A Tale of Two Breasts

Disclaimer: I don't usually get too personal here and there are some areas of my life I won't discuss online. Not my full name, not the names of loved ones. I won't talk about work except in the most general terms and then, I'm more likely to blog about unnamed patrons than about the people I work with. Everyone has lines he or she won't cross and admittedly, for some people online, it's hard to see the lines. Or maybe there really are folks who don't draw lines between public and private. I do. And issues of health often fall on the public side.

Which brings me to today's unfun topic. My boobs are small. Always have been. When I was in my teens, I hated that. I'd see the other girls adding cup sizes and mine stayed the same and yeah, breast envy exists in girls, same as penis envy in guys. But in my 20s, I came to accept that small breasts were kinda nice. They didn't bounce when I ran or otherwise get in the way. And they were small enough that I could go braless and as long as I wasn't wearing a see-through top, no one could tell. Comfort over aesthetics won me over. Big enough was what mattered, not how big.

But even small boobs can cause problems. A few years ago, I learned I have a fibroid adenoma in each of them. Not a good thing, but nothing to worry about. But the one in the left grew 2 mm over the last year and as the doctor said when she gave me the results of the biopsy — which were negative for cancer — anything growing in the body that doesn't belong there should come out. So it will, the procedure scheduled for a week from tomorrow.

They don't need to do invasive surgery for these things anymore. They can suck 'em out guided by ultrasound in my radiologists' office. It takes a half hour. The wonders of modern medicine. My radiologists' office just got the machine. For once, I have good timing. Aside from knowing it's gonna hurt, my main concern is that my little left boob is gonna get a bit smaller once that fibroid is gone. But I sure won't miss it.

Any women age 40 or over who are reading this and have not had a mammogram or don't get them annually, do it. Don't let fear of discomfort or pain discourage you. Get it done. It could mean your life. Seriously.