Worrying about follow up MRI

hobie644 · December 2009

Have any of you ladies been strongly advised to get a follow up MRI because the one you had before surgery showed stuff of concern. In my case, the MRI showed extensive background enhancements and enhancements in numerous foci in both breasts. Because they can't tell what these enhancements are, I'll be getting another MRI in a few months to look for stability or change. I'm stressing that the MRI will show "change" and I'll be in for more biopsies and possibly more surgery(s). Also, I have dense breasts with lots of calcifications. Do you think I have a real reason to worry or am I worrying unnecessarily. Thanks!
Carol~

hobie644 · December 2009

Thank you Anne,

I had a lumpectomy with s/n biopsy for high grade DCIS and I'm about to finish up radiation treatments. My BS hasn't mentioned mx or any other treatment...yet. Maybe she's waiting until after I have the MRI to make suggestions.

Carol

Kitchenwitch · December 2009

My breasts are not that dense - one BS felt that the mammo was very acccurate, showing one tiny area of medium/high grade DCIS and the other breast showing nothing. She did not recommend MRI. In fact she counseled against it - she said there are too many false things that show up. Said she'd done a lumpectomy and taken out 4 things that didn't need to be taken out.

The other BS (younger, less experienced but I'm sure still a very good doc) wanted me to have MRI.

I'm afraid to have one!

Not done looking for a BS yet in any event, so I'll wait till I have Dr. Right.

Jill

CrunchyPoodleMama · December 2009

Keep in mind that MRIs frequently show false positives... so chances are anything that appears to be of concern will turn out to be nothing.

My MRI doctor insisted on my having an MRI-guided biopsy for a 7mm suspicious mass found in the "good" breast (only seen on MRI, not viewable on mammo or u/s). He was so urgent about it that it freaked me out. It turned out to be benign. I honestly wish I'd never gone through the MRI-guided biopsy which was a lot more painful than a regular biopsy, not to mention the week of worrying about it. Then again, I'd probably always be worrying in the back of my mind about that "suspicious" 7mm mass. I guess it's better to know than not know... BUT, just realize that chances are it will be just fibrocystic stuff.

If you do have the MRI (which I'm sure you will because doctors tend to scare us into these things!), I would cut out all caffeine between now and then, and supplement your diet with iodine. These two things will dramatically reduce any fibrocystic masses and thus cut the chances of false positives showing up on the next MRI and unnecessarily scaring the daylights out of you!

sweatyspice · December 2009

Remember that "90% chance it's nothing" speech you got after the mammo? Just thought I should chime in from the "oops, it wasn't a false positive MRI" side of the statistics.

PS - my mammo guided biopsy was a lot more painful than my MRI guided biopsy.

hobie644 · December 2009

sweatyspice: yes I remember that "90% chance it's nothing" speech I got when I was called back for more mammo views. And I got the "I really, really don't think it's ANYTHING" speech after my core biopsy. Leaving me thinking, "then why did you just stick a very LARGE needle in my breast!" Good thing I had it done though, because a couple days later the Doctor called and said, "It's cancer" So, yes I'll have the follow up MRI along with a mammo...I could be sorry if I didn't.

CrunchyPoodleMama: Don't know if it could be fibrocystic stuff or not. I'm post menopausal and my breast aren't lumpy or painful...but maybe it is. Deciding to cut out caffeine...I'm seriously concidering it or at least cut back to 1 cup a day instead of 2 or 3...I like my caffeine, it's my vice.

Kitchenwitch: It's hard when one Doctor says yes to something and another say no. Makes it even more confusing. Goodluck in finding Dr. Right.

Thanks ladies,

Carol~

sweatyspice · December 2009

Carol -

I'm not sure timing matters for you, but it might be worth checking even if it does seem like a dumbass question:

When you're premenopausal, there's a certain point in your cycle when you're supposed to do the MRI, it cuts down on those false positives which would be caused by certain hormone fluctuations. No idea if there's any sort of corollary "good" time frame when you're post-menopausal.

Wishing you all a clean MRI with no further bullsh*t.

CrunchyPoodleMama · December 2009

Deciding to cut out caffeine...I'm seriously concidering it or at least cut back to 1 cup a day instead of 2 or 3...I like my caffeine, it's my vice.

I understand... TOTALLY. I routinely drank 2, 3, 4 cups and sometimes even more nearly every day for my entire adult life. I couldn't imagine giving it up. When I got my diagnosis, I gave it up cold turkey... but I had to replace it with another coffee-type drink, which for me is an herbal coffee substitute called Teeccino. (LOVE that stuff... it's got a nutty, roasted aroma and flavor similar to coffee, but since it's made of organic chicory, almonds, dates, etc., it's naturally caffeine-free.)

When you're premenopausal, there's a certain point in your cycle when you're supposed to do the MRI, it cuts down on those false positives which would be caused by certain hormone fluctuations.

This article says that you should have an MRI in the follicular phase (day 3 through ovulation, usually somewhere between cycle day 13 and 16-ish in most women). (That's interesting, since I recently learned, thanks to my peeps on the altie forum, that the best time for breast surgery is during the luteal phase -- the second half, after ovulation -- because progesterone has a protective effective and helps prevent surgery-induced metastases.)

hopeful4ever · December 2009

Hi everyone. In answer to Carol, how will you know whether there has been change, bad or good, unless you have the follow-up MRI? I suppose as long as we are survivors there will be worry about the "what if" possibility.

I came very close to not having my MRI because I was too busy with other daily problems, plus very claustrophobic! I had just had a negative diagnostic mammogram and US. However, I had a wonderful GYN that encouraged me to be evaluated a step further because my 85 year old mother was diagnosed with breast cancer last summer. Had my GYN accepted my reports and just filed them away, I would be sitting here today with cancer. For those of us who have very dense breast tissue, MRI, for me anyway, has turned out to be a life saver.

I know there's a lot of disagreement out there about the pressure and worry of "seeing something that turns out to be nothing" but if I had it to do over, I'd do it. By the way, I had my annual follow-up yesterday with my BS. Although I'll never trust mammogram results again, I'm happy to report that my repeat MRI was "clean" and that my next checkup is in 12 months.

I wish for you only the best report on your follow-up. Regardless of what those results turn out to be, our only option is to live... The Lord was so good to me by giving me strength and courage to face each day and people that would pray for me. I wasn't happy with my diagnosis of cancer, but I sure am glad He was behind the scenes making things happen. Best of luck with your follow-up.

hobie644 · December 2009

CrunchyPoodleMama: It probably comes down to wanting something hot to drink more so than wanting the caffeine. So maybe, if I can find a good subsitut, I can give up the caffeine too. "Teeccino" sounds delicious, I'll have to check around to see if anybody sells it where I live.

Thanks for the link to the article on the best time to have an MRI, I'm actually post-menopausal, it's been over a year since my last period. This past year has been no fun with hot flashes, gaining 10 lbs, and being diagnosed with bc...next year I turn 50 :-)

Worrying about follow up MRI

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