Aa
MRI done 3 days before your period?
I recently had a MRI 3 days before my period and have several areas of enhancement show. Could starting my period 3 days later have anything to do with this? Im also about to have a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound right when my period is due again does this interfere with the results at all? Thanks so much.
Hi, again,
I really don't know a lot about any treatment after BPM, but I think if you trust your oncologist, you should accept her decision on the tamoxifen. You could always get a second opinion if you're not sure. I'm guessing Sue Young would have some more advice based on her experience, so maybe you can send her a private message. She's very kind and has been extremely helpful to me at times. I think she's very willing to help out anyone she can.
As far as your chest, you plastic surgeon is definitely the one to ask. I would think being only a couple weeks out from surgery, that is probably normal, but your doc it the one to make sure. I haven't been through it so I can't say for sure, but I understand it's complex surgery and recovery can take awhile.
I'm happy to hear you had no invasive cancer and I hope your recovery continues to go well and you're happy with the results.
Hugs,
nc
I really don't know a lot about any treatment after BPM, but I think if you trust your oncologist, you should accept her decision on the tamoxifen. You could always get a second opinion if you're not sure. I'm guessing Sue Young would have some more advice based on her experience, so maybe you can send her a private message. She's very kind and has been extremely helpful to me at times. I think she's very willing to help out anyone she can.
As far as your chest, you plastic surgeon is definitely the one to ask. I would think being only a couple weeks out from surgery, that is probably normal, but your doc it the one to make sure. I haven't been through it so I can't say for sure, but I understand it's complex surgery and recovery can take awhile.
I'm happy to hear you had no invasive cancer and I hope your recovery continues to go well and you're happy with the results.
Hugs,
nc
Hi ladies
I'm back with more questions, I met with oncologist yesterday and she stated there is no need for me to take tamoxifen. She said with the bilateral they took almost all breast tissue and I only had 1 area of dcis and no invasive cancer. She felt there was no reason for me to take it. Is this standard tx? Don't get me wrong I'm not begging to take it. I also had expanders put in during mastectomies and it feels like just weight sitting on my chest. Is this normal? I guess I should of asked plastic surgeon for more info at consult. Thanks so much for your help!
I'm back with more questions, I met with oncologist yesterday and she stated there is no need for me to take tamoxifen. She said with the bilateral they took almost all breast tissue and I only had 1 area of dcis and no invasive cancer. She felt there was no reason for me to take it. Is this standard tx? Don't get me wrong I'm not begging to take it. I also had expanders put in during mastectomies and it feels like just weight sitting on my chest. Is this normal? I guess I should of asked plastic surgeon for more info at consult. Thanks so much for your help!
My notification system with Medhelp wasn't working for awhile and I didn't get your updates.I was sorry to hear about your cancer diagnosis and all that you had to go through. I just wanted to add my best wishes to you and hope you continue to have a good recovery. I'm sure the decision was a difficult one and I'm glad to hear you're satisfied you made the right choice for you. I have LCIS and have seriosly considered the bilateral prophylactic mastectomies, but I'm not there yet. I feel like it's just too extreme for me right now, but will definitely consider it if more than stage 0 is found.
(Obviously, I'm hoping not!) Even though I'm also high risk, I've had two years of stable testing so I'm hanging in there. I give all the women who've had it a lot of credit for their courage and for sharing their experiences with others.
I'm glad to hear you're doing well and I wish you all the very best in the future!
Hugs,
nc
(Obviously, I'm hoping not!) Even though I'm also high risk, I've had two years of stable testing so I'm hanging in there. I give all the women who've had it a lot of credit for their courage and for sharing their experiences with others.
I'm glad to hear you're doing well and I wish you all the very best in the future!
Hugs,
nc
So happy to hear that your surgery is over and that you are recovering well. I'm sure it was well worth all the waiting and fighting you had to do to get things moving in the right direction. Please do visit here when you can as there's nothing more helpful than someone sharing their own experiences with others as you well know. Take care now ......
Thanks so much for updating us regarding the latest developments.
I'm very happy to hear that you are satisfied with the decisions you made, that you are recovering well from your bilat. mx surgery, and that you obtained support and useful ideas from our forum.
I'm also sure you'll have a lot to contribute to others, both here and in your community.
Wishing you all the best,
bluebutterfly
I'm very happy to hear that you are satisfied with the decisions you made, that you are recovering well from your bilat. mx surgery, and that you obtained support and useful ideas from our forum.
I'm also sure you'll have a lot to contribute to others, both here and in your community.
