Hi!
My nipple had been flattening and retracting a bit over the past year. I mentioned it at an appt recently when I went to have my IUD removed. They quickly found a 2cm lump (how did I miss this?) and scheduled a mammogram and ultrasound. The radiologist said, “well it’s not a cyst and you’re only 30. You’re probably fine but since the nipple is changing, we can skip the biopsy and just remove it to be safe.” Between the time of the surgery and the ultrasound, I begin to have bloody discharge. It would be a dried fleck of brown blood and when brushed off, new blood with discharge from the nipple. So now I have a flattening nipple, a 2cm mass, and bloody discharge.
I spoke to the the surgeon and he said, “Ya know, you’re only 30. The chances are SO SLIM you have cancer” and brushed it off as a simple surgery and probable benign case. He seemed rushed every time I met with him and only ever seemed the slightest bit concerned when discussing the discharge. Even so, he made me feel foolish for stressing because I’m young and healthy.
I had the surgery today but wasn’t able to talk to the surgeon afterwards. My husband said he came in while I was asleep and said, “Surgery went well. We removed the mass and found the duct causing the bloody discharge. Results will take about 5 days” He didn’t ask if my husband had questions and left quickly. The nurses made a few comments about how horrible his bedside manner is.
This is us getting long… now time for the questions! Are there benign conditions that have the mass, nipple retraction, and bloody discharge? What could this be? And ideas? I am feeling a lot of anxiety waiting for this diagnosis and have to do SOMETHING (I.e. ask here on this forum). I have googled (whoops), but I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do doctors usually provide more info when they think it’s cancer? Thanks for reading!!!