It was February 20 when I first felt that I have a lump on my right breast. It was as small as pebble then. I sent a text message to my OB about it and she told me to massage it regularly. We thought it’s just a solidified milk because I was breastfeeding my baby for about a month and 2 weeks. But my breast ultrasound last Thursday, March 17 tells otherwise.
In my breast ultrasound, my lump was found out to be benign. But still, according to the surgeon who read the results to me, there’s no assurance. Now, for the knowledge of those who would be reading this blog, Fibroadenomas are one of the findings that can be seen on your mammogram. They’re benign (not cancerous) breast tumors that are made of glandular and fibrous breast tissue. Fibroadenomas can occur alone, in groups or as a complex. If you have multiple or complex fibroadenomas, this may raise your risk of breast cancer slightly.
Fibroadenomas can be felt. They’re firm, round, smooth, rubbery, and are movable. They are so mobile that they tend to run away from your fingers when you do your self-breast exam.
Fibroadenomas appear as round or oval smooth-edged masses. The outline of the mass will be clearly defined, not blurry. They can look like cysts or a well-contained tumor. They can range in size from one to five cm, (0.39 inches to nearly two inches). Giant fibroadenomas can be the size of a small lemon, about 15 cm (5.9 inches) Source: http://breastcancer.about.com.
My ob, Dra. Tabaquero, told me to have an ultrasound study done. This is because a fibroadenoma will be easier to distinguish from other tissue, because of the way it responds to sound waves. It will appear as a dark area, with a definite outline, homogeneous, round or oval, and may have smooth-edged bumps.
Last Saturday, I had a surgeon read the results of my sonomammogram. He told me that the size of the fibroadenoma found in my breast should me surgically removed because it can grow bigger in time. I thought I have an option to have it done through a non-invasive procedure, but no. They have to open that part where the fibroadenoma is. My husband knows how much I fear this kind of medical procedures. The pain of undergoing CS is just unbearable, how much more is this?
When I asked the surgeon, “Pag naalis ba ‘to, is there an assurance na wala na ulit akong ganito?” He said, “There really is no assurance because it can grow anywhere.”Now, that’s the sad part. Even the doctor can’t give me an assurance that this is the last time that I will have a fibroadenoma removed. We have no history of cancer in the family so that lowers the risk of me, having breast cancer. But I found out through self research that if you have multiple or complex fibroadenomas, this may raise your risk of breast cancer slightly.
The exact cause of fibroadenomas is unknown. They seem to be influenced by estrogen, because they appear most often in premenopausal or pregnant women, or in women who are postmenopausal. Most fibroadenomas come and go during your menstrual cycle, when your hormone levels are changing. According to a study, these are most common in women who are from 15 to 30 years old and pregnant. Fibroadenomas occur in 10 percent of all women. About 10 percent of all fibroadenomas will disappear over time, and twenty percent of them will recur. If they don’t disappear, they usually stop growing when they reach two or three cm.
Now, while I’m doing this blog post, I can’t help but think of my best friend Cherry who was an ovarian cancer survivor. I’m a living witness to the severe pain she went through in battling the illness. Cancer runs in their family. Her mom, passed away early last year because of Stage 4 breast cancer. And just a couple of months ago, her younger sister was diagnosed to have it too. My ob, Dra. Tabaquero told me that her mom’s a breast cancer survivor and that I’m lucky to have my breast mass detected early - because in cases like this, early detection’s better than cure.
I’m sharing this to everyone because we all need to be aware. Ladies, if you feel there’s something in your body that has to be checked, see your doctor now. It might be scary to know the truth sometimes but we got to learn to face it. And for a mother and wife like me, I just can’t afford to be sick because I have Bien and Saab - I have a family that needs me.
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