Why an MRI now?

Hi I hope this helps a little. The team meeting is between your consultant and other health professionals including his or her's professional colleagues. breast specialist nurses, radiotherapy experts,  radiologists, etc. They meet weekly in NHS hospitals to discuss and optimise the treatment plan for each patient. Needing an MRI is a tool in the diagnostic part of this. It will help to guide your treatment plan.

With regards to the actual MRI, this doesn't hurt, a little noisy (I felt like I was inside a noisy washing machine). The technician doing the test will offer you headhones to listen to music whilst in the machine and give you a buzzer in case to need to come out at any time during the procedure. You lay on your front with your breasts in cups. 

Please don't worry, your team will be doing the very best for you. Hugs and best wishes to you on this journey we would all prefer not to be on. X

, 

Hi, if I can reassure you a little, I also had an MRI early on, before I had my treatment plan. I understand an MRI can provide a more accurate picture of the cancer, so the team know what they are dealing with. It helps clarify what the ultrasound shows. In my case, and it is not the same for everyone, I had chemo before surgery, i had 3 MRIs during chemo, each time they could see the cancer shrinking so they could tell the chemo was working.

An MRI is a pretty common procedure in diagnosis and treatment so, and yes, easy for me to say, try not to worry too much,  This first phase, before a treatment plan is known, was the most difficult and frustrating for me. I hope you get your results and plan quickly.  Best wishes 

Gosh you’re up early! Thank you so much for your reply.

I do understand why to all the tests but was just a little thrown yesterday with the breast nurse ringing to say I needed an MRI. Why wasn’t this booked in with all the other tests at the time? It makes me think they’ve found something more. 

Hi, thanks so much for your reply. I really appreciate it. I’m off for my bone scan in a bit but am still thrown as to why an MRI was suddenly requested and not before? 

MRI gives a better view, if something had shown up on CT then they may want to be sure. I had everything confirmed, then told I need a MRI so off I went for an MRI. The MRI showed up some concerns and I then had to have a PET Scan. However, the PET scan was clear :) I found its rather like a jigsaw with a few pieces missing and as they have MDT meetings they look for missing pieces. It is very frustrating and worrying but really all the consultant wants is the full picture. 

Yes I know, it’s all pieces of a jigsaw. Thank you for your reply. Xx

I had an MRI on my liver after the CT scans and nuclear bone scan as the found a hemangioma (common and not sinister), but wanted a clearer picture. 

It may be that they have now narrowed down treatment options and found themselves needing the additional information in order to make their final decision. They would not have been able to predict this need prior to seeing what exactly it was they were dealing with, but now that they have the data from the other scans as well as the biopsies, they find themselves at this junction, needing that particular answer from the MRI. Just a theory, but based on my own experience at different points while dealing with diagnosis and treatment.

That makes sense. Thank you for replying x

Hi sorry to jump in on your conversation but can I ask a really silly question re MRI scan?- do you have to remove nail varnish?  It was mentioned somewhere online about no varnish and no makeup. that I’m in the mood to get tarted up for a hospital appt. I’m scared enough about the scan as I’m worried about having a meltdown in there ♀️

any advice would be welcome. I know this is a trivial question in the scheme of things when everyone’s going through major problems xx