Breast Check

Hello all!

So I know my post title is a little weird, but I couldn't think of anything other than "Breast Check" for the title since it states pretty much what happened last week to me and my family.

You see, after my daughter, Lydia, was born, I began nursing her- which was always something I looked forward to doing when she arrived. I love breastfeeding my babies and if we decide to have a third child in the future, I know I will breastfeed again. There are so many benefits to nursing your child, but that isn't really what this post is all about.

Shortly after nursing Lydia, I noticed a dense lump in my right breast. It was pretty obvious and could be felt standing up!

I was terrified when I felt it at first because I never noticed it there before.

Tons of thoughts started circled my head at that moment! What if it is breast cancer?? How could I have missed the lump? How long has it been there? What is it??

I immediately called up my lactation consultant and went to see her at the hospital. She did a breast check and felt my lump and told me not to worry...."The chances of you having breast cancer" she said, "at your age is very slim." So that calmed me a bit, but she told me to call my OB right away to make an appointment with her just to be safe.

I called the OB office and couldn't get seen with my OB because she was going out of town, so they scheduled me to see the on-call nurse that day.

I went in with my little Lydia and waited an hour because they forgot my paperwork and didn't realize that I had made an appointment to be seen that day...even though I made sure to tell the nurse at the front desk that I had been scheduled in for a quick visit. So that didn't help calm my fears.

All I can remember doing is rocking my little one to sleep in the waiting room and praying that all be alright!

After I met up with the nurse, she told me that she thought the lump in my breast felt like a fibrous adenoma, but to be sure, she wanted me to schedule an appointment for an ultrasound at the hospital.

I still couldn't believe it! Here I was sitting in my car after the visit wondering if my lump was cancerous or not and trying to hold things together for my family. I really don't like to cry (not sure why but it's something I am learning is okay to do every now and then) but I cried on the way home from the doctor's office and did more praying to the Lord...but I just couldn't shake the fears I was having at that moment.

When I got home, I told my husband about the appointment with the nurse and he comforted me and told me it was going to be alright. We sat on the couch holding each other and looking at our little girls...both wondering what the next week would hold for us.

That day, I scheduled an appointment for the ultrasound the nurse told me to have and they said I needed a mammogram as well. So my family and I went to the appointment together the next day- which helped me to be less anxious knowing my husband and girls were close by.

To leave out many details, I will skip to the day I had my ultrasound.

The ultrasound showed my lump to be a cluster of dense cells and the radiologist tried to reassure me that most likely the lump was what she called a fibroadenoma or lactating adenoma. I didn't know exactly what that was so of course I looked it up first thing when we got home to see what that term meant. I figured I should've asked her more questions, but there was so much going on in my mind that I didn't know exactly what to ask her. After the appointment, we went home and I looked up what a lactating fibroadenoma was. I read that it is a benign tumor that can occur in women who are pregnant or nursing and usually goes away after you wean your child. To be sure it wasn't cancer though, the radiologist wanted to schedule me for a biopsy because she said it was best if we found out what the lump was right away before waiting 6 months for me to nurse and begin weaning my daughter to see if it goes away or not.

A few days later, and after much prayers from our church family, friends, and my family and I, I had the biopsy done and waited for the results to come in about the cells they took out.

I will spare you more details about the days we waited to hear about the results, but lets just say I was on an emotional rollercoaster. I went from crying one moment to being okay with whatever happened in the future- which I know was the Lord comforting me. But I do know that I made sure to spend each moment carefully with my husband and daughters because I didn't know if I would see them for a few more months or many, many years to come (And boy did that first thought scare me a little bit! Not knowing if I would be around to see my girls grow up was terrifying!)

So jump to a few days later.....

On Thursday, which was yesterday, we got the call that the cells were benign and everything looked OKAY! :)

"Praise God" I kept saying and praying and held my husband tightly after we heard the great news! I talked with the Lord so much that day and the days beforehand and have never been so grateful for the blessings He has given me until now...which is very sad to realize that until now! Before I had been soooo selfish and prideful about many things in my life and took for granted the blessings God has given me. I am so thankful for the late night nursing sessions with Lydia, the tiredness I feel after taking care of two young girls under the age of 2, my wonderful husband for all he does for us, and friends and family who love the Lord and have prayed so hard for us. We really don't know what each day holds for us, but I tell you what, after an experience like this, I have looked at life differently.

Right now I have what they call a "marker" in my right breast to monitor the lump. In 6 months, I go back for another ultrasound to make sure the lump hasn't changed. We will continue to pray that it doesn't, but I do know that I need to trust the Lord my Saviour and be comforted by His Spirit, especially in times like this.

I share this with you to ask that you be thankful for the blessings placed in your life, even when things get rough, because only the Lord knows what tomorrow holds for us.

It is by His grace that I am saved and that I can be the wife and mother He made me to be.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!

I hope that you have a wonderful Friday and weekend ahead! :)