I’m thinking about asking to get a baseline MRI to screen for breast cancer. I have two friends who were recently diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer. Normal mammograms, both of them insisted upon getting MRI’s against doctors advice because of some concerns…cancer. Thank God they were assertive.
I have no familial risk factors (though there are very few women in my immediate family), but I feel my job puts me at high risk. I’ve read studies saying that women in my occupation have 2-5 times the risk of the general population, and it seems that half of the older women that I know at my job have had some sort of cancer. Maybe I’m a little paranoid because of this, or maybe I’m just proactive. I get regular mammograms every year or two, but I know they miss many cancers.
Has anyone had this done before they had symptoms? What are the drawbacks? I’m pretty sure my insurance would cover it, and if not, I’d be willing to pay for it.
The drawback, aside from cost, is the sensitivity of MRI leading to unnecessary follow up biopsies (which are not fun and also have risks). I’d discuss with a medical oncologist.
I don’t know, @carachel2. Nobody has mentioned anything about breast density, so I’m guessing it’s nothing out of the normal.
@politeperson, I have been referred by my PCP to a breast specialist within the clinic. I’m really trying to figure out now if I have a leg to stand on, if this is a reasonable request, or something I shouldn’t even be pursuing. Hopefully I’ll have enough of a clue to ask some intelligent questions.
Glad your two friends are okay. Did they have familial risk?
If your employer wouldn’t cover it should you decide to go that route, I’d check with your union. Given your higher risk due to occupational reasons, they really should.
One of them did, her mother died from an aggressive form of breast cancer in her thirties. She was getting MRI’s, but she wanted them more often than her doctor recommended, so I think she couldn’t get a referral. She was very angry because she though the cancer would have been caught when it was stage 0, instead of spreading to her lymph nodes, and regretted not being more assertive. The other friend had no familial risk, however, as a sonographer, she had seen many women with breast cancer, and when her doctor told her not to worry about those spots on her breast, she insisted on an MRI.
My employer insurance is very good, they’ve never turned me down for anything that I can think of. It’s still good old fashioned comprehensive union insurance.
Thanks for the link, politeperson, I’ll take a look!
@busdriver11 --I would not assume anything about breast density. A lot of times the note/interpretation about breast density appears as a small paragraph and the breast density can be quite high, but is not otherwise flagged as an abnormal report.
I would call specifically and ask to have a copy of the entire report sent to me. Then you and your referring provider should discuss your relative risk in light of family history, breast density, exam findings, etc. Those factors will work together to guide you in what you should do.
Would an ultrasound suffice or is that not diagnostic enough?
My Dr suggests both ultrasound and mammogram annually and while many people prefer to schedule the two for the same appointment, I schedule them six months apart so that I am being looked at twice a year. Still only one mammogram and one U/S per year, but I figure that maybe something different will present or something will be caught six months sooner. Nothing has ever been found, so really just an abundance of caution.
I thought MRIs were for people with dense breasts. It’s harder to see cancer in dense breasts. In our area it costs about $600 and no insurance covers it.
I had an MRI of my breasts as a freebie when the machine had just arrived at the radiologists. I think it was 3-4 years ago. 2000 or so views and it was all fine. I have no family history.
They did see something around my heart. I had an EKG which was inconclusive so I had to have a chest x-ray. It was just a pericardial cyst. So, the MRI did lead to an unneeded test and even though I had the MRI my doctor thought I should have a mammogram too because it is a different type of image and they all see a different way.
The only negative about the MRI was that you lay on your stomach and have to have your head to one side, for 45 minutes, while your breasts dangle through holes in the table! Hopefully they have improved the design since then so you can at least have your face looking straight down, like on a massage table.
You know, I keep thinking of those tv shows where people don’t realize they have metal somewhere in their body, and it gets gruesomely ripped out, like a horror show. I think I don’t have any metal, but…
My doctor orders rotating mammograms and MRIs and my insurance pays for them. I am considered high risk because my sister had bc, I have dense tissue, and never gave birth (adopted kids). The mammogram caught the DCIS a few months ago. There is also something called an MBI now, but I don’t think it’s as accurate as an MRI. I have to take Xanax before an MRI, as I feel claustrophobic.
The MRI I had rolled me in feet first and my head was barely inside so it didn’t bother me. Then again, I’ve had a few brain MRIs where you’re really in there so I’ve gotten used to it.
My guess was that it’s not expensive because the insurance doesn’t cover. A little over $300 for the hospital and just under $300 for the physician. From the get go, they said the insurance won’t cover it regardless which insurance. It made me think maybe we would all be better off without insurance. jus have a catastrophic insurance and pay most routine items out of pocket? Am I being political here?
