On my 29th birthday, I had a fast growing lump removed from my left breast. When I first found this lump in April it was about 1 cm. Previously in 2007 I had two fibroadenomas removed, one from each breast. Fibroadenomoas are always benign and are generally nothing to worry about. So when I found this new lump, I figured it was also a fibroadenoma and didn't bother going to the doctor until July.
By the time they finally scheduled me for an ultrasound the thing had grown to be about 2.7cm. After having an ultrasound, a fine needle aspiration (biopsy), and core needle biopsy, all my results showed benign fibroadenoma. I spoke with a surgeon in October and she felt comfortable enough to monitor the thing and have a follow up in 6 months. I'm young, healthy and have no family history so although this wasn't a small lump, we both felt comfortable waiting. I especially wanted to wait because I read that sometimes fibroadenomas go away on their own and if I could avoid a surgery then that was my preference.
With all the visits to the hospital I had met my deductible and decided that I was going to make the most of it and try to schedule as many routine medical appointments as possible. No more copays for the rest of the year! Woohoo! I love free stuff! I managed to get an appointment with my dermatologist and I tried to get an appointment for a physical. But by then it was November and since it was close to the end of the year, all appointments for physicals with my doctor were booked until January.
I decided to call back the following week just in case and they managed to squeeze me in for a physical. I don't like getting my blood drawn, but getting a blood test for free sure beats paying for it done. When my primary care doctor did my breast exam though, she took one look at my boob and said, "Whoa, this baby isn't kidding around." The lump had grown and you could tell it was there without feeling for it. She did not feel comfortable with me waiting 5 more months and told me to schedule a surgery right away.
At the beginning of this whole thing I was feeling pretty private. Sometimes I talk about my breasts with other women, but usually it's because we're joking about our breasts, and generally I don't talk too openly or seriously about them. I initially emailed just a few female friends from different circles when I was having the biopsies done. I usually also prefer female doctors, but for the sake of scheduling and efficiency, both my biopsies had to be done by male doctors. Privacy almost feels like it goes out the window after having so many different people touch, see and feel my breast in such a short period of time. By the time surgery came around I figured "Screw this!" and decided that I needed the prayer more than I needed the privacy. Then when God made everything work out so that I could have a physical and schedule surgery before the end of the year, I felt that the need to give Him glory was bigger than my need for privacy and once it was done and my results came back clear I figured it would be a nice testimony to have.
I can definitely testify and say that the lump that was removed is benign. I wish I could just end the testimony with that but sometimes life isn't so simple. After the surgery they told me that I would receive a phone call with results in about a week or two. By the time my post op appointment rolled around on the 23rd, a day short of two weeks, no one had called me. Usually when I go to the doctor there's a slight wait time and usually that's fine, but man, waiting for the doctor when you're waiting for news is painful. Turned out that my doctor hadn't called me because there were no results. The lump was definitely benign, but three pathologists at UCLA looked at it and they couldn't agree as to what it was so they had to send it to an outside specialist in Boston.
Another 2 and half weeks go by and it turns out that I had a benign phyllodes tumor. Phyllodes tumors are very rare and account for less than 1% of breast lumps. Phyllodes can be benign, borderline or malignant. Treatment for phyllodes is usually to remove the mass with wide margins. When my mass was removed, no margins were taken since they thought it was a fibroadenoma which does not require the removal of margins. She did warn me that there was a possibility that it was a phyllodes but told me that they were very rare. Because my breasts are fairly small, the 4 cm that they took was already a lot and neither my surgeon nor I wanted to take out more unless it was confirmed necessary.
But now it might be necessary. The reason that even benign phyllodes require the extra margins to be removed is because phyllodes can recur and they are more likely to recur if margins are not taken. Phyllodes are also unpredictable. If a benign phyllodes recur, they might recur as another benign phyllodes but they could also recur as a borderline or malignant phyllodes. My other option is to just monitor the area and get ultrasounds every 6 months for 3 years. But I've read cases where someone had a benign phyllodes and had it removed and then 10 years later had it recur. I also read about cases where people were diagnosed with a benign phyllodes but malignant parts were missed and so even tough the tumor didn't recur, it metastasized to the lungs and they died. Don't get me wrong, these are extremely rare cases and when wide margins are taken, recurrence is rare which is why my doctor would also be fine with just monitoring the situation very closely. But I also don't want to be naive and I want to make an educated decision.
If I have the margins removed, that's another couple of centimeters and my breasts will have a noticeable dent. My surgeon gave me a referral to a plastic surgeon to discuss reconstruction possibilities. You know what's funny? Of all the plastic surgeons at UCLA, all the breast reconstruction ones are male. Maybe that's why I had all those male doctors this summer, to get me comfortable and ready to meet another. So here I am. 29 and getting a tumor removed from my body. 29 and possibly needing reconstruction surgery for my breast. For awhile I was starting to feel old but something like this makes me in awe of how all this could happen while I'm still so young.
