honeybun44
05-10-16, 15:03
Hi,
I've posted before about breast cancer fears, especially inflammatory breast cancer. Like many of you, my fears run the all over the place. All kinds of cancers, diseases, etc. :wacko:
Anyway. I had my yearly mammogram in March ((I'm 46) and everything was fine. I was told I have completely fatty breast tissue (:blush:) which makes it very easy to see that nothing is wrong. I even had an ultrasound on both sides because I could feel little lumps. One was a cyst, one was the position of my arteries. Both fine.
Two months later, in May, I had breast reduction surgery. All went well. My breast tissue was sent to pathology and it was fine. The surgeon said it would take up to a year to feel 'normal', and to expect lumps and bumps.
Well, I found them. Big ones. Called the surgeon's office a month or two ago, and told them, they said totally normal. Massage the scar tissue. Ok.....
Over the past month, the big ones have gotten smaller but I have one that is just THERE, and it's not very big. Doesn't feel like a hard pea sized lump...feels like round smooth tissue, but, still, definitely a separate lump. I can't deal. WAY too many stories on google about breast reduction exposing lumps that couldn't be seen before, or people getting aggressive breast tumors between mammograms.
So, I went to see my ob. First, the nurse said, 'does the lump hurt or move around? no? Oh.... (insert a this-could-be-bad-look)'. :unsure:
The doctor finally came in. He did a breast exam and didn't feel anything. I showed him the spot of concern, and he said, 'ok, I do feel that. I'm almost 100% sure it's scar tissue, but we'll ultrasound it to be sure."
All I could think was, ultrasound? By the time I schedule and have it and it's read, that's days and days of anxiety. I told the doctor this. He said he cared about my physical health, but also my emotional health and that in this case, the ultrasound is really up to me. I said, "If it was your daughter, what would you recommend?" He said, 'I'd probably tell her to hold off and just keep an eye on it for a while.' So I said I wasn't getting the ultrasound.
Then I left and told the story to 7 million people. Did I just talk the doctor out of an ultrasound that might be needed? The one time I tell myself it's ok, will this be the time it's cancer?
So I called and made the appointment. The receptionist said, 'Ok, you just had an ultrasound in March. Is this, um, different...?'
The appointment is Friday. I feel like an idiot for making it and also positive that they're going to find something and I'll be one of those "thank God I was my own advocate" stories on the internet.
Help.
I've posted before about breast cancer fears, especially inflammatory breast cancer. Like many of you, my fears run the all over the place. All kinds of cancers, diseases, etc. :wacko:
Anyway. I had my yearly mammogram in March ((I'm 46) and everything was fine. I was told I have completely fatty breast tissue (:blush:) which makes it very easy to see that nothing is wrong. I even had an ultrasound on both sides because I could feel little lumps. One was a cyst, one was the position of my arteries. Both fine.
Two months later, in May, I had breast reduction surgery. All went well. My breast tissue was sent to pathology and it was fine. The surgeon said it would take up to a year to feel 'normal', and to expect lumps and bumps.
Well, I found them. Big ones. Called the surgeon's office a month or two ago, and told them, they said totally normal. Massage the scar tissue. Ok.....
Over the past month, the big ones have gotten smaller but I have one that is just THERE, and it's not very big. Doesn't feel like a hard pea sized lump...feels like round smooth tissue, but, still, definitely a separate lump. I can't deal. WAY too many stories on google about breast reduction exposing lumps that couldn't be seen before, or people getting aggressive breast tumors between mammograms.
So, I went to see my ob. First, the nurse said, 'does the lump hurt or move around? no? Oh.... (insert a this-could-be-bad-look)'. :unsure:
The doctor finally came in. He did a breast exam and didn't feel anything. I showed him the spot of concern, and he said, 'ok, I do feel that. I'm almost 100% sure it's scar tissue, but we'll ultrasound it to be sure."
All I could think was, ultrasound? By the time I schedule and have it and it's read, that's days and days of anxiety. I told the doctor this. He said he cared about my physical health, but also my emotional health and that in this case, the ultrasound is really up to me. I said, "If it was your daughter, what would you recommend?" He said, 'I'd probably tell her to hold off and just keep an eye on it for a while.' So I said I wasn't getting the ultrasound.
Then I left and told the story to 7 million people. Did I just talk the doctor out of an ultrasound that might be needed? The one time I tell myself it's ok, will this be the time it's cancer?
So I called and made the appointment. The receptionist said, 'Ok, you just had an ultrasound in March. Is this, um, different...?'
The appointment is Friday. I feel like an idiot for making it and also positive that they're going to find something and I'll be one of those "thank God I was my own advocate" stories on the internet.
Help.