You may remember that last spring (2016) I had a bit of a cancer scare after a mammogram. (You can read that story HERE.) When that was all over, the doctor told me in person, then again on the phone, and again in a letter that I was fine for a year. No sooner follow up was needed. Of course, this spring came and went and I lost track of time & dates and didn't get my annual mammogram scheduled until June. Oops!
Once you have had a "suspicious finding" you have to get a diagnostic mammogram & ultrasound for a few years until the doctor declares you able to go back to just a regular mammogram. (The difference is the number of images they take & awkward positions you must get into to take them. ha ha!) So last Monday (June 19) I went in for my tests.
Fortunately, my tumor that they found last year had not changed or grown. It was still right where we left it with its little metal clip/marker attached. So that was good. But then they found a new issue. The doctor said that it could be one of two things....and after a biopsy last Thursday (June 22) it was declared to be an intraductal papilloma. While IPs are not typically cancerous, they do tend to turn into cancer if you leave them in there....so the standard treatment is to have surgery & remove them. {You know...unless you're a daredevil & like to live life on the edge & take a wait and see approach.....but I'm not comfortable with waiting to see if this thing will be cancerous in another 6 months. NO thanks!}
So today, we went to the surgeon's office & scheduled surgery. It's a fairly simple outpatient day surgery procedure and from those I have spoken to in the last week, the recovery is not too bad. I've been told that recovery is only about a week and most of that is just because you have stitches and are sore---not really because you're in horrible pain or anything.
Surgery has been scheduled for Tuesday July 11. I'm recording this info here so that in years to come I can look back & remember the timeline for all this.
I'm just hoping that this can be my last year to have to do any poking & jabbing & cutting in this area. I'm kind of all done with that stuff.
10 years ago