From what I've read though, most people are pretty happy with the cosmetic effects of their surgery and it's not like I would need a full mastectomy. I think I was reading somewhere though that sometimes they need to do both breast so that they're even. That seems like quite a bit of surgery though so I'm hesitant. If I go through with it I'm thinking of channeling Sofia Vergara and getting myself some size F breasts. Hopefully I don't fall over, but it's ok if I do. I'll just pick myself up and keep walking because that's something I do quite well. Even with all this going on, I managed to do lots of fun and enjoyable things in 2013 and I'm hoping that no matter what happens, the same can be said for 2014.
With that said, I write this to ask for prayer. Prayer to make the right decision. Prayer that this thing doesn't come back. Prayer that they didn't miss anything and won't miss anything. But I also write this to raise awareness. Be diligent. Do breast exams. Go to the doctor. Get second opinions. I'm extremely thankful I was able to get that physical, otherwise I would've just waited and if I had waited, I might have needed that mastectomy (sometimes you need a mastectomy if the tumor gets too large).
But mostly I write this to testify to God's goodness in this time. The day I had my ultrasound was the day that the Lowes were in town and called me up to hang out. Since I took off from work early to get it done, I was able to see them and hang out with them. Better yet, when I told Ali I would need an FNA, it turned out she knew the doctors who would be doing it. If anyone was going to stick a needle in me, I'm glad it was friends of someone I knew. I had no complications with the FNA and the same day it was done, I was able to leave for a trip to Vegas with friends. The core needle biopsy was a lot more invasive (imagine someone sticky a needle the size of a bamboo skewer in you) and though it was scary and not fun, I did it and endured by repeating Psalm 34:4 to myself.
I met my deductible after the core need biopsy which is what made me want to schedule the physical. You usually have to get a physical before having surgery and although I wasn't planning on having surgery at the time of my physical, it worked out so well that I was able to have one! I wanted to schedule the surgery before the year was over otherwise I'd have to pay the deductible all over again. When the scheduler called me, the only day available was on my birthday. I thought it was funny and I consider this surgery a $1750 birthday gift from God (probably more than that now that my new insurance requires me to pay 20%).
The surgery itself went well and although I have a slight dent, my scar is very minor. I am very thankful for friends who came to the hospital with me and who visited and brought me food and who cared for me. I don't know what I'm going to do for this next phase, but I know that the Lord is with me and will be caring for me in this time. For every difficult moment I had this year, the Lord also blessed me with a moment of joy. My name is Shirley and I want to give glory to God. Amen.
With all the visits to the hospital I had met my deductible and decided that I was going to make the most of it and try to schedule as many routine medical appointments as possible. No more copays for the rest of the year! Woohoo! I love free stuff! I managed to get an appointment with my dermatologist and I tried to get an appointment for a physical. But by then it was November and since it was close to the end of the year, all appointments for physicals with my doctor were booked until January.
I decided to call back the following week just in case and they managed to squeeze me in for a physical. I don't like getting my blood drawn, but getting a blood test for free sure beats paying for it done. When my primary care doctor did my breast exam though, she took one look at my boob and said, "Whoa, this baby isn't kidding around." The lump had grown and you could tell it was there without feeling for it. She did not feel comfortable with me waiting 5 more months and told me to schedule a surgery right away.
At the beginning of this whole thing I was feeling pretty private. Sometimes I talk about my breasts with other women, but usually it's because we're joking about our breasts, and generally I don't talk too openly or seriously about them. I initially emailed just a few female friends from different circles when I was having the biopsies done. I usually also prefer female doctors, but for the sake of scheduling and efficiency, both my biopsies had to be done by male doctors. Privacy almost feels like it goes out the window after having so many different people touch, see and feel my breast in such a short period of time. By the time surgery came around I figured "Screw this!" and decided that I needed the prayer more than I needed the privacy. Then when God made everything work out so that I could have a physical and schedule surgery before the end of the year, I felt that the need to give Him glory was bigger than my need for privacy and once it was done and my results came back clear I figured it would be a nice testimony to have.
I can definitely testify and say that the lump that was removed is benign. I wish I could just end the testimony with that but sometimes life isn't so simple. After the surgery they told me that I would receive a phone call with results in about a week or two. By the time my post op appointment rolled around on the 23rd, a day short of two weeks, no one had called me. Usually when I go to the doctor there's a slight wait time and usually that's fine, but man, waiting for the doctor when you're waiting for news is painful. Turned out that my doctor hadn't called me because there were no results. The lump was definitely benign, but three pathologists at UCLA looked at it and they couldn't agree as to what it was so they had to send it to an outside specialist in Boston.