Wishing you all the best,
bluebutterfly
Ladies:
Just thought I would give a update. I had 2 core needle biopsies on the opposite breast right before Thanksgiving. The surgeon said i had to go ahead with the biopsies even tho i had already decided on a bi lateral masectomy so he would know if he needed to check the setinal nodes or not. My insurance would not approve the nodes being checked unless there was pathology to prove their was a malignancy on that side. He did do the Setinal Node Biopsy on the side that had the DCIS and that came back benign. The MRI showed i had 3 areas of clumped calcifications on my opposite breast but the radiologist just did 2 biopsies that day he said 2 of them were close together and said he thought it would be hard for him to get to the 3rd one and he knew i was already having the masectomies.on both breasts no matter what the pathology said. My biopsies came back benign. I went ahead on 12/2 and had the double masectomy because my doctor still felt there was cancer there and even if there wasn't he thought i was high risk with my family history and the calcifications etc and I didn't want the constant watching and testing and worrying all the time. The original lump i had on the other side did not show up on the mammogram and was DCIS Comedeo type with extensive necrotic tissue. The MRI done after that excisional biopsy on the side that had the DCIS showed 3 other areas that they felt were either residual DCIS or invasive cancer. My pathology from my bi lateral masectomy came back as benign! All that was found in both breasts was alot of pre cancerous cells. I am still happy with the decision I made for the masectomies because I am such a worrier and after having to fight my insurance almost 7 months i didn't want to have additional mammograms that had suspicious areas and keep having biopsies and worrying about it.I wanted to try to treat whatever cancer I had aggresively in hopes that I would not have a re occurance in the future and know that if i did I had done everything the first time I possibly could. I know i can still get cancer with the masectomies but I feel a bit better knowing i lowered my chances. I was worried the cancer had spread since it had taken almost 7 months from the time they found the lump to me actually having surgery because of all the time my insurance kept taking to approve each test and my primary care doctor kept sitting on all of my referrals. I"m recovering well from my surgery and the pain has not been as bad as I anticipated. I had the setinal node on one side and was really nervous about it and had read somewhere how much it hurt. It really was not bad at all. I think the numbing they did for the 2 biopsys i had a few weeks ago was more paintful than that. I took someone's advice on here about borrowing a reclining chair to sleep in when I got home from the hospital and bought some of the things I saw Sue Young had posted in a link for things to have for the surgery. They were all great ideas and worked for me. I started reconstruction with expanders the day of my surgery. I want to thank everyone that has helped me through this stressful time and has answered my questions and posted their stories. I realize how lucky i am and now would like to volunteer and try to help women go thru the crazy process of breast cancer. I had to fight my insurance and my primary doctor for months to get treatment and I hope no one has to go thru that. Thank you all for sharing your stories they really helped me knowing i wasn't alone in this whole process. Wishing everyone the best of luck with their treatment and hoping they find a cure for this soon!
Just thought I would give a update. I had 2 core needle biopsies on the opposite breast right before Thanksgiving. The surgeon said i had to go ahead with the biopsies even tho i had already decided on a bi lateral masectomy so he would know if he needed to check the setinal nodes or not. My insurance would not approve the nodes being checked unless there was pathology to prove their was a malignancy on that side. He did do the Setinal Node Biopsy on the side that had the DCIS and that came back benign. The MRI showed i had 3 areas of clumped calcifications on my opposite breast but the radiologist just did 2 biopsies that day he said 2 of them were close together and said he thought it would be hard for him to get to the 3rd one and he knew i was already having the masectomies.on both breasts no matter what the pathology said. My biopsies came back benign. I went ahead on 12/2 and had the double masectomy because my doctor still felt there was cancer there and even if there wasn't he thought i was high risk with my family history and the calcifications etc and I didn't want the constant watching and testing and worrying all the time. The original lump i had on the other side did not show up on the mammogram and was DCIS Comedeo type with extensive necrotic tissue. The MRI done after that excisional biopsy on the side that had the DCIS showed 3 other areas that they felt were either residual DCIS or invasive cancer. My pathology from my bi lateral masectomy came back as benign! All that was found in both breasts was alot of pre cancerous cells. I am still happy with the decision I made for the masectomies because I am such a worrier and after having to fight my insurance almost 7 months i didn't want to have additional mammograms that had suspicious areas and keep having biopsies and worrying about it.I wanted to try to treat whatever cancer I had aggresively in hopes that I would not have a re occurance in the future and know that if i did I had done everything the first time I possibly could. I know i can still get cancer with the masectomies but I feel a bit better knowing i lowered my chances. I was worried the cancer had spread since it had taken almost 7 months from the time they found the lump to me actually having surgery because of all the time my insurance kept taking to approve each test and my primary care doctor kept sitting on all of my referrals. I"m recovering well from my surgery and the pain has not been as bad as I anticipated. I had the setinal node on one side and was really nervous about it and had read somewhere how much it hurt. It really was not bad at all. I think the numbing they did for the 2 biopsys i had a few weeks ago was more paintful than that. I took someone's advice on here about borrowing a reclining chair to sleep in when I got home from the hospital and bought some of the things I saw Sue Young had posted in a link for things to have for the surgery. They were all great ideas and worked for me. I started reconstruction with expanders the day of my surgery. I want to thank everyone that has helped me through this stressful time and has answered my questions and posted their stories. I realize how lucky i am and now would like to volunteer and try to help women go thru the crazy process of breast cancer. I had to fight my insurance and my primary doctor for months to get treatment and I hope no one has to go thru that. Thank you all for sharing your stories they really helped me knowing i wasn't alone in this whole process. Wishing everyone the best of luck with their treatment and hoping they find a cure for this soon!
