MRI Testing

I was referred for an MRI so that a full imaging could be done of my chest. Official results will be back Tuesday, after the holiday, but the physician's assistant said that it appears that the tumor is very near the chest wall and may be attached to the muscle. If so, there's a possibility that I may need chemo BEFORE the surgery to shrink the tumor and to make surgery less invasive.

RESULT: There is nothing in the MRI that makes the surgeon think that chemo is indicated prior to surgery, nor is the lesion big enough to need a mammogram. My surgeon did say that if I were interested in "saving all possible breast tissue" I could do chemo, but the risks may outweigh the benefits. 

They have found a new lesion on my left side, which is 5mm in size. It's about 1.5 cm away from the main lesion. A biopsy has been ordered for the new lesion, which will tell us if it needs to be removed. There is a slight chance that the lesion may be a benign cyst which is a result of the original biopsy but they won't know for certain until they biopsy it.

The surgeon has said that no matter what the result, the treatment plan will be the same. Staging of breast cancer is based on the largest lesion, and there is no change there.