My Bilateral Breast MRI

The MRI was just two short days after the surgical consult.  They didn't waste any time at all, and it was bright and early in the morning at 6:30 am.  The funny thing with working in medical imaging is that I know everyone, and so I knew Brandon who did my MRI.  Brandon is a big buff guy and very fit.  I wasn't sure how exactly the MRI would be done, but I was pretty sure that I would show a little more skin than I wanted.

I was right.  Brandon was very professional though, and tried his darnedest to make things as comfortable as possible.  What a sweet guy he was.  To explain a little about the MRI for the breasts, you have to bare the chest and place your breasts in what they call a coil.  You do this while laying on your belly and your breasts just hang there.  It can be a bit uncomfortable, but Brandon did his best.

The exam itself was around 45 minutes long, and it required MRI contrast as well.  This meant that I needed an IV for the contrast.  The first part would be without contrast, and then about half way through the contrast or gadolinium would be administered.  The feeling I experienced when the gadolinium was administered was a bit unsettling.  I did get a little flush, and my heart rate increased and I had a little bit of a hard time breathing.  I concentrated on deep breathing, and soon it passed.

Before I knew it, the exam was finished.  After Brandon pulled me out, I asked him if there was any breathing motion on the images.  I wasn't given any breathing instructions, and I was a bit surprised.  He said that of course there was a bit of motion on the pictures since I was just "dangling there" (great terminology, huh?), but that as long as I didn't move my neck or arms for that matter it wasn't a big deal.

I did have to get a chest x-ray as well just to check my lungs for metastasis as the lungs, bones, and liver are the most common area for mets.  This would involve another friend from imaging, and a dear one at that.  Larry was my guy.  He is a sweet man that has poker parties at his home often for many of the employees.  His wife Becky is equally dear to me.  He was good with the news, and I was grateful for his prayers and well wishes.

Before I left work, I stopped at the film library to sign a release so I could have access to my imaging and the reports associated with them.  This involved yet another innocent victim.  No big deal.  Sweet Lori didn't even ask any questions, so that made explaining things that much easier.

The results were fairly good for this.  The right breast was completely clear, but there were multiple lymph nodes identified on the left side that were presumably cancerous.  There was not sign of mets to the lungs or liver though.  The chest x-ray confirmed what they saw in the MRI with the lungs
being clear.  Yay!