Another 2 and half weeks go by and it turns out that I had a benign phyllodes tumor. Phyllodes tumors are very rare and account for less than 1% of breast lumps. Phyllodes can be benign, borderline or malignant. Treatment for phyllodes is usually to remove the mass with wide margins. When my mass was removed, no margins were taken since they thought it was a fibroadenoma which does not require the removal of margins. She did warn me that there was a possibility that it was a phyllodes but told me that they were very rare. Because my breasts are fairly small, the 4 cm that they took was already a lot and neither my surgeon nor I wanted to take out more unless it was confirmed necessary.
But now it might be necessary. The reason that even benign phyllodes require the extra margins to be removed is because phyllodes can recur and they are more likely to recur if margins are not taken. Phyllodes are also unpredictable. If a benign phyllodes recur, they might recur as another benign phyllodes but they could also recur as a borderline or malignant phyllodes. My other option is to just monitor the area and get ultrasounds every 6 months for 3 years. But I've read cases where someone had a benign phyllodes and had it removed and then 10 years later had it recur. I also read about cases where people were diagnosed with a benign phyllodes but malignant parts were missed and so even tough the tumor didn't recur, it metastasized to the lungs and they died. Don't get me wrong, these are extremely rare cases and when wide margins are taken, recurrence is rare which is why my doctor would also be fine with just monitoring the situation very closely. But I also don't want to be naive and I want to make an educated decision.
If I have the margins removed, that's another couple of centimeters and my breasts will have a noticeable dent. My surgeon gave me a referral to a plastic surgeon to discuss reconstruction possibilities. You know what's funny? Of all the plastic surgeons at UCLA, all the breast reconstruction ones are male. Maybe that's why I had all those male doctors this summer, to get me comfortable and ready to meet another. So here I am. 29 and getting a tumor removed from my body. 29 and possibly needing reconstruction surgery for my breast. For awhile I was starting to feel old but something like this makes me in awe of how all this could happen while I'm still so young.
From what I've read though, most people are pretty happy with the cosmetic effects of their surgery and it's not like I would need a full mastectomy. I think I was reading somewhere though that sometimes they need to do both breast so that they're even. That seems like quite a bit of surgery though so I'm hesitant. If I go through with it I'm thinking of channeling Sofia Vergara and getting myself some size F breasts. Hopefully I don't fall over, but it's ok if I do. I'll just pick myself up and keep walking because that's something I do quite well. Even with all this going on, I managed to do lots of fun and enjoyable things in 2013 and I'm hoping that no matter what happens, the same can be said for 2014.
With that said, I write this to ask for prayer. Prayer to make the right decision. Prayer that this thing doesn't come back. Prayer that they didn't miss anything and won't miss anything. But I also write this to raise awareness. Be diligent. Do breast exams. Go to the doctor. Get second opinions. I'm extremely thankful I was able to get that physical, otherwise I would've just waited and if I had waited, I might have needed that mastectomy (sometimes you need a mastectomy if the tumor gets too large).
But mostly I write this to testify to God's goodness in this time. The day I had my ultrasound was the day that the Lowes were in town and called me up to hang out. Since I took off from work early to get it done, I was able to see them and hang out with them. Better yet, when I told Ali I would need an FNA, it turned out she knew the doctors who would be doing it. If anyone was going to stick a needle in me, I'm glad it was friends of someone I knew. I had no complications with the FNA and the same day it was done, I was able to leave for a trip to Vegas with friends. The core needle biopsy was a lot more invasive (imagine someone sticky a needle the size of a bamboo skewer in you) and though it was scary and not fun, I did it and endured by repeating Psalm 34:4 to myself.
I met my deductible after the core need biopsy which is what made me want to schedule the physical. You usually have to get a physical before having surgery and although I wasn't planning on having surgery at the time of my physical, it worked out so well that I was able to have one! I wanted to schedule the surgery before the year was over otherwise I'd have to pay the deductible all over again. When the scheduler called me, the only day available was on my birthday. I thought it was funny and I consider this surgery a $1750 birthday gift from God (probably more than that now that my new insurance requires me to pay 20%).
The surgery itself went well and although I have a slight dent, my scar is very minor. I am very thankful for friends who came to the hospital with me and who visited and brought me food and who cared for me. I don't know what I'm going to do for this next phase, but I know that the Lord is with me and will be caring for me in this time. For every difficult moment I had this year, the Lord also blessed me with a moment of joy. My name is Shirley and I want to give glory to God. Amen.
