I was young, fresh-faced and brunette (back when I didn't dye my hair blonde to hide all the greys) and still learning a lot about the world at just 20 years old. I was reasonably healthy, besides the fact I had just recovered from a knee injury which had me on crutches for almost a year, but that's another story.
Life felt like it was starting to return back to normal until one day I just happened to rub the side of my right breast. It was just a little itchy, no big deal but to my surprise, I felt something.
A lump.
I felt around more, trying to work out what it could possibly be. It was about 2cm across and I could move it a little. For the next few days tried to ignore it but found myself constantly touching it and being hyper aware of its existence. Of course when you feel things like this your head goes to worse case scenario.
I decided I couldn't keep getting in my head about what this lump could possibly be and to see my GP. After a reasonably quick consult I was sent on my way with a Ultrasound request along with a Mammogram request form. The mammogram was not nice, especially with the dense tissue oh a 20 year old but the ultrasound was a breeze. After these scan results were seen by my GP, they sent me off for a needle biopsy. Then those results came back...
Inconclusive.
There were some cells found that raised some questions but they needed to do another needle biopsy, this time under ultrasound guidance to make sure they were getting to the centre of the mass. I had 4 people in he room for this, the doctor to perform the sample retrieval (who's eyesight didn't seem the best), the sonographer and two guys from pathology ready to collect the sample immediately to avoid any contamination or time lapsed. Several eedles were attempted, each bigger than the last until a sample could be correctly retrieved as blood trickled down my side as I laid on the bed feeling like a bit of a lab rat. Then a week later, the results came back...
Inconclusive.
It was time for the next step, surgery. Because of the inconclusive results it was decided the mass was better off out than in - couldn't agree more! They could then run further tests and eliminated the chance of any cells mutating if they were to leave it. The surgery itself was fine. In fact I quite like surgeries, I feel like I get the absolute best sleep and I have never appreciated food more then after fasting for surgery haha.
The week following surgery everything seemed to be healing well. Results hadn't come back yet but I was feeling positive. One morning I headed off to the shower and as I removed my dressing (which I only continued to wear to bed as a subconscious reminder not to roll to that side), something started spurting - yes, legitmately spurting, out of my wound. I screamed to my boyfriend whom I was living with at the time 'I NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL - NOW!'. I frantically stuck the dressing back on, threw on my shirt, grabbed a towel to hold against the dressing and jumped straight in the car.
I'm pretty sure when we arrived the triage nurse had to get me to repeat what was wrong about 3 times as I was in freak-out mode and speaking a million miles an hour. They took me straight into a bed and nurses peeled down my dressing. 'It's infected. This is needs to come out,' they explained. What I (and they) had seen spurting out was a combination of puss (in a large quantity) and blood. My wound had burst, the skin around it was red and hot to touch and my body was forcing out 'the bad'. I sucked on the gas that day probably as hard as I did in labour as they cleaned out the wound and stuffed gauze inside to keep the wound open. I would need to come daily for wound cleans and dressing changes. It needed to remain open to let everything clear. Insanely painful!
It wasn't until 8-9 days of dressing changes that one of the nurses said, 'Hang on, I think theres a stitch in there. I'm just going to get someone else'. Soon she returned with 2 other nurses to gaze inside my breast and conclude that was definitely your everyday stitch inside my body - which should've never been there. We found the route of the infection - my body was trying to force out the foreign object incorrect put inside me.
It was a day later that I returned to the surgeon to get the results of all the tests on the mass. I explained to him the stitch and the infection to which he immediately shut me down, told me it wasn't possible and changed the subject. I wish I hadn't been there alone or felt strong enough to stand up for myself but I wasn't. However, there was some good news out of this appointment, thank goodness!
No cancerous cells.
I was one of the lucky ones. My mass was a complex fibroadenoma. Benign but still better out than in.
I had to continue getting regular breast ultrasounds for years after and I have had a few more needle biopsies, I've had to see specialists about other breast abnormalities (hello blood from nipple - get that stuff checked too ladies!) but I am still one of the lucky ones. I ensure I am frequently checking my breasts, being aware of what my normal is and if any changes occur, you better believe I will be straight to my GP for referrals and investigations.
Blowing out the candles on my 21st birthday cake at a backyard bbq - family birthday tradition
