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MRI-guided biopsy?

MoonMin
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Hi there, 

I was called back to the hospital yesterday because of a 'new area' they saw on my recent annual MRI.  I was diagnosed with Stage 2 HER2+ breast cancer aged 37 in 2015.   I had an ultrasound yesterday but they said because it's so small they need to do an MRI-guided biopsy.  They don't do these at my local hospital and are referring me to the Royal Marsden in London.  I asked how long it would be for the appt and they said it would depend on how many other referrals that the Marsden has.  I'm so scared my cancer has come back and have been suffering with my mental health anyway, I don't think I can cope with having such a long wait to find out.  I understand there aren't many hospitals that do this MRI biopsy - do you know of any private hospitals that do this and what sort of cost it would be?  

Thanks & kind regards

  • Hello and thanks for posting,

    Unfortunately, I am not able to tell you this, as our experience is mainly with NHS services. However, The Royal Marsden Hospital has it's own private patients wing. 

    So, you could contact them separately, for advice.

    www.royalmarsden.nhs.uk/.../contact-us-about-private-care

    There is another website that has details of private health services,

    www.privatehealth.co.uk/

    You would maybe need to make contact with one of the larger private hospitals based in a larger town or city, as they may provide a broader range of services.

    Some of the larger London NHS hospitals, also have private patient wings, so maybe look some up on their main hospital websites to see,

    I hope that this has been helpful, 

    Wishing you the best,

    Vanda

  • Offline in reply to CRUK Nurse Vanda

    Hi Vanda, 

    Thanks so much for responding to my earlier message.  I left my breast care nurse a message this morning to try and find out more about when my appt is likely to be.  In the meantime, I did contact the hospital and they said they don't do the scan unless you are already a patient under their care and not as a one-off.  Someone else also recommended other hospitals so I contacted them and they said they don't have a waiting list and would be able to see me within a few days.  They couldn't tell me how much it would be though without my referral though (a standard MRI is £815). 

    My BCN called me back and said my hospital will send the referral on Thurs after their MDT meeting, they will review it on Tuesday at their MDT meeting and she thinks I'm likely to get my appt next Friday or if not, the following Monday.  I'm feeling much better now knowing roughly when it will be.  Plus by the time I'd get the referral to a private hospital, it would only save me about 3-4 days so I'm going to wait. 

    I hope this info helps someone else and thanks again for coming back me. 

    Kindest regards,

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