Need Advice On Alternating Mammo/MRI Schedule

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barb3246
barb3246 Member Posts: 175
edited June 2014 in High Risk for Breast Cancer
Need Advice On Alternating Mammo/MRI Schedule
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  • barb3246
    barb3246 Member Posts: 175
    edited September 2011

    Hello! I just had my latest MRI a couple of weeks ago, and thankfully it came back with a Birads 2, repeat MRI in 1 year. WooHoo!! That's the best result I've gotten on an MRI, and I have had many! Unfortunately, this presents a problem with my current 6-month alternating mammo/MRI schedule. I just had my yearly mammo 3 weeks ago, and that was Birads 2 as well, repeat in 1 year. So now I am supposed to have both imaging tests repeated next September, which has me a little worried about waiting a full 12 months before any imaging. I will still have a clinical breast exam in 6 months. The nurse practitioner at Brigham & Women's suggested that I have the mammo in Sept but then delay the MRI till Dec to break it up a little. I'm thinking that maybe I should move the mammo up 6 months to March and get the MRI in September if my insurance will cover it. Any suggestions on how I should handle this?

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  • mkkjd60
    mkkjd60 Member Posts: 583
    edited September 2011

    Hi, My name is Mary.  I get an MRI once a year also.  6 months afterward I get the mammo.  I'm with you on the March/September schedule.  Don't delay.  I'm sure the nurse has your best interests at heart but she doesn't have to live with the stress.  Good luck

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  • mawhinney
    mawhinney Member Posts: 1,377
    edited September 2011

    It is my understanding that for insurance to cover a mammo or mri more than once a year, the tests need to be listed as a diagnostic mammo or diagnostic mri. 

    For the first two years I alternated between a mammo & an mri every six months. Now unless something suspicous pops up, I am tested once a year. I have both an mri & a mammo. My dr. wants the mri scheduled yearly as my cancer was sneaky and showed up on an mri but not on a mammo done at the same time. Generally, the  what & when of tests is determined by your doctors and the specifics of your cancer. I was leary when I switched from testing every six months but you need to remember that there are drawbacks  associated with the tests.  

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited September 2011

    barb===I'm also on a Sept/March schedule (mammos in Sept; MRIs in March). I would ask your doctor if you could have another mammo in March (and pay for it yourself if insurance won't; but they might if the doctor orders it specifically) and then you will be back on the right schedule.

    anne 

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  • Annabella58
    Annabella58 Member Posts: 2,466
    edited September 2011

    Beware ladies, I also had a bc caught by an MRI when the yearly mammos didn't show it.  My Anthem just denied the MRI as my radiologist wrote "non dense breasts and well suited to mammography"...really?

    Am in the process of appeal, my onc is incandescent with rage over this. 

    Be aware that if they write anything about non dense breast on your report, it's going to get you denied.

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  • barb3246
    barb3246 Member Posts: 175
    edited September 2011

    On my latest mammo, the radiologist noted that my breasts are 50-75% dense, so I would think that would mean I am a good candidate for MRI.  My MRI noted that my breasts were "heterogenously dense".

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