I did not have an MRI, PET, CT, or any other type of scan. Not even an ultrasound. My annual mammogram in March 2014 showed a suspicious cluster of micro calcifications. A second digital mammogram was highly suspicious of atypical dysphasia and a core needle biopsy was recommended. That confirmed dysplasia but since my mom and her sister died fairly young of BC, surgeon recommended a lumpectomy. The lumpectomy revealed a 1cm noninvasive DCIS. That was June 3. I am 10 days post op from a bilat total mastectomy. I have expanders and will be doing reconstruction. My BRCA was negative but I opted for this because I don't ever want to deal with that anxiety and fear again. I also lost my 41yr old sister-in-law 2 years ago to BC. I saw too much chemo, radiation, and recurrence to personally go through it.

My doctors always told me that I had very dense breasts too. That is a red flag to anyone who is having mammograms or ultrasounds to determine if their breast are healthy. I had multiple mammograms and ultrasounds over a period of 3 years where they saw something small that they said looked like a calcium deposit or cyst. They told me it was nothing to worry about and to come back in 6 months. In the meantime, it was only getting bigger and harder. They were going to let me go for another 6 months when I told them to please look further into it so they decided to do a biopsy and when I got the results, it was invasive cancer.
I plead with all the women who read this - BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE! IF YOU HAVE DENSE BREASTS, THE ONLY WAY THEY CAN SEE ANYTHING IS THROUGH AN MRI OR BIOPSY. IF SOMETHING DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT TO YOU, DON'T LISTEN TO ANYONE! THE INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE ONLY TRYING TO SAVE MONEY. GO TO YOUR DOCTOR AND DEMAND AN MRI OR NEEDLE BIOPSY!
I had to go through 4 months of chemo (yes, I lost my hair) 6 1/2 weeks of radiation and I had a double mastectomy but I am alive! This is happening much too often ! After I was diagnosed my 2 older sisters were also told that it was nothing and they too demanded MRI's and sure enough, they had breast cancer too and we don't even have the BRCA Gene. One sister had a double mastectomy like me(but no chemo or radiation) and the other had caught it in time and had a lumpectomy and 10 rounds of ratiation. I mean, really? 3 sisters with breast cancer in the span of a year? They really need to change the way that they are diagnosing this. So please DEMAND to find out the minute they suspect something. Don't wait, like I did and trust that they know everything. I hope my story can actually help other women. If my misdiagnosis can save anyone elsfrom going through what I went through, then I will be satisfied.

I had regular mammogram, digital mammogram, ultrasound biopsy and had 2 lumps in 1 breast . 2mm and 8mm. Did not do lumpectomy for fear of not getting it all having disfigured breast from 2 lumps removed, so chose to do double mastectomy and reconstruction and never regretted 1 minute of it. Thankfully no lymph nodes effected but diagnosis of rumors was triple negative and HR2 positive. Did 6 chemo treatments and a full year of herceptin. I religiously went every year for mammogram, saw the doctor, did self checks and within 1 year 2 aggressive rumors found and I never felt them or had any irregular changes. If you cannot be your own advocate make sure you have someone with you to ask lots and lots of questions.

Ladies, as sure you might think you will avoid another DX of BC after mastectomy, you are wrong. So wrong. After my mastectomy on my left and I ended up going with DIEP for reconstruction. Five years after the surgery and nine years after the first DX, I got stuck with BC AGAIN!! on the same side!! Where? There is no breast tissue in the mound on the left side. How did that happen? And it was the same cancer as the first time, invasive lobular BC, How did that happen? It sure did in a wee bit of the skin just above the incision.

This time around I was definitely protective of my mound created with my tummy tissue. No surgery would be performed on that side until and unless I had some confidence that that mound wouldn't be destroyed. I might have seemed to be a cranky old patient but my questions and concerns were addressed and a good team was formed as I made a decision to get rid of that monster again.

Oncotype DX was done to determine that I didn't need chemo but this time I did use heavy artillery (radiation) to make damn sure that thing would not try to return.

Moral of my story: Removing a breast is not a guaranteed way to completely remove the source of cancer. Pay close attention to that same area for appearance of any lumps or changes.

I had an MRI before my bilateral mastectomy. It confirmed that my cancer was in both breasts. I had extremely dense breasts, and had I known, would've demanded an MRI years, earlier. My surgeon said my cancer had gone undetected for years. All women with dense breasts should request an MRI. Mammograms, ultra-sounds, clinical exams, and self exams are not nearly enough! I had invasive lobular cancer. By the time it was found on a mammogram, the right side was 4.2 cm. The MRI showed the left side was 1 cm. The main problem with MRI's is getting insurance companies to cover them. If they would only realize that early detection would save them money. Every woman with dense breast should be entitled to an MRI, every few years! My MRI put me in excruciating pain, but woth it to justify a bilateral mastectomy.