Sore throat, swollen neck lymph nodes: Will this affect my mammogram?

I had an enlarged 7mm level one axillary lymph node that apparently was caused by a viral infection. It was found at my one year follow up MRI. I also had a mammogram the day before but it was not in the scanned area so undetected. They labeled it Birads 3 with no definite sign of malignancy. It still maintained that half moon shape with the fatty hilum and cortex. Just overall large and lit up very brightly on the scan. Evidently 12mm is when they really get worried.

Recommendation was to wait 6 months and do another MRI. It turned out ok. I was probably more concerned about it than I needed to be. The location just gave me the willies. I was not, and had not been, sick for at least a few weeks before the scan, and I did not have any other enlarged lymph nodes. But I am routinely exposed to new viruses from the toddler grandkids who attend daycare. So I’m not surprised that I may have had a lingering response that caused the inflammation.

I think you've had your mammogram now. How did it go?

Thank you for your follow up question! It went well, no lymph nodes were swollen and they did have to do a few extra views due to my scar tissue from my reduction but it was benign and so it said Bi Rads 2-benign, but I have to say it was a scary few hours at the clinic! I ended up hugging the nurse, when she said it was all good, I started jumping up and down and asked if I could hug her and she happily obliged. I guess scanxiety is going to be an annual event for me but I just pray for us all that we come out with healthy results. Thank you for asking!

And thank you for a great report! I think most of us suffer from scanxiety so it is positive to hear that everything was ok. Glad to get good news from you.

Let's all hope and have faith that one day cancer will be a thing of the past. The only good thing I can say about cancer is it's a life lesson you will never forget and maybe it changes our perspective for the better, as we take far less for granted and not getting our feathers ruffled over small stuff.
And once treatment is over, something to celebrate and each good test result after that 🙂