Six Months Rotation...

sharkbait, I could be wrong, but my first impression is that being tested every 6 mos. is extremely aggressive testing, and I'm not sure from your post why that's being done.  Do you have any problems other than what was dx'd as a benign complex cyst?  Your Mother having cancer @ 55 isn't particularly young, and adenocarcinoma isn't breast cancer.  Did she also have bc?

The other question I have is, at what type of facility is the breast specialist you mentioned?  If an NCI-designated cancer center with a high risk program, then I would be more inclined to think this is the right approach, perhaps due to other factors you haven't mentioned.  If a local breast center, although I'm not a doctor, I'd need more convincing that the additional screening is worth the extra radiation risk and that annual MRIs are really necessary.  JMHO based on what you've shared above...    Deanna

I would have to agree with dlb-------without a positive BRCA test result, a diagnosis of bc or at the very least atypia, your isurance probably won't cover MRIs.  I was diagnosed with LCIS (a stage 0, in-situ bc)  and my risk is further elevated by family history of bc (mom had ILC); and even with that high level of risk, I have to jump thru hoops now to get my insurance to cover my yearly MRIs  (they cover most of it, but not all, so I always have a balance to pay). Also, MRIs are very good at picking up all sorts of benign "stuff", then you may end up with unecessary biopsies and the anxiety that goes along with that. I am willing to take that risk because my risk of invasive bc is high, but I wouldn't have before my diagnosis just because of my family history of bc.

Anne 

Hi, sharkbait

My story is quite like yours in so many ways.  I too have mammo and MRI alternating every six months.  In fact I just had a mammo today (it was all clear).  The fear and anxiety are horrible surrounding the screenings.  I am more terrified of mammo than MRI for some reason and in two years the MRI picked up three things: two tiny fibros and a tinier papilloma.  That mean three biopsies and an open surgery, all B9. The mammo by the way has never seen a single abnormality (knock wood) and I have been having them since the age of 26 (20 years) I hate all of it and was and am a basket case for weeks before each mammo or MRI.  I seriously once was so thrilled that my mammo was A-OK that I pranced out of my doctor's office through what I thought was an open door which was a thick glass closed door, crashed into it head first, and got a concussion.   That is how out of it I am before during and after mammo (or MRI) day, week and month.  Scary

That said we are so lucky to have technology like digital mammography and MRI.  Quite simply, they save lives.  Maybe yours or mine oneday.  If you can afford it and can bear the stress, I say go for it.  I am seriously the most freaked out breast care patient I have ever me and even I just grit my teeth and go through this crap.  My radiologist (who is wonderful) told me I have young daughter, if I am not doing this for me, do it for her and just suck it up.  Never a truer word was spoken.  By the way, you posted this yesterday, November 16th, which is my daughter's birthday

If you can get insurance to cover it I think you should definitely do it. Just my two cents of course. I have a number of friends with NO family history who are moving to this type of rotational testing. I wish I had been given that opportunity. Could have put me at a much lower stage.

I was on the 6 month rotation for a year and a half.  Initially, suspicious calcs.  Six months later, they'd changed, so stereotactic biopsy that showed adh, excision.  Six months after that, more calcs.  Six months later, they'd changed, so sterotactic biopsy that showed dcis, mastectomy.  I am so glad I did the 6 month rotation because we caught the cancer at the earliest possible moment and I don't have to have rads or chemo.

My understanding of whether insurance pays for the mri is generally based on the risk assessment using the GAIL model.  If it is over a certain percentage, mri's get paid for.  You can google it and use a calculator right off the web.  My onc used the gail model after the adh diagnosis and found I had a 28% lifetime risk, so I qualified for the mri.  The mri is great, partly because it has a higher sensitivity, but also because it does not increase exposure to radiation, but allows for another check during the year.  In my case, it was the mri that caught the dcis.  Who knows where it would have gotten to if I'd had to wait an entire year, rather than 6 months.

I don't know much about cysts, but I think that before you decline the regimen of 6 month testing, you should get a second opinion from a highly recommended bc center/doctor.  I am not one to follow everything the doctors prescribe without question (I will be declining tamoxifen, for example).  However, knowledge is power.

I wish you the best of luck...

It's not unusual to bring back someone in 6 months for a follow-up mammo but that doesn't necessarily mean that you will have to go back EVERY 6 months.I was on that carousel for 3 years and you just get used to it.This May I was diagnosed with IDC and had a BMX. Funny thing is my mammo 6 months prior and my mri 2 months prior to the diagnosis were negative!

carpediem19, Happy to be of help to you. I know it's wrong but I sometimes get the urge to scream at all women with LCIS..."Get a  BMX now"!!To me that would be the ultimate proactive move.

Happy Thanksgiving to you too!!

Barbara

Valarie, congratulations on making this big decision.with no actual cancer in the picture it should provide you with a great sense of relief. While I was followed for 3 years I only ended up having 1 MRI biopsy on the opposite breast and that was benign.I chose to believe others instead of going with my own gut feelings. I will never, ever do that again.

Good luck with your surgery.I know you'll do well .Hope to speak with you afterwards!!

Barbara