Jennifer L. Benjamin

You should have genetic testing done to determine if you carry the BRCA genes that put you at increased risk for breast cancer. You should also request MRI breast screening based on your family history. This will reduce your risk of exposure to radiation from mammograms. Radiation from mammograms is minimal, but if you are looking to start screening at your young age you should try to avoid radiation exposure as much as possible since it is cumulative over your lifetime and cannot be undone. That being said, sometimes the risk of a mammogram is worth it to reap the benefit of early detection of breast cancer. It’s a balancing act. I’d push for MRI screening, preferably somewhere that has a large center or university medical center dedicated to breast imaging.

There are different types of skin cancer. Family history can play some role in your risk of getting skin cancer but the greater factor that creates risk is sun exposure for all types of skin cancer. The other factor that increases risk for skin cancer is having other types of cancers. If you have one type of cancer, your body has had some trigger that responds with over growth of abnormal cells. No one can calculate exactly what your individual risk of getting cancer may be based on your family history, personal history of other cancer or sun exposure.

What we can do is identify the factors, exposures and behaviors that generally increase risk for anyone. Whatever your family history is, you can’t change it or do anything about it, so worrying about it is useless. You can’t change past exposures to toxins, radiation, or the sun.

What you should focus on is changing the things that are within your control. For example, you can choose to reduce the amount of sun exposure by covering up and using sun blocks. You can choose to get skin cancer exams if you are concerned about a lesion. You can choose to eat things that improve your health.

Be wise, be safe, worry less, and make good choices.

Yes. Your body needs iodine and uses it every day. There is iodine in both she'll fish and CT contrast but that is not the antigenic agent. It is something else. While it used to be thought the allergy to shellfish precluded the use of iodinated contrast, that is no longer the case. If you are concerned you can premedicate with an antihistamine like Benedryl and ask your primary care physician for a prescription of steroids to take thirteen hours and one hour before iodinated/CT contrast administration. ALWAYS drink 4-8 glasses of water before and after the contrast in order to protect and flush your kidneys.

MR contrast is Gadolinium. CT contrast is iodine based. Both create organ enhancement that usually make it easier to detect pathology. Each type of contrast is specific for its modality. They are not interchangeable. There are instances when it is unnecessary to use contrast (like for CT for kidney stones) or inadvisable due to kidney failure or history of allergic reaction.

There are intraparotid lymph nodes that can get enlarged if the parotid gland is infected. A parotid mass could be a malignancy. A mass can be a lymph node or a malignancy. Lymph nodes are not worrisome unless they are very large due to lymphoma, another form of malignancy. Another type of malignant mass like pleoprphic adenoma is more worrisome. Wait until you get the biopsy results back. Hopefully, that will be definitive and then you can rest easy if it is just a regular or inflamed lymph node. If it's anything else, then you can begin to do more research on the type of malignancy it is. Just a word of caution, FNA can sometimes not collect enough cells and you may need to have a biopsy done with a larger needle. Hopefully, that won't be the case.