Thank you ladies for all of your help. i'm ready to move forward and just get this done tomorrow.
True it is an aggresive prodecure but it has been approved, thus considered appropriate, and I'm sure it will give you peace of mind in the future. It is true that there is a possibility of recurrence even with Bilat. Mastectomies but I believe it to be much less than without. Think about the positives ... you can now be any "size" you wish !!! Take care and I wish you a successful surgery and an uneventful recovery. Keep us posted along the way ..... Regards
I do have scattered calcifications on the other breast so would have to keep watching them. The MRI showed there were other areas on the opposite breast that could be residual DCIS. I had excisional biopsy on that breast but did not get clear margins. I'm hoping that there is only residual DCIS and nothing invasive. I'm concerned tho since this has gone on since May. Thanks ladies for all of your help!
After months of testing and waiting on referrals I am finally scheduled this Friday to have bi lateral masectomy. My biopsies on the opposite breast were benign. My original diagnosis on the other breast was DCIS comedo type. I'm now wondering if I'm making the right decision doing this surgery. I am a worrier tho and thinking treating this condition this aggressively hopefully I will have less worry or chance of reoccurance. I am aware you can still have a reoccurence with a masectomy. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks so much!
It probably won't .... normal variant may be nothing at all; on the one tracing it may have shown something that would be considered slightly different than "normal". It may be something that wouldn't even show up on a future EKG. Take care and best wishes for you upcoming surgery and a speedy and uneventful recovery.
I had my pre op EKG today and it came back as Normal variant. Has anyone heard of this? my primary care dr just left me that message and said she is ordering a Echo. i have no history of heart problems. I am hoping this does not delay my surgury. Thanks
Hi Ladies:
After finding DCIS in the left breast the MRI is showing multiple highly suspicious areas on the right breast. I followed up MRI with another ultrasound and diagnostic mammogram. Ultrasound showed suspicious areas and radiologist is requesting i do 2 mammo guided biopies. This has been on going for me since the end of May. I have not had surgury yet on left as we have had many delays with my primary dr and insurance and now the right being involved. I think i have finally decided to stop the madness and do a bi lateral masectomy and be done with it. I'm worried if even if the right is benign which I doubt that I will have to constantly worry. Has anyone gone and done masectomy without more biopsies? My surgeon has told me he will check both Sentinel Nodes if I do this. He is leaving the decision to me. I am small breasted so I don't think a lumpectomy on right would even work for me as areas are not very close together. I see a plastic surgeon today to discuss reconstruction options and my surgeon tomorrow AM. Does anyone have any words of wisdom for me or anything i should be asking either surgeon? Thank you all so much!
After finding DCIS in the left breast the MRI is showing multiple highly suspicious areas on the right breast. I followed up MRI with another ultrasound and diagnostic mammogram. Ultrasound showed suspicious areas and radiologist is requesting i do 2 mammo guided biopies. This has been on going for me since the end of May. I have not had surgury yet on left as we have had many delays with my primary dr and insurance and now the right being involved. I think i have finally decided to stop the madness and do a bi lateral masectomy and be done with it. I'm worried if even if the right is benign which I doubt that I will have to constantly worry. Has anyone gone and done masectomy without more biopsies? My surgeon has told me he will check both Sentinel Nodes if I do this. He is leaving the decision to me. I am small breasted so I don't think a lumpectomy on right would even work for me as areas are not very close together. I see a plastic surgeon today to discuss reconstruction options and my surgeon tomorrow AM. Does anyone have any words of wisdom for me or anything i should be asking either surgeon? Thank you all so much!
Just thought it may help to know that not all areas of enhancement are something bad. I've had areas of enhancement on my last four MRIs but the radiologists have indicated they're probably benign and only follow up was recommended. (BIRADS 3 with six month follow up) These areas have remained stable over two yearand this is what's most important. Please try to take one step at a time and wait for all the test results to be in. Each test adds to the diagnostic conclusion, so that will mean more than just the areas of enhancement on the MRI. I'm hoping your other tests will be negative and you'll get a good final report from your doctor.
All the best,
nc
PS:You might want to check with the individual departments performing your tests for additional information on the timing of the test with your cycle.
All the best,
nc
PS:You might want to check with the individual departments performing your tests for additional information on the timing of the test with your cycle.
Usually the MRI is done after a Mammogram and Ultrasound; not sure why you would have had this test first but there must have been some specific reason. The Mammogram may be MORE accurate during the 1st week of your period since the breasts are less dense at this time. Keep in mind that MRI is a very sensitive test and often may produce false results. Regards ....
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