Results in from biopsy mri booked.... But then waiting

The waiting for scans and results is the worst part.

The MRI takes quite a long time (maybe half an hour) so a full MRI would take much longer - and would be much more expensive. I had a full body CT scan (throat to pelvis) before chemo to check for spread.

The MRI will give them more information about the lump itself, so size and shape and will allow them to plan for surgery

Whether you have surgery first or you need chemo, or you have chemo second etc will be completely down to what your team think is s best for you. They tailor everything to your unique cancer so your treatment plan will look different from others.

I had hormone-positive BC but it was on my chest wall so they wanted to shrink it first with chemo and then I had lumpectomy and radiotherapy, and now 5 years of hormone treatment to suppress all oestrgen in my body (I was pre-menopausal).

You should know much more when you get your results for your MRI. Do you have any other appointments booked in after MRI? I was very lucky and had my next appointment booked in each time so I knew exactly when I was getting results and what was happening next.

One step at a time, they will be doing the best for you.

Thank you that's very informative. X

I have no idea about any other appointments, that would be useful to know a bit in advance.

I wish everything wasn't always down to money... It shouldn't be like that. But it is what it is I suppose.

Thank you for answering my questions and hope your treatment is going well x

I'm not a medical expert so I don't think the MRI will be just down to money, apologies, I didn't mean that to be the main factor.  It probably just makes more sense to do a CT scan as it can cover your whole body quickly and when you're in the same position. For the breast MRI, you have to lie face down and for other areas, face up. They also have different things for you to put various part of your body in, so I would imagine one person having an MRI for everything would take the whole day! Not practical when you can do a CT scan in a10 minutes.

Maybe the next time you see your surgeon or BCN, you could ask them to give you more details on timescales and appointments. Everything flowed so well for me, but I know other health boards may not be as good.

No apologies needed

It is probably time and money. I have a son with down syndrome and everything seems to be about time and money.... It is what runs the world.

I will ask, it is making me stressed because I have a lot of appointments with my son to fit in too. I have to chase a lot of things up with that so I'm extra anxious.

Hopefully things will move on quickly after Thursday

The waiting is so hard, I know.  For me, mine is grade 3, was 56mm but no sign of spread.  Also HER+ and Hormone positive.  I am part way through chemo and will have surgery in the summer, then radiotherapy after that.  What I am learning is that everyone's treatment is different, very personalised. I hope you find things to distract you from thinking about it and that you get your treatment plan soon x

Everyone's treatment plan  is different I found my lump end of Jan this year was told  my breast cancer was stage 1 ER+HER2+ DCIS  no spread to Nodes I had my  breast conserving surgery first  in Feb then 12weeks of chemo that started end of March just finished it 2weeks ago I have to have 18 herceptin injections 1 every 3weekly until Jan next year now waiting for 1 week of radiotherapy next month then tablets for 5 maybe 10 years maybe get back intouch with your GP to find out what's going on or your BC nurse hope you find out soon regards Belinda x

Hey there, I was recent diagnosed grade 2, estrogen fed, hers2 negative.

i had issues with my MRI appt and I finally found out that due to my age (40) and the breast tissue is so dense I had to call them on the 1st day of my period to get slotted in a set window as the hormone changes. So I presume as you have a 8 month old timing is everything. 

what hospital are you under. I was absolutely fretting and just called my breast nurse and she got on the case for me as waiting in them I would have had to postpone surgery and wait another 4 weeks as discovery was just in between. 

my story is surgery first, tumour and lymph nodes removed for further investigation and that will determine if chemo is then needed but I know it’s radiation and hormones blockers but they will make sure they get the right plan for you. 

I will not say try to remain calm as that just doesn’t happen, and if your like me it’s surreal and I still didn’t believe it until I woke from surgery.. 

if you can take someone with you to the mri, it doesn’t hurt but I had a wicked reaction to the magnetic stuff and I have had about 10 mri due to back surgery  xx