A visit to the boobie specialist

The girls were up front and centre again today having their moment in the sun.

The breast specialist was GREAT. I really liked him. He did another ultrasound when I was with him just to check where I’d found the lump which doesn’t feel so much like a lump anymore but like a bar of fat or tissue or something. Apparently there is a cyst under that bar that maybe have been bigger last month and may have been the pea shaped lump that I could feel. Anyway, all looks good.

He did however seemed alarmed about my family history and the fact that I’ve had 3 aunts all diagnosed with breast cancer in their 40s which aren’t so far away for me anymore. So he has said this is what we’ll do:

1. Get an MRI just to check what’s going on. I’ve got quite a bit of this glandular tissue which you can’t see through well on a mammogram so the MRI will shows us more and also give us a baseline to refer to.

2. I can call for MRI results and if there are any issues they’ll bring me in, otherwise I see him for a follow up in about 4 months to see what is going on where the lump was at.

3. Time to start annual mammograms and ultrasounds and also MRIs. Yup MRIs too. Essentially I go for an appt with his rooms yearly, at that appt I get a referral for the mam and ultrasound which I do together. THEN in 6 months I have an MRI. And this continues like this until I’m about 50 which seems forever away and not that far away all at once. Yikes. He asked me if I would find that too intense and let’s face it, it is intense but I said I’d rather be closely monitored given the family history and he said EXACTLY.

Thankfully I am actually eligible for free MRIs as I have multiple family members with an early diagnosis. Thank god for that. Those babies are $440 a pop without the subsidy!

Oh and he was also really specific about where I should get all my scans done as some places have more cutting edge machines than others. So I am onto that now.

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Upcoming IVF cycle

So he (the specialist) had this big thing about continually suggesting I put off my next IVF cycle to get the MRI done as once I’m preggers no can do. It was FREAKING me out I have to tell you as it would probably mean a 2 month break as opposed to putting it off for a month as I don’t think I can double prime (2 months straight of testosterone cream? I don’t think so).

The MRI has to be done around cycle day 10 and I will be swollen with eggs and full of hormones right about then for my next cycle and he was concerned that all that crap going in could change the integrity of the breasts and not show an accurate result. I get it. I don’t want that either.

I explained that we don’t actually do a fresh transfer as we do the genetic testing so suggested I could do the MRI the following month. With any luck it will be a natural FET cycle and I will be hormone free in the first half of the cycle. He seemed happy with this. He also called my IVF clinic while I was in the room which I thought was pretty awesome (they are actually located across the road and round the corner – HA!). He gave them a run down and will also send a copy of my report to them as well as my GP. Hopefully they don’t make me put off my cycle. ARGH. Honestly I’m not chasing it with the clinic. If they want to see me about it they can call, otherwise I’m just going to carry on as if everything is as per the plan.

So, in short, all looks fine. I have an extremely vigilant specialist who seems really onto it and for that I am truly grateful. I think it works out that roughly 3 times per year someone is going to get having a gawk at my boobs so seriously, if something is going to happen then they should be onto that shit right away.