Why should you check your breasts? Let me tell you a little story...
Mid-December, as I was getting ready to shower, I felt marble sized lump inside my left breast that moved around a little. I started to panic but I waited until the next day to see if it were still there (duh, of course it still was), and decided to call my doctor's office. I was freaking out. What if it were nothing and I was fussing over it like a hypochondriac? What if it were cancer? They scheduled an appointment for me the next day to see a nurse practitioner.
The NP groped me. Told me it was PROBABLY a fibroadenoma but that I needed to go see a specialist. She said it could be a cyst, or something else. So the possibilities were cyst (fluid filled, easily drained or could drain itself), fibroadenoma (fibrous lump that was harmless), or cancer. She said that because of my age and how it felt, it was probably harmless. She said there was about a 90% chance it'd be fine.
I went to see the breast surgeon, who groped me and said she was about 90% sure that it was a fibroadenoma. But she couldn't be sure, so she scheduled an ultrasound.
So I went in for the ultrasound. They took a look, told me that it definitely wasn't a cyst. I was kind of bummed, because this seemed like the least terrible of three current possibilities (cyst, fibroadenoma or cancer). They said it was probably fibroadenoma, because of the shape and my age. But they were only about 90% sure.
I was getting pretty sick of this 90% number. Yeah, 90% is a good grade on a test. But thinking that 1 out of 10 lumpy boobs would be cancerous didn't make me feel better. Neither did my friends who said they'd had a lump and it turned out to be nothing serious. Didn't that just make my odds seem worse?
At the end of the ultrasound, they said I had three choices. Complete removal, a biopsy, or ultrasounds every 6 months for the next two years. I decided on the biopsy. Just get it over once and for all. And it will probably be nothing. PROBABLY. But I'm not a gambling kind of gal, and I wanted to have a definite answer, not a probable answer.
So early Monday morning, I went in to get a biopsy. I had been told at one of my prior appointments that they'd just numb up the area and take a bit of the lump out. Nope! I had deep sedation, and then surgery. The surgeon said that it looked like a fibroadenoma. Fortunately, I was fine after surgery. Afterwards, I didn't have to take much vicodin, and the incision seems to be healing normally. My breast looks a little worse for wear (yeah, that huge bruise is really hot), but I'm glad this whole ordeal is over.
Ladies, check your breasts regularly. Be familiar with the lumps and bumps, and get them examined by your physician! While I was lucky this time, I'm going to be careful about continuing to check my breasts for any changes.
Mid-December, as I was getting ready to shower, I felt marble sized lump inside my left breast that moved around a little. I started to panic but I waited until the next day to see if it were still there (duh, of course it still was), and decided to call my doctor's office. I was freaking out. What if it were nothing and I was fussing over it like a hypochondriac? What if it were cancer? They scheduled an appointment for me the next day to see a nurse practitioner.
The NP groped me. Told me it was PROBABLY a fibroadenoma but that I needed to go see a specialist. She said it could be a cyst, or something else. So the possibilities were cyst (fluid filled, easily drained or could drain itself), fibroadenoma (fibrous lump that was harmless), or cancer. She said that because of my age and how it felt, it was probably harmless. She said there was about a 90% chance it'd be fine.
I went to see the breast surgeon, who groped me and said she was about 90% sure that it was a fibroadenoma. But she couldn't be sure, so she scheduled an ultrasound.
So I went in for the ultrasound. They took a look, told me that it definitely wasn't a cyst. I was kind of bummed, because this seemed like the least terrible of three current possibilities (cyst, fibroadenoma or cancer). They said it was probably fibroadenoma, because of the shape and my age. But they were only about 90% sure.
I was getting pretty sick of this 90% number. Yeah, 90% is a good grade on a test. But thinking that 1 out of 10 lumpy boobs would be cancerous didn't make me feel better. Neither did my friends who said they'd had a lump and it turned out to be nothing serious. Didn't that just make my odds seem worse?
At the end of the ultrasound, they said I had three choices. Complete removal, a biopsy, or ultrasounds every 6 months for the next two years. I decided on the biopsy. Just get it over once and for all. And it will probably be nothing. PROBABLY. But I'm not a gambling kind of gal, and I wanted to have a definite answer, not a probable answer.
So early Monday morning, I went in to get a biopsy. I had been told at one of my prior appointments that they'd just numb up the area and take a bit of the lump out. Nope! I had deep sedation, and then surgery. The surgeon said that it looked like a fibroadenoma. Fortunately, I was fine after surgery. Afterwards, I didn't have to take much vicodin, and the incision seems to be healing normally. My breast looks a little worse for wear (yeah, that huge bruise is really hot), but I'm glad this whole ordeal is over.
Ladies, check your breasts regularly. Be familiar with the lumps and bumps, and get them examined by your physician! While I was lucky this time, I'm going to be careful about continuing to check my breasts for any changes.
