Nipple discharge, now waiting for surgery

A few months back I started noticing brown spots in my bra only on the left side. At first I didn't know why, I figured I spilled something and it rolled into my bra. I wear a lot of black and darker colored bras, so it really took me some time to figure out the spots were actually coming from me, not something I was spilling. When getting dressed or undressed, my hands would get sticky and again, I figured I got into something sticky, wash my hands and move on. So I did a self breast exam and was able to express some of the discharge on to a tissue. When it first comes out it's clear, then when it dries it turns dark brown. I'm 46 and have never breast feed, so, I knew something wasn't right, so I told my husband what was going on and he told me to go to the doctor. I'll admit, I didn't want to, I was scared, stuff shouldn't be coming out of there.

So I called my PCP and she did a breast exam and was also able to express some of the discharge during her exam and collected samples of it to send into pathology. She didn't seem too concerned, she said usually its papillomas, that are benign, but will require surgery to remove. She ordered a Dx mammogram and ultrasound and also referred me to a breast surgeon. She told me that the breast surgeon office would call me to schedule, but its really no hurry and not to worry. So that same day I called to schedule the mammogram and ultrasound, they had to schedule me out a few weeks so they could receive records from my from Minnesota, we had recently relocated to South Carolina. So I waited for my appointment. Days before I was scheduled for my mammogram and ultrasound I received a call from the breast surgeons office, she wants to see me right away. I told the scheduler I hadn't had the mammogram or ultrasound done yet, so we scheduled the appointment with the surgeon for a few days after I was scheduled for the mammogram and ultrasound.

The waiting is driving me crazy at this point, but I finally saw the breast surgeon. Turns out the breast surgeon had received a copy of the pathology report from the sample my PCP had taken. The pathology report was positive for A-typical cells, both blood and carcinoma. The breast surgeon did an exam and of course the discharge came out, and wouldn't stop, I ended up having to hold a gauze on it to get it to stop. She reviewed the mammogram and ultrasound. The mammogram came back normal, the ultrasound showed debris in the ducts, so she ordered a breast MRI.

A week later I was having a breast MRI, then a few days later I was back at the breast surgeons office to discuss the results. The breast surgeon can see something in the duct, but says the only way to know for sure what it is, is to remove the duct and send the entire duct into pathology. So now I'm scheduled for surgery in September for terminal duct excision. The breast surgeon doesn't seem rushed at this point, but my mind is racing. She says once the surgeries completed they will send the entire duct into pathology, then it takes another week to get those results back, once the results are back, she will see me again to discuss and give me the final diagnosis and then discuss future surgeries if needed.

So now I wait until September, my mind just races. If the discharge pathology report came back positive for A-typical cells, both blood and carcinoma how can it be anything benign? The breast surgeon said it could be 1 of 3 things, intraductal papilloma, intraductal carcinoma in situ, or breast cancer. So the way I see it 66% chance it is cancer, but here I wait.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story! I know it's long, but it's been locked up inside me now for months, I had to let it out to let my mind have some peace. Thanks again and God bless!