Bone scan showed lesions, waiting for MRI

Hi; It's been 3 years since I finished radiation for intraductal carcinoma with micrometastasis in the sentinel lymphnode and since I've spent time on this site. I should have stayed connected. And I shouldn't have fallen behind on follow-up imaging. I guess I didn't think a mastectomy, chemo, radiation, and hormone therapy would have left any trace of early stage cancer behind.

Approx 6 months ago, I noticed pain in my rib cage on the treatment side. The pain was minor at first. It went away then came back a bit worse. Of course, I diagnosed myself with the help of Internet searches. I was convinced I had costochondritis and I could easily relieve symptoms with anti inflammatory meds. Two months ago, the pain was so bad I could barely walk. I saw a local surgical oncologist as I new patient. I agreed to a bone scan in the midst of taking on a challenging new job. A lapse in health insurance seemed like a good enough reason to postpone following up on the results. A couple of weeks ago, alarmed by extreme shortness of breath, I finally listened to my doctors, who told me the bone scan revealed lesions on my rib cage and an MRI was imperative. I've left the new job, enrolled in state-funded health insurance, and am scheduled for an MRI later this week. So now, after confident my self-diagnosis, stupid reasons for falling behind with follow-up imaging, and overall neglectful attitude... now I'm scared.

Please don't do what I did. All the mounting responsibilities in my life became excuses to neglect personal healthcare responsibility. But all those things... including my responsibility to take care of my elderly parents... are exactly why I should never have neglected the duty to take care of myself. Hindsight is 20/20, I guess.