Postmenopause- It CAN be benign!

I wanted to post since I had such a difficult time finding things that might have alleviated some worry while I waited for my results, but instead just made things worse! I didn't post as I went along though, because it seems I read so many posts where the final results were never posted, so thought I'd post after it was all said and done. I thought there may be others similar to me, postmenopausal, who were searching for answers, so here's the short version of my story, hope it helps someone! Spoiler alert, it was benign!

Being high risk, I had my first screening MRI last month (clear mammo last summer). It showed a 1cm mass, but not completely characterized, so needed more imaging/biopsy. After the two weeks of waiting, worrying and googling (big mistake of course!), I went in for the mammo, which still showed nothing, followed by an ultrasound. I immediately saw the area myself when she went over the suspicious area. Jumped right out at me (because I had googled hundreds of breast mass images, I knew what to look for!). It looked to me like a fibroadenoma (I know this, because I googled hundreds of images, lol!). However, the Dr said though not highly suspicious looking, he still couldn't say for sure it wasn't, so needed a biopsy (done that same day, and it wasn't bad at all). I tried to pry more info out of the Dr., but he wasn't having it. He didn't crack! As soon as I was done, I ran home to google "benign masses in postmeno, fibroadenomas." Big mistake!! According to google, postmeno women rarely have them, much less any other kind of benign masses. It's all bad!!! However, after talking with someone in the field, here are a couple things that helped me while waiting:

1. Anytime you have a new type of imaging done (whether your first mammo, ultrasound, or MRI), they're often going to find something. It's probably been there forever, but without having anything to look back on for comparison, they have no choice but to investigate deeper. But once they have that baseline and there's something to compare it to, it makes that part easier.

2. There are times when a woman will have imaging done and the Dr can clearly see it's fine, and other times, clearly see it's not. Many doctors will tell you when it's clear cut. However, many women are going to fall into that 'indeterminate category' where it can range from 'okay to not okay', and the ONLY way to know for sure is to biopsy. So most of those in between cases are going to have a Birads 4 rating, since they need to biopsy to know for sure. And of course, it's the unknown that's terrifying! But knowing many other women fall into this category helped my a little. Of course we all want 1 or 2, but 4 isn't always bad..they just don't know!!

3. Most important, postmenopausal women DO have benign masses! They see them all the time. Don't let your fears of being older make you automatically assume the worse. This is where google will get you! Sometimes the masses are new, sometimes they've been around for years and just discovered.

I thank the Lord my report came back a benign fibroadenoma. I know there are others who wont be as fortunate, and I'm so sorry! My intent in posting isn't to make anyone who's report wasn't what they'd hoped and prayed for to feel bad. I was only wanting to perhaps help someone who fears there's no chance at all it will be benign because of age. It can be benign!! And finally, I know you found this because of google, but please stop! Let me be a cautionary tale of what happens when we do!