First Papilloma, only 22yrs old

BirdDani2

Hi everyone, I'm glad a forum like this exists. Need some advice cause I'm a little lost at the moment.

I've been having golden nipple discharge from my left nipple for over a year now, a couple months ago it took changes for the worse including bloody discharge and swelling in my armpit.

I went in for a screening yesterday, where they decided to do an ultrasound and mammogram right on the spot after talking over my condition with me. In the ultrasound, they found one papilloma in my left breast, which they want me to get removed. I'll be going back in two weeks to have it taken out and sent for testing.

I've never had surgery before, so I'm nervous about the process and recovery. I'll be getting an Ultrasound Guided Core Needle Biopsy to get it removed. I'm wondering how serious this will be considering my age, I haven't been able to find anyone online with this condition as young as me. I've read papillomas are usually benign, and since they only found one (that they told me about) I shouldn't have much to worry about. Reading around on here, a lot of people that have one papilloma will have others that come back over the years. How often do they reoccur, does it vary from person to person?

My second question is the recovery process. How much will it hurt? I have a pretty low pain tolerance and they're not putting me under (using lidocaine instead to numb the area). How long does it take for the site to heal? They tell me not to lift objects over 10 pounds and avoid activities that require a lot of upper arm movements. This concerns me because that means I will have to call off work for my recovery, and wondering how long it will take. I read it varies from doctor to doctor, but anyone else on here that can share their experiences with how long they had these restrictions would be great for an idea. I'm not sure if it's a couple of days, a week, or anything longer?

Any tips to ease my mind and educate me about this would be greatly appreciated. Please share your experiences with me, thank you!

Anonymous

Hi BirdDani,

Sorry for what you are going thru. I know it's scary. I had very similar experience to what you are when I was in my 30's. Obviously, not as young as you. I had an intraductal papilloma. I started with the clear discharge and over a span of about 2 years it advanced to the bloody discharge. The surgeon who removed it told me they are benign 98% of the time. Mine was. The surgeon removed all of the milk ducts on that side. I don't really recall the recovery time. I don't remember it being too bad. That was in 2000. So it was quite a while ago. My scar is barely noticeable.