Getting on with my life???

To catch you up...

Mammogram (11/2010) = Suspicious Lump = Core Needle Biopsy = Intraductal Papilloma = Excisional Biopsy (basically a lumpectomy) = Getting on with my life! (12/2010)

Following the lumpectomy on my left breast, my wonderful surgeon wanted to have a follow up in 6 months to see how I've healed.  I had plans to go to California in June to see my family, so I went in for the follow-up in late May.  I was experiencing pain in my right breast accompanied by a small lump or two, but I attributed this all to my usual hormonal surges. 

When she examined me, she felt the lumps too, and she had me go to the lab for another mammogram, just on the right breast.  This mammogram was as typical as the rest in the way that the technician ordered a sonogram to examine the "dense breast tissue."  What was different this time was the length of time in the sonographer measured areas in my breast.  It was one measurement after another.  I couldn't quite see the screen, but once you've been through enough of these, you know the drill. 

At last, the sonographer left the room to check with the technician.  The sonographer returned with the technician, who examined me himself as well.  He then, very calmly and politely, said,

"You have several cysts, which may be causing your pain. I believe they are benign, and we should aspirate at least 9 of them. Your surgeon may want to consider biopsying the larger cysts, just to be sure." 

My brain is racing, and my paranoid, anxiety driven thoughts are getting the best of me - inside:

AT LEAST NINE!!! 9???  What????  How, why, is this normal?  It's only been 6 months since they were "fine."  Why is he so casual about this?  Benign or not, are my breasts just supposed to morph into these giant deformed masses over the next year or two?  What am I becoming - an ogre? The Fly?  What next?  By age 50, I'll be a hunchbacked cyclopse, limping down the street, scaring every man, woman, and child in my path?  I have to leave for California in a week!  I can't make all these appointments, spend all this time in the lab, or the hospital, bleeding all over the table all summer.  He said "probably benign." Should I trust that assumption?  What if he's wrong? 

On the outside, I remained perfectly calm and cheerful, as he escorted me to the scheduling nurse to schedule the procedures.  As I was waiting, I thought, "I have two options right now.  Option One: schedule the procedures as soon as possible.  This would mean either postponing or canceling my trip to Cali.  If he's wrong and this is more, I will be in for a long miserable summer.  If he's right, I will be in for a long semi-miserable summer, filled with medical procedures and having missed my trip to Cali.  Option Two:  Wait!  Go to Cali and enjoy some much needed family time with lots of sunshine!  Then, come back and do the procedures in September. 

It was not a tough decision, but still, it left a small knot in my stomach.  I asked the surgeon if 3 months could possibly make a big difference, worst case scenario.  She assured me that it wouldn't.  I opted to wait until September to address my lumps and bumps!  California with my boys was an adventure I wouldn't have traded for the world! :-)