For the last couple of weeks I have been missing in action here on my blog and I apologize for that. I wanted to chat with you about what happened. It’s rare that I go on lengthy posts but this one is important especially to all my women out there. Last month I went to the doctor because I felt a little lump above my left breast kinda felt squishy but I didn’t know what it could be.  For all I knew it could have been another lipoma which I had one last year removed from my back. The doctor felt something and said why don’t we get that checked with an ultrasound. I made an appointment and went in to the Women’s Health Care department at Holy Redeemer here in Philadelphia, PA. The office staff was super nice. The ultrasound tech did her thing and didn’t seem to locate anything. She told me I’m going to show the head radiologist. She came back and said since we didn’t seem to locate anything they wanted to get a mammogram just to be certain. Now mind you I have never had one done before. But I said okay better to be safe than sorry.

That day I went home and started to research mammograms. Different ways to prepare like don’t wear any deodorant or lotions because this can mess with the mammogram. Also take ibuprofen an hour before your exam. Most importantly stay calm.  The following day was my appointment (which was on my birthday, ugh). They were going to do a mammogram on both my breasts. After that they put me in the waiting room. They called me back again because they needed 2 more photos of my right breast. Got that done and went back into the waiting room. This time they came back and said we are going to do an ultrasound of your right breast. At this point I knew they had spotted something. I went in and you could see something tiny on the ultrasound machine. The ultrasound tech said I’m going to show this to the head radiologist and I will be back. To my surprise he came back with her. This is when your mind just goes blank as they start to say they found something. They didn’t really know what it could be, but they wanted to do a biopsy to make sure it’s nothing serious. He mentioned Fibroadenoma (which is a noncancerous breast tumor).  At this point I was holding in tears. They said I can make my appointment with the nurse. After speaking with her and making my appointment I had to wait 2 weeks before my consultation.

After leaving the office I was a mess. You start to think about the worse case and about your kids and family. I’m lucky to have such an amazing husband who kept me calm and was my strength. If this was something serious at least they caught it early. SO of course I got home and started to research Fibroadenoma. I started to look at different vitamins and different things I could do to prepare for my biopsy. The first thing I did was reach out to my friends at Lizzy Jays Juice to kickstart a detox of my body which I read was really good to do just to get all the toxins out. I stayed positive and I think that’s the important part.

The day of my consultation came.  The doctor was super nice and explained a lot to me about the care of our breasts, and this could have been something that was always in my breast. After that we set up the big day of my biopsy. I was so nervous but I knew that this would all be over soon. The biopsy went well and they placed a marker clip inside used for breast biopsies and made of titanium or surgical stainless steel.  It is about 2 millimeters in size. When the radiologist or surgeon feels a marker should be used, they are inserted at the end of breast core or needle biopsy procedures to mark the site of the biopsy for later reference. This is for future reference.  Now when I go to get a mammogram they will know that I had a biopsy there and its nothing serious. After the procedure I got up to get a mammogram.  I got so light headed that my blood pressure dropped to 83/60 which was super low, so they had to lay me down. I think the emotions got to me.

After all was said and done I returned home and the waiting game of the results began. The bruising and pain was not bad at all on my breast. I think waiting for the results was the worst part. Finally 3 days later I got the call. “You are free and clear!” they said.  “It was a Acinar Calcification benign (noncancerous).”  I felt the weight of the world off my shoulders. The reason I wanted to share this experience with you is because sometimes as women we put our familes and loved ones first or we are scared of going to get a mammogram or go to our OBGYN but that reality is if its something serious and they can find it sooner rather then later it can save your life.  I thought I had something on my left breast, but instead there was something on my right.  Bottom line is that we don’t know enough ourselves, so we need to get ourselves checked out regularly.

Some of you may have had different experiences this was just my story.  Feel free to share yours in the comments below.  Thanks for reading.