Breast Cancer Diaries #12: My Breast MRI Experience
Breast cancer testing isn’t just mammograms and biopsies—sometimes it means facing the dreaded breast MRI experience. Today I’m sharing exactly what it was like: the noise, the discomfort, the humor that got me through, and the relief of finally hearing back about my BRCA results.
Seems fitting that today is the 12th entry and I’m writing it on January 12th. Today was, without exaggeration, the worst day since finding out I have breast cancer. Why? Because today was my breast MRI experience—and let me tell you, it was something I hope to never repeat.
MRI Hell
For anyone unfamiliar, an MRI is a test where you get an IV, slide into a narrow tube, and lie perfectly still while the machine makes what sounds like a construction site’s worth of banging and pounding around you. It usually takes 30–45 minutes, which feels like forever when you’re inside the machine.
Now, a regular MRI can already be unnerving, especially if you don’t like tight spaces or loud noises. But a breast MRI? That’s next-level torture. First, the nurses had to wrestle with my stubborn veins until they finally struck gold and got the IV in place. Then I had to climb onto this very specialized table designed just for breast MRIs. The setup is awkward, to put it mildly—you lie face down with your boobs dangling through two little holes, like some bizarre parody of a carnival ride.
And of course, my brain being what it is, I couldn’t stop humming my own parody of “Do Your Ears Hang Low” only with the words swapped for, well… you can guess.
The Hell Continues
If that wasn’t enough, the table also had a cutout for your face—like on a massage table—only without the soft terry cloth lining that makes it even remotely comfortable. Instead, my poor face was smushed against hot, hard plastic. Add in the fact that my arms had to be stretched straight over my head, and I was miserable before the machine even started.
Then the pounding began. The breast MRI experience includes a symphony of buzzing, clanking, and jackhammering noises that seem designed to rattle every bone in your body. Earplugs or headphones only do so much—it’s like trying to nap during a rock concert. For 45 straight minutes, I lay there, face burning, arms aching, chest pressed into the table, and ears filled with noise.
By the end, I was convinced that if there’s such a thing as hell on Earth, it lives inside an MRI machine. I half-joked with myself that I’d sign off on a double mastectomy just to avoid having to ever do this test again. That’s how brutal it felt.
More Waiting
So now, once again, I wait. My next big step is meeting with the surgeon on the 16th. Twin A and Twin B are coming with me to that appointment. It feels important for them to hear everything firsthand—from the treatment options to the risks—rather than me trying to translate medical language into mom-speak later. They also have their own questions, and I’d rather the surgeon answer them directly.
On a slightly brighter note, there’s one piece of waiting I no longer have to do. My BRCA gene test results finally came back, and they were negative. I’d been fairly confident, since my 23andMe results suggested the same thing, but hearing it officially from a medical lab carries a different weight. That reassurance, even if it doesn’t change much about my day-to-day right now, is still a big emotional lift.
Reflections on the Breast MRI Experience
Walking out of the imaging center, I felt wrung out—physically sore, emotionally drained, and oddly proud that I had survived it. The truth is, none of these steps in the breast cancer journey are easy. Each test, each appointment, is its own mountain to climb. The breast MRI experience might have been hellish, but it’s also another box checked, another part of the process behind me.
And if sharing the messy, funny, frustrating truth about it helps someone else facing their own MRI feel a little less blindsided, then maybe it’s worth putting it all down here.
If you’re preparing for a breast MRI experience and want to know more about what’s happening behind the scenes, the
American Cancer Society explains breast MRI testing
in detail. You can also visit
Breastcancer.org’s page on breast MRI tests
for a patient-friendly breakdown of what to expect before, during, and after the procedure.
Want to follow more of my journey? Read about my
“date with a vampire” BRCA gene test,
or my reflections on the emotional side of this journey in
“Feelings: Living with Breast Cancer Emotions.”
You can also explore the full collection of posts in my
Breast Cancer Diaries.
