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Bonnie- this is kind of long, but it makes a point about breast MRI's.
I had a lumpectomy BEFORE I had this kind of Breast MRI. A "feeling of uncertainty" led me to join a multimodality radiology trial that used the breast MRI as one of the modality's. The MRI picked up two lesions that were not visible on Mammo or UltraSound. Of the 2 lesions found, one of them was larger than the tumor that was removed via lumpectomy. Subsequentally- I had re-excision of the breast (another lumpectomy). These 2 tumors had the potential of being my "recurrances" later on.
As for my untreated breast- The MRI also showed "something" that with follow-up with MRI 6 months later was completely gone. I was told to have the same machine do all my breast MRI's and have a very good radiologist that sees breasts all day do the interpretation.
The breast MRI is extremely helpful in dense breast tissue ( the reason for some of my cancer not being visible on mammo and UltraSound). The one I had (as most are) was computerized. Once the image is delivered to the digital computer, it mega-enlarges targeted areas and results in real good close-ups with no loss of resolution. You cannot do this with regular film. Imagine enlarging a photograph on a copier vs. a digital computer.
Although the trial I joined is over- I was told to always use mammo as a standard and keep doing the breast MRI every yr. And to wait 18 months after radiation is complete for MRI of affected breast (otherwise the scar tissue can mimic cancer).
The breast MRI is not bad at all. You lie on your tummy with arms extended and your breasts dangle in a cut-out hole on hte table. No squishing! Take your pillow- or a soft blanket. The worse part of the whole thing is the map of creases on your face from facing down! Good luck!
mts
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