Posted by kel016 on 26 Jan 2012, 10:31PM
Hi, so already had a mastectomy and have been told I have very dense fibrotic breast, which is a large mass. I'm concerned that they won't c anything new arise but my surgeon tells me their mammogram machine is not the norm. Apparently it is a MRI mammogram and I should feel confident with the screening . Been thinking about having a second mastectomy but so unsure. Any thoughts ????
Comments
Dense breast tissue
Hi kel016
Ordinary mammograms don't pick up tumours in dense breast tissue as well as MRI's.
Did you have a MRI of your breast in the large, noisy machine or a mammogram?
How does a MRI mammogram work?
If you had an MRI of your breast it is an excellent scan.
Ask for another opinion if you are having second thoughts about requesting another mastectomy. Odds of a recurrance are different for different women and different types and stages of breast cancer, you need to discuss this with your Surgeon or Oncologist before making a decision.
Once you are fully informed a decision is much easier to make.
With love
Joy K
Dense breasts
Thanks for responding, when I spoke to my surgeon 8 wks ago. He told me that the mammogram machine they use isn't an ordinary mammogram. He said that is was a MRI mammogram and that it would detect anything. He said there were only about 3 in aust and they had one of them. It works and looks just like a normal one, I think the difference is in the films and what they can see. I go to the attunga breast centre at burnside Adelaide . It's a big wing all just for boobs. I'm early bc 2 lymps involved , istu and grade 3 . Prob is the lumps were so tiny that I don't think many people would have felt them, but it quickly found its way to my lymphs. Just trying to get rid of some of the worry.
Dense breasts
I forgot to add my surgeon said I had the boring run of the mill bc, horm post,hert neg
Hi kel016
You are lucky to have that type of breast cancer - many more treatment options and less side effects during on-going treatment.
You can have the targeted treatment for hormone positive breast cancer involving Tamoxifen or if you are post menopausal then the AI's such as Arimidex/Aromosin or Femara.
With love
Joy K
Dense breasts
Yeah that's what they said, I'm on tamoxifen ATM not really any side affects. My bc had a very strong hormone influence, something like 75% driven by hormones. My periods did stop which I was pleased about because I didn't want to take that zoladex injection. Have thought about having ovaries removed but they say that's really drastic, but I have read a lot of lady's on this site have done it as part of their treatment and they have the same type as me!!! I don't want to cut the other one off, nobody's does right?? But the dense mass scares me. I'm going to write everything down next visit as I tend to forget most things when I go and see him. And just see if I'm over reacting. But I never want them to say, don't worry we got it early but we still have to give u the chemo just in case. Thanks again for getting back to me, I live in the country and don't have access to the breast care nurses and support people .xxx
Hi Kel
When I have a mammogram I have an ultrasound as well.Perhaps you could ask for an ultrasound of your breast? or get a second opinion.You are probably going to keep worrying about it and that's normal,given what we've been through.I've had breast cancer twice in the one breast and like you,think about having the other breast off.But I couldn't stomach another operation yet so will just leave it for awhile.You need time to be really sure in your mind that it's the right thing for you to do.
Tonya xx
Mammograms
Hi
As it happens I was off to a CT scan just after your second post. I asked the staff at a very large screening facility in a public hospital in Melbourne about the new MRI Mammogram machine that you spoke of. Everyone was confused and finally we googled the clinic you spoke of.
Their latest press release (November 2011) talks about their new Digital Mammography machine that captures images directly to computer. However it is still mammography, not an MRI scan.
Digital mammograms are certainly better than the normal mammograms but they still have their drawbacks coping with dense breast tissue.
If you are still worried ask to have a breast MRI with contrast, acknowledged as the 'gold class' diagnostic tool. This will set your mind at rest regarding your other breast.
MRI's are expensive, so you will be out of pocket.
With love
Joy K
Dense breasts
Thank you so much for that!!!! I will do that on my next app. Xxxx