Fibroadenoma Surgery Questions?

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1

Hello Everyone,

I’m going to apologize in advance for my long story.

 

My name is Cindy and I am 21 years old. When I was around 15 years old I found a lump in my left breast. Out of curiosity the first thing I did was Google “lump in breast” and of course breast cancer came up. All worried, I told my mom and had a doctor check me out and It was diagnosed as a Fibroadenoma and was told that it was Benign. Because I was so young and it did not bother me at the time, I chose not to have it removed and just keep an eye on it every 6 months. I never had it biopsied; they would just follow up with ultrasounds.

 

So like I said I am now 21… About a few months ago, I started to have sharp pains in my left breast. It was almost as if I had to hunch over to have some relief. It got to the point where it would bother me at work, and with simple movements, I would feel pain. I decided to go back to my doctor to have it checked out. My doctor suggested that I lay off the caffeine (I do drink coffee everyday) as caffeine can make breast tissue more sensitive. She also scheduled me for an Ultra sound. I did lay off the caffeine and it did help a little but I still felt pain. After I got my Ultra sound results, it was determined that my Fibroadenoma had grown (it’s about 3cm) and they had also found another one. I cannot feel the second one they found- I can only feel the one that had grown, which is more obvious.

 

My doctor decided to send me to a general surgery specialist but I honestly did not find him to be any help. He did a breast exam and checked my lumps and basically said what I already knew. He said, “Well, you can either have it removed or chose to leave it and we can watch it…” I guess I was kind of hoping he would give me a better answer or his opinion on what I should do, but he just left it up to me. Of course, I chose to have it removed. Especially considering that I have never biopsied it, and I just feel like it does not belong. I could be over thinking it but I rather be safe than sorry, I just hope I made the right decision to have it removed. 

 

My surgery is going to be on Tue. Jan. 27th and I was hoping to get some feedback on anyone who has had this surgery done. I’m a little nervous but some questions I have are:

  • How long was the surgery itself?
  • How is the pain after the Surgery and how long does it last?
  • How long until you can wear a Bra again?
  • How many days do you need to recover and (if any) how many days should you expect to be home from work?
  • Any complications with breast-feeding?
  • Did you feel a difference in your breast shape? like an emptiness? (I have small boobs and i’m worried that i’ll have a “deflated” boob after the surgery)

These are just some questions that come to my head but any feedback on your experiences is appreciated.

Thanks

 

 

2

Hi

 

I have had several of these removed, all without any problems. I have always had them removed as a day patient - don’t know exactly how long the surgery itself took - and have put my bra on to go home - although I could imagine that if the lump was in certain places this would make a difference.

I have taken a couple of days off work, but mainly because I work with children so was worried about it being bumped. I was able to drive and do pretty much everything by the next day. 

I had a little bit of pain but I don’t remember taking pain killers for long after the surgery - not past the lunchtime the next day.

I had 2 of these removed before I was married and breast fed both my children without any problems. 

For most of the lumps I didn’t notice any difference in my breasts once they had healed. The last lump I had removed turned out to be a benign philoides (sp?) tumor and was nearly 5cm. I notice a slight indent from this one but nothing much.

I hope this is helpful. Good luck with the surgery!