Breasts (even small ones) are nice to have....

Sunny here.

I just read an unfortunate report that more and more women, especially of "worrisome" later ages, are letting their mammograms slide by the wayside. Ladies, say it ain't so.

I'm 36 years old and, before last summer, had never even thought of a mammogram because women always hear you should get it done for the first time at 40 or 45 and then only if you're well-endowed or if breast cancer runs in the family.

Well, they're wrong.

I found a lump less than two weeks after my 36th birthday. I'm a double-A (AA) cup even though I'm in my thirties and weigh more than 135 pounds. Within one week after discovering the lump, I had a tactile exam, upon which the doctor immediately ordered a mammogram and sonogram for the next day at an expert facility. The next morning, after I had received those more specialized tests, the expert ordered a biopsy for that same afternoon as well as the implanting of titanium markers at the suspicious spots in my breast because he was convinced it was cancer, all within ONE DAY. My worried 60-something-year-old aunt and mother now declared me a member of the "Titanium Tit Club" and tried to laugh about it but were no longer as positive thinking as they had been.

After a week of waiting on the biopsy results, it turned out to be non-cancerous! (Woooo-hoooo!) I still ended up having a lumpectomy in October 2006 (larger lump than the surgeon thought, which meant a bigger scar, which meant more psychological damage to me, even if I did keep my boob), and I suffered through multiple, non-stop infections until December 2006, until my surgeon got me back up to snuff. I unexpectedly had one more infection in March 2007 (unexpected because it was after more than two months without infection, and I had no outward or inward signs of problems, and I wasn't feeling bad until the last minute). That infection's gone now, but I'm supposed to see an infectious disease specialist once I get my insurance in order. My point is that even when you don't have cancer and don't lose one or both breasts, it's more stressful than some people might think, and that diagnosis affects everything, including your job, friendships, family, feelings, and reactions.

Basically, I've found that most of your "older" female family/friends and their husbands and family members will tell you that they know all about lumps, and that they're some sort of "cystic" or "fibro-" something, which they can't really remember the name of, and that they're no big deal at my age (30-something). The doctors will tell you the same thing and say no more caffeine and that you need to eat more Vitamin E. Then they schedule an appointment for a month later or a little sooner if you're lucky.

Don't let them do that to you. The only reason I got taken so seriously was because I was very vocal and very scared because the lump appeared literally overnight (no joke), and it was as big as a marble and it hurt!

In fact, family and friends told me from the get-go that both pain and sudden appearance were good things since they don't usually indicate cancer. Well, they were right; there was no cancer, but my boob has been scarred for life, and I'm still going through it. I learned that I'd had a mammary gland infection for at least 6 months, which then turned into a cyst, which then abscessed, which then turned into a lump (overnight) after I physically strained myself, which then resulted in surgery and a lumpectomy, which then led to another three months of infection (not from the surgery or any sort of medical incompetence). In other words, it's been a minor hell for someone who does still have her breast and hasn't needed chemo and doesn't need radiation and is still alive, but just because it's not a worse outcome doesn't mean you don't suffer. People get paper cuts all the time, but they hurt, don't go right away, and cause stress in you life, right? You bitch about them every time they burn, right?

I'm grateful it's not worse, but don't play down my pain, please, you few in number.

Ladies, the point is, get mammograms and check-ups, please. Being a member of the Titanium Tit Club isn't terrible, especially when it turns out you're okay and your family is laughing not out of humor but out of relief, but I'd rather none of us be a member.

Lump? Get checked. Over 35? Get checked. Pain in your breast or nipple? Get checked. Funky drainage from your nipple? Get checked.

Told that any problem (pain, drainage, lump) is no big deal at any age? Get a second opinion. Have family members, friends, aunts, grandmothers, or even doctors say it's not likely at your age? Get a second opinion.

So it turns out to not be a big deal. Good for them and great for you! But what if everyone's wrong? Just check it out, okay?

Sunny