MRI After Biopsy??

Peppi,,

I would push for an MRI for your own peace of mind.

kosh......

I would not get overly worried about mri. They have many false positives. I was dx with high grade dcis after biopsy. The radiologist said she could not read my mammogram because of very dense breast and ordered mri. On my mri report she stated that she could not rule out bilateral invasive cancer. She also said that one ax. node showed slight increased activity.

I went to a breast surgeon who laughed at the mri report. First- she said mri should only be done at a certain time of a womens cycle and of course my was at the worst possible time, when there is increased activity in breast. Second- mri is not a good test for lymph node involvement. I just had biopsy 5 days prior and they also put iv w/contrast on that side. She believed that  was causing the lymph node activity. Surgeon had no problem reading mam.- said all 40 year olds have dense breast. Anyway she would have to remove half of my breast to get all of the cancer, so I decided to have a bi lat mas. for my peace of mind. 

Surgeon was totally right with dx and radiologist was totally off. My left breast was only the dcis and right was normal breast tissue. I still do no regret my decision for bi-lat.

My point is, you should get a second opinion from a good breast surgeon.  

Good Luck     

Peppi,

I would push for MRI.  I also had very dense breasts.  I had two lumpectomies done on right side for 2 cm IDC found by ultrasound with 3 positive, not mamo.  Had ultrasound done on left, twice, and was found clear.  Onco decided to do MRI before starting chemo.  Turns out I had cancer there too.  Had bi-lat and it was a 1.7 cm IDC with 5 positive lymph nodes.  Turned out I also had another 4mm IDC in my original right breast that hadn't shown up anywhere.  I thank GOD everyday that the MRI was done.  Otherwise I would have gone through all of this only to have to go through it again later, or worse.  So I definitely think the MRI is a good idea even if you do have biopsies done and it turns out to be nothing.  Keep praying that is how it turns out.

Keep laughing,
Jenny

Peppi1,

I forgot - I've had a partial hysterectomy and still have my ovaries.  My mom's side of the family has no history of breast cancers so the doctors said this could never happen.  My grandson is very in touch with his senses and he's the one that kept asking me if I was sick and going to leave him and the only thing I could think of was that it was time for my mammogram.  Don't ignore your intuition but also know the difference from intuition and what's possibly real.  My grandson (4 years old) is the one who tells my daughter when she's pregnant before she even thinks she is.  His little personality changes when he's worried or concerned.  He asks weiird questions like: "Are you going to leave me?"  "When will you be ok?"  Spooky but I have my live little guardian angel as well as my heavenly angels so trust yourself and do what you have to do.

Hi Ladies:

I went to my appointment at 1:30 and it didn't go so good.  I will be having another lumectomy with a cyst removal on the same breast again next Wed.  I'm not even two month post radiation treatment and starting over it feels like.  Sorry if this brings anyone down, but it will all be okay and I don't think I will have anything to worry about.  The surgeon said he didn't want to do the us or mammo, we're just going in.

Leesa

Carol.......your next steps will really depend on what your diagnosis is. Do you know that yet??? Once you do the ladies here can help answer your questions alot better.

Get the MRI if you have to change doctors six times to do so. 

I also have dense breast tissue and found the first lump (lumpectomy) and the second lump two and a half years later (bilat mast with nodes involved).

It's possible the second lump has been there longer than the first lump, but no MRI was done at the time.

Everyone agrees, the faster you can find it, the better chance you have of surviving....don't let any doctor take this knowledge away from you.

If the MRI shows something, yes, it could be false positives, but wouldn't you like to investigate every potential occurrence, so you know for sure??

...swim deep, where the waters are calm...
Dx 10/10/2007, IDC, 4cm, Stage IIIa, Grade 1, 6/22 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2-

Hi Ladies:

I got the results from the biopsies: they were both cysts (one one a solid cyst). No cancer cancer cells but positive hyperplasia cells.  This is nerve racking because these cells are changed from the regular cells and eventually become cancerous.  I have a checkup on Wed. and have the sutures removed.  All is well just tired.

Thanks for the prayers,

Leesa

Sorry I didn't read your thread sooner - I would have told you to push for the MRI. It saved my life! I had my results in 48 business hours. With your family history (I have about the same history) you should, to.



Good luck to you!

Kimber

Dink, Sorry about all the stuff you are having to endure.  I wanted to comment about one of your postings though.  You said that the doctors said that you couldn't be having breast cancer since no one else in your family had it?  That is completely false.  The majority of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have NO family history.  Please tell those doctors that.  They can go to the ACS for confirmation of that fact.

LinS:  It is OK to be freaked out--most women would be.  Take the Xanax and try to get sleep when you can.  Soon you will be able to find out your diagnosis and have a plan of action.  You will feel better when there is something you can actually do to fight this.  Post back when you have the information and MANY great women will post their experiences and support for you.  It's a great site.  Don't forget to let us know what is going on.

I agree with what was said about no familty history that should not be a guide to say that you wouldn't get it.

I have bc and mother passed away from overian cancer at 56 which I have found is connected to the gene that is there for bc too.  I did not know this until after dx.  The only reason they found my dcis was my demotolist dx my paget's and then ordered a mri which showed the dcis.  Had the ultrasound and mamo a few months prior which was clear.  The doctor at the breast center (specialist in reviewing results) said not to worry about the rash (symptoms of Paget's) since everything came back clear.  If the rash had not been painfull I would have gone around with dcis until it showed it's ugly head.  So I would push for the MRI the center should be able to schedule it between your cycle.  Mine was done a few days past the best time so the good breast was not a perfect picture but the bc breast showed fine.  Surgeon said I would get another in 6 months.  They are not cheap but worth the piece of mind and a base line.

Hey guys

I wen to the doctor today and we are doing an abdominal/pelvic sonogram in the morning (3-13-08) to check the pelvic area and the left ovary mainly.  I did the CA125 ovarian cancer test today.  I have several new problems but won't go into them at this time.  Being 44 years old is very hard on me at this time.  Thanks for the suggestions and I did discuss everything with my GYN and these are the first steps.  If something comes back positive, he wants to send me to an oncologist and go from there.  I'll keep you up-dated as I find out things.

Hey guys

I wen to the doctor today and we are doing an abdominal/pelvic sonogram in the morning (3-13-08) to check the pelvic area and the left ovary mainly.  I did the CA125 ovarian cancer test today.  I have several new problems but won't go into them at this time.  Being 44 years old is very hard on me at this time.  Thanks for the suggestions and I did discuss everything with my GYN and these are the first steps.  If something comes back positive, he wants to send me to an oncologist and go from there.  I'll keep you up-dated as I find out things.