Breast Cancer Scare... No More

I went to the Dr. today and I FINALLY got my mammogram results. They are not the most optimal results, but they could be a whole lot worse. My diagnosis is intraductal papilloma or papillomatosis (meaning multiple growths/papillomas in the breast). Basically long story short is, I have two wart like tissue growths in a milk duct in my breast. Mine happen to be in the same duct. I have swollen lymph nodes, b/c these growths are foreign bodies in my breast that aren't supposed to be there and it's my body's defense mechanism of trying to fight it off. The course of treatment can be evasive to nothing. My course of action per dicussing ever option available with my Dr. is as follows. I will be getting another mammogram in 3mths as well as a ductogram/galactogram (this procedure scares me... a needle is inserted into my nipple while a mammogram is being performed... OUCH!). At this time if there is no negative growth then if I choose nothing will be done and I will continue to have mammograms done every 3mths for the first year and every 6mths to a year following to keep an eye on it. If at this time there is still no negative growth, but my breast is still painful then a surgical procedure will be preformed where I'm cut around my areola and my nipple area is removed in order to go in and remove the affected duct. If there is negative tissue growth then I will still have to have the surgical procedure done, and my long term options and prognosis will be discussed with me at that time. However I guess I can't really title this entry "Breast Cancer Scare... No More" b/c since I do have more than one growth I'm at an increased risk of breast cancer later in life, but it's doesn't totally indicate that I will have it. All women already have a 5-10% breast cancer risk, my risk is just hightened an additional 5-10%, which really isn't that high of a percentage if you think about it. I know receiving this diagnosis was like having a 50lb weight lifted from my chest, I'm just not really looking forward to all the additional testing that comes with it in the year to follow. Here is some reading for you on my diagnosis if you would like to further research it. (It's ALOT of reading actually.) It is also the 25pg printout that my Dr. reviewed with me and gave to me at my appt. today.

Non-Cancerous Breast Conditions Reading