Uh-oh

Saturday night, I found a lump in my breast. More accurately, Lola found it. She had climbed onto my chest (cats!) and was pawing/scratching in a weird way on my breast. I put my hand in the spot where she was doing this and felt the lump immediately.

I think the girls have been trying to get my attention about this for several days. Just a few days ago, Tilly rubbed my coffee cup (which I was trying to drink out of) so hard that it spilled my coffee directly on my left breast. I was so busy leaping up and yelling (it was hot and, more importantly, I didn't want it to get on the white sofa!) that I wasn't in the right place to go pressing on my breast. A couple of days ago, Lola did something she has never done before—she nipped at my breast!

So, my thinking is that the girls were doing their best to tell me something is up, and finally Lola figured she was going to have to do her cat equivalent of pointing.

This is not the first time I've found a lump in my breast. Eleven years ago, back when I was married, I was sitting at the computer when my husband came up behind me. He ran his hands from my shoulders down my chest and ended up feeling a lump. It seemed to develop out of no where and was very distinct (much more so than this one). In that case, it turned out to be a fibroedenoma, a type of benign breast lump.

From my research back then, I know that 80% of the time, breast lumps aren't cancerous, so I am not jumping to any conclusions. However, when your mother (and her mother, and her mother) have had breast cancer, you are always on alert. I'm from the "let's get this over" school -- I want to be seen quickly, get a mammogram, get an ultrasound, find out the diagnosis, and hopefully do this in under a week and a half. Hey, it worked for me last time--I had my surgery the day after meeting the surgeon, simply by asking if they had any cancellations. I just don't like to have time to brood over these things when they are likely to be nothing.

Unfortunately, though, I will have to wait until the 22nd to see my doctor. I'm going to my primary care physician because I don't have a gynecologist anymore and don't want to see someone brand new for something like this. Besides, she's a good doctor. It's a good thing that I have a lot going on getting the house ready, as there's no point in thinking ahead with this.

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