4.6 cm level 1 axillary node with thickened cortex measuring 1.3 cm; level 3 lymph nodes measuring 1.6 cm and 1.3 cm. There is also significant motion artifact present in the axilla, limiting the evaluation.

cookie54

Hi, Just chiming in for support, yes I agree seems the unlikely culprit would be the vaccine being it was 9.5 wks ago. Motion on an MR may be the culprit being it's difficult to get a good measurement when there is significant motion. Nevertheless this obviously needs further imaging to diagnose.

Sorry you have to wait a week, that stinks! I understand how mentally draining that can be! I am sending hugs and good vibes for negative results. Keep us posted, be well and hang in there.

LivinLife

Sending support - I agree with cookie on the COVID vaccine being a culprit. At one point I read people should hold off on breast imaging about a month or so... you're talking well beyond that! Take good care during the waiting. Please let us know when you hear about next set of results. You'll likely do some posting in between as well....

Francesca30

hi ihatescreennames! i'm actually having the same problem. some of my lymph nodes lit up during a petscan - some in my right axillary where i had my covid shot 5 weeks prior. my doctors want me to wait another 3 months to re scan. they are convinced it's due to the vaccine, they say it may cause lymph nodes to reacttil up to 12 weeks. i hope that is the case for us .

ihatescreennames

Thanks, everyone, for your notes. It's so hard to wait between appointments. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will turn out to be nothing. I think I wouldn't be quite as worried if it wasn't for the fact the report said one measures 4.6cm. That seems so big, and it's hard to think of good explanations for that. Also, though, it seems like I should be able to feel something that big…. I'm driving myself nuts trying to “feel" something in there, but feel nothing lol!

Francesca30 - fingers crossed for clean scans for you in 3 mos

cocoapuff

Hi ihatescreennames,

I am going through something similar right now, Post-mastectomy right side in 2009 and left side in 2016. At 9 weeks post-vaccine in the right arm, went for 5-year surgical follow-up, upon exam 2 lymph nodes were larger than expected on the left side, provider thought likely a result of the vaccine but ultrasound was scheduled just to be sure with my history. I was not able to get an appointment for Ultrasound until 16 weeks post-vaccine. The radiologist said both lymph nodes are still enlarged and they recommend a short interval follow-up. One node in the axilla is next to the surgical clip marking the sentinel node. I'm trying not to think about it, 3 months goes by quickly. Hoping for the best for you.

Rockym

ihatescreennames, I also hadn't been in this forum for years. I went 8 years with a quick mammo and out the door. I also had surgery, chemo and rads so getting a report that isn't "normal" was definitely scary as heck. I also had to wait about 1.5 weeks for my diag. mammo and thought I was also having an ultrasound. The scare gave me some time to reflect and I made a chart of radiologists over the years who either sent me on my way or wanted more views, etc. This was to better understand my situation.

My best friend, who also had BC, mentioned the vaccine and lymph node issues. When I did some research I found she was spot on. Our bodies react to all kinds of things and if your node is measured that large... well it does sound like it may have been your lymph nodes dealing with the vaccine the way they are supposed to. I almost had a shingles shot before my mammo so I am thrilled they were out to lunch at CVS :--).

Take some deep breaths (sometimes hard to do). I hugged the mammo tech when I got a quick nothing/normal reply and hope the same for you. There was no ultrasound and out the door I went. Here is to you having the same. The fact these nodes are in the cm range adn even at 4.6cm sort of tells us something else made that happen.

ihatescreennames

Thanks for your posts. Time is still creeping by, but hopefully I’ll have a better idea of what’s going on after my appt Thursday. I hate waiting.