It's been a very long time since I've posted, but I need a place to share the experience I had, since I had a difficult time finding pictures as I was doing my own research a month ago. 

I am 31 years old. My mother was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer at her first mammogram at age 39. It was long since recommended to me that I begin mammograms at age 30. As I was still breastfeeding, I waited until my annual ob/gyn appointment post-breastfeeding to request the referral. My midwife, whom I trust and adore, took one look at my family history, and referred me to a surgical oncologist who specializes in breast cancer. This way, each year, my mammograms and breast health will be monitored by a specialist. There is no such thing as being too proactive, when the last three generations of your maternal line have died of cancer.

The Monday after Christmas, I went in for my first mammogram. To say I was nervous is an understatement - I knew my mother's first mammogram came back with cancer, and it's all I could think about. I fought the tears in my eyes.

The tech warned me that first mammograms often result in a "callback" because anything that is not 100% obvious is double checked - so that the doctors understand what is "normal" for you. Each of us has different breasts, different densities, different goofy spots of fibrous tissue. 

It didn't stop me from panicking when I received my own callback. 

Thankfully, when I had my second mammogram (which was much squishier than the first and hurt just a bit), the tech took the time to show me the area of question on the image of my left breast, and then, how that questionable area went away when I got the higher compression scan. 

And a few days later, I received the "all clear."

I was relieved. 

A few weeks later, I had my "Establish Patient" visit at the surgical oncologist, whom we'll call Dr. E. The visit with Dr. E was pretty basic, a bit about my family history, went over my mammogram images, and of course, she did a breast exam. When she was done, she asked if I had any questions or concerns. 

I just had one. For the last few months, I have been noticing that one duct on my right breast (note this is NOT the breast that needed re-imagining) will bleed. Many of my ducts still express milk, though it has been months since I last breast fed, and I check occasionally to see if they've dried up yet or not. Which is how I discovered the single bloody duct. 

My midwife took a culture, said it was a common staph bacteria that often lives on the skin, and offered me an antibiotic. But once I'd finished the medication, that one single duct still expressed blood. So I mentioned it to Dr. E. 

She doubled checked, and was able to also express a very dark red blood from that single duct. And, had I done my research ahead of time (and as a medical researcher, I have a large database at my exposure), I would have known what came next. 

Surgery. 

I walked into a Establish Patient visit and walked out with an outpatient surgery date for 4 days later. Dr. E reassured me that in over half the cases, a single duct bleeding is the result of a papilloma, and it is rarely cancer. When I began to do my research, I realized two things: