Complicated Breast History

2ruth

There was a time that I was able to keep up with the number of breast biopsies I've had, but I stopped counting after numbers 5 or 6. I was 10 years old when I saw a lump in my breast after I got out of the tub. I was too afraid to tell my mother because my aunt had breast cancer and I was afraid I had it too. Fortunately, a year later, during a physical the doctor saw it and told my mother. I was checked seemed like every two weeks because the lump was aggressive and grew rapidly. Long story short, I had it removed when I was 12. My next surgeries were when I was 17, 19, and 22 or 24. The diagnoses for each was fibrocystic breast.

The next time a lump showed up it had friends (two in each breast); I was 34. I was followed for 6 months and at 35 I had all four removed; diagnosis fibroadenomas. Regardless of what the medical books say, I always know when a new lump, mass, or whatever the non-medical term is, is present or developing because I ALWAYS have pain! The pain prompts me to do a self-exam which 99% of the time results with me finding a lump.

My last last biopsy was 2010 (I think) and I had no idea that a marker was left in me until last year when I began to feel STABBING and unbearable pain in my breast. I did an exam and found a lump. Mammogram and ultrasound located 3 lumps in one breast and 2 in the other.

Again, regardless of what the medical books/journals say, I know my body. The sharp pain in my breasts only happens when fibroademonas are present. AND this marker - YIKES! I didn't know it was there, but when I pointed to where the sharp, stabbing pain is that's when I was told a marker is there. It would be really nice if some doctors listened more closely to what their patients tell them and STOP writing them off as being paranoid.

P. S. My daughter was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer one month after her 26th birthday. It's definitely time to change the narrative surrounding breast disease.