second primary breast cancer

[Becky]

The main problem with MRI is that it finds a whole bunch of things. I want to get one but my radiation onc warns that "I could open Pandora's box" for nothing. Like you, I had no previous baseline and I have had cancer on the right and 2 surgical biopsies on the left so I am sure both breasts would show nothing but a big ole mess on MRI.

Like you are going through now, anything that can't easily be explained has to be investigated (opening Pandora's box) because it would be remiss just in case it is something.

Also, even though common things like cysts and FA's seem to be for younger women, this perimenopausal time is when the hormones are a really mess and cause alot of havoc in our bodies. Naturally the breasts are a place for the action of hormones can be evident.

False positives can only be ruled out via biopsy. Keep the faith and I will be thinking about you!

[BonnieR]

Like Becky said, Pandora's Box can be a troublesome thing indeed. I hate bore everyone with my story again, but it is a cautionary tale. Basically, I had a chronic cough and I lighted up some lung scans. The next thing, I was having a surgical biopsy which was positive for lung cancer so they removed a lobe of my lung. A few days later, I was told it was all a big mistake and the biopsy was wrong! It was just an old pneumonia.
My point is, scans can "over read" things but once they do, it has to be followed up. And then people can get overly vigilant because they dont want to miss anything.
I think this is part of the argument why routine scans can be as much of a problem as they can be of help.
The other part of my message is to keep the faith because even when things look grim they are not always what they seem, at all.