MRI of the Breast

When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in February of 2012, my surgeon told me that my cancer was located outside of the bell curve which is a term that they use.  Apparently, most breast cancer is located within a bell shape curve of the breast.  My cancer was on the outside of that bell curve.  My cancer was also unusual in the fact that I had 2 different spots where I had cancer at.  My case was so different that my surgeon said he had never had a patient like me in his 20+ years of practice.  I of all people would be the odd one with something like this! 

From day one my surgeon recommended that I should have a mastectomy.  I'll have to admit that is a hard decision to make.  I didn't really want to have a mastectomy at first.  I was wanting to have a lumpectomy, but I didn't want to have to have radiation.  When you are diagnosed with breast cancer there are an array of decisions you have to make.  With door number one you get this and with door number two you have to do that.  It makes you feel like you are gambling with your life trying to pick the right door to go through.  

My surgeon told me he would talk to a panel of doctors that are on the staff at the hospital about my case since it was so unusual.  He called me one morning and told me that he had talked to one of his old college professors about me.  He suggested that I have a MRI to make sure I didn't have any other cancer that the mammogram or the ultrasound didn't pick up.  I did my research about what to expect when you have an MRI so there wouldn't be any surprises.  After watching a video of a woman getting an MRI I decided that I could go to the hospital alone.  I think I made the wrong decision by going alone. 

When you get there a nurse will ask you a lot of questions.  She will ask if you have any surgery where you would have any metal clips or if you have ever gotten any metal stuck in a cut or things of that nature.  You are not allowed to wear your wedding ring or any jewelry at all.  You are not even allowed to wear a rubber band if it has the metal clip that holds it together.  I have long hair so I found a real old fashioned rubber band that I wore.  I also wore a pair of jogging pants to be on the safe side and also to be more comfortable.  The only thing different from my MRI and the video is that they will have you to take the robe off so that your breast will fit inside of the holes that are on that table.  They probably had her to leave it on just for the sake of the video.

Everything was going pretty good until when I was inside of the MRI machine for probably 3 minutes or so.  I started feeling a burning sensation in the breast that had the cancer.  I could feel a vibration in that breast also.  Then I remembered that when I had my biopsies they shot 4 of those little markers inside my breast so they would know where to look for the cancer later on.  They had gave me a panic button where I could talk to the technician so I pressed that panic button and told them what was going on.  I then told them I felt like I was going to throw up.  I then told them I felt like I was going to pass out.  At that point they were backing me out of the machine and one of the technicians had an ammonia capsule to keep me from passing out.  They quickly got me into a wheel chair and took me to a waiting area.  I was so dizzy and jittery.  They told me that the little markers were not metal and should not have been moving around in there.  All I know is I did feel something!  I would have to say that was my first not sure if you would call it a panic attack or not, but I had never done that before.  I also was having trouble breathing because the hole that they have you to put your face through just doesn't have enough clearance for air to get in for you to breath.  Then with your arms up and around your face it made it so the air that might would have gotten in there wouldn't go there because my arms were in the way.  They really need to redesign that part of the process. 

It took me a good half hour before didn't feel as dizzy and jittery.  I ended up having to call my husband to come and get me.  He had someone drop him off at the hospital and he drove me home after we stopped to get something to eat.  I called my surgeon's office and told them what happened.  They called back and said he really wants me to have that MRI.  They rescheduled it for the next morning.  They also prescribed me a valium to take before the test so I could get it done. 

The next morning I woke up and took that little white pill.  My husband went with me this time.  The technicians asked my husband if he would sit in there with me.  Being the best husband in the world that he is he sat in a chair where I could see him with a mirror.  They gave him some earplugs and they also gave me some earplugs.  I made it through the MRI test that time!  During the test they will push a dye into your veins.  It does give you a bad taste/smell in which the technician will tell you to breath through your mouth.  That really did help.  I will have to say that I am probably the only person who has ever had this experience with the MRI test so don't let my experience keep you from having this test.  It is a very important, very expensive, test that some women do need so you can make the right decisions about your cancer.  I actually have a friend who just had this same test recently and she did not have any problems with the test at all.

That same afternoon my surgeon called me at home and told me that they had found another very small suspicious spot on the other side of my right breast.  That would make me have 3 different spots with cancer!  The good news was I didn't have any suspicious spots on the left breast.  He also told me about his meeting with the board of doctors.  All of the doctors recommended that I have a mastectomy.  After hearing the recommendations of the doctors and hearing the results of my MRI I told him I would have the mastectomy.  I do not regret that decision at all.   

Angela