Please, need quick response as MRI is in 3 hours

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Cja221
Cja221 Member Posts: 5
edited June 2014 in IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer)

Hello all. Have been reading this forum for a few weeks now as I have had some issues. In mid January, I started getting a soreness under my armpit. I thought nothing about it at the time because I had received the flu shot a few days earlier. Fast forward 2 weeks & the pain was still there so I googled...& of course every dreaded disease came up. Went to my family doctor who felt my breast & underarm & said nothing felt alarming or looked alarming so take Aleve & come back in 2 weeks. Well after all I had read, I didn't think that answer was good enough. I made an appointment with the obgyn for the following day. He also did a breast exam & felt under the armpit & said nothing looked alarming but he would send me for a ultrasound & mammo. I called and immediately got in. Got a 3d mammo because I have dense breast & then got the ultrasound. Nothing showed on either. Still terrified of Ibc & still wondering what the pain was, I went to see a breast specialist. Again, a breast exam. He said nothing felt alarming & he didn't feel any dense tissue in the breast. He checked the lymph nodes and said they didn't feel swollen. Basically nothing looks array on my breast. No discoloration, no swelling, no inverted nipple. Basically the pain in my armpit that is also at the corner of my breast is the only issue I have. He went ahead & ordered an MRI because of the pain.

That brings me to my urgent question. My MRI is in a few hours and my mom just told me that I cannot do the contrast because of a reaction I had when I was young.

I've been researching online as to if MRIs are any good for breast without the contrast and I'm getting conflicting answers. Some say its good to detect swollen nodes and masses, but not as good as with contrast. My question is: will I be wasting my time with this MRI? Will it at least show something suspicious that we could investigate further?

I haven't been able to get a response from the doc office yet & the radiologist act like its a waste of time without the contrast.

Thanks for responding & god bless you ladies with ibc. You have got to be some of the strongest people out there.

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  • Blessings2011
    Blessings2011 Member Posts: 4,276
    edited March 2013

    Hi, Cja221 - So sorry you are facing this, but glad you found the forum.

    I wanted to answer, as I know you are short on time. However, I have NOT had a breast MRI, but I wanted to share my experience with contrast medium.

    When I had my ductogram, they asked if I were allergic to iodine, which I am. Because it was important to get the ductogram done, I chose to be pre-medicated before the procedure to offset any reactions.

    I took Prednisone, Tagamet, and Benadryl (in specific doses at specific times) prior to my procedure and had no reaction whatsoever.

    Did your mom tell you specifically what you reacted to in a prior MRI? That would be helpful to know.

    Sorry I can't be more helpful than this... just wanted to let you know that depending on what kind of allergy or reaction you may have, there may be a solution.

    Wishing you the best!!!

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  • Zeeba
    Zeeba Member Posts: 145
    edited March 2013

    Hi--My understanding is that the contrast dye is needed to identify issues--but the folks at the MRI facility will confirm for sure. Good luck!

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  • Cja221
    Cja221 Member Posts: 5
    edited March 2013

    Thank you to both for your quick responses.

    My mother didn't go in to detail because she was headed to court (she is an interpreter) but she was very adiment a out me not doing it. She is not one to be afraid of procedures or doctors so I know it must be serious for her to be that adiment about it.

    Up to this point the MRI facility believes its a waste, but I have in fact found some information online about how suspicious areas can be found without contrast, but it won't show much more than suspicious.

    So part of me feels like...what can it hurt to do it either way. It the other part feels like I would be wasting time.

    Thanks for listening. Guess I will do d out when I show up there.

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  • Cja221
    Cja221 Member Posts: 5
    edited March 2013

    Just wanted to update in case anyone else had the same type of question. I ended up doing the contrast and no reaction as of now. Just drinking a ton of water to flush it out. Now I wait impatiently for the results.

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