MY FIBROADENOMA EXPERIENCE
I discovered a lump in my breast in 2015. When I was much younger, I watched breast cancer adverts on television where women were taught to check their breasts for lumps, so when my breasts developed, it became my habit to check for lumps.
When I discovered the tumour, I consulted google to learn what it meant and the information I gathered online left me terrified, I thought I was going to die, so I could not tell anyone about it, not even my parents. I just kept hoping that it would disappear but it did not.
In 2018, I summoned the courage to tell my parents and they were as scared as I was. In fact, their fear intensified my anxiety and I became so worried that I could not focus in school, I did not even see the sense in engaging in activities. I have always been a fragile child but this time, I was always falling sick and I just thought it was death beckoning to me.
I went for a breast scan where I was examined and the size of the lump was ascertained, then, I was told to see a Doctor of my choice for further consultations. My experience at the first major hospital I visited was terrible because each time I went to see the Doctor, I felt violated. My visits were weekly and each week, there was always a "new” student Doctor who wanted to examine me before even listening to anything I had to say, it did not matter that I had been examined the previous week and it did not help that all these Doctors were men. Each time I left the Doctor’s office, I felt a sense of shame and low self-esteem. I did not feel that way because I was examined, I had previously been examined by some other Doctors before going to that hospital and I did not feel terrible after their examinations, but at this hospital, I cried after every visit. I had the same experience with every visit until one day, I decided that I had been through enough and I stopped showing up.
When my parents found out that I had stopped going to the Doctor’s, they panicked. We had been told that the longer a lump stays in your breast, the higher the chances of it growing and becoming cancerous. Although I understood their fear, I could not tell them why I stopped going. I just knew nothing could ever make me go back to that hospital, so I tried to convince them to change hospitals but to no avail. So much happened but finally, in 2021, I visited another hospital.
Shortly before then, I was sick for months, I could not go to school, I could not even leave my house, I was on various medications but I was not getting better and my hair was falling off (I still don’t know why I lost so much hair during that period, maybe it was my negative mindset). My family and I were really scared and so, I had to see another Doctor…
When there is a lump in your breast, surgery has to be carried out to extract the lump, then the lump would be tested to see if it is benign or cancerous. If it is benign, you have no problem but if it is cancerous, then, cancer treatment commences. I needed to know what type of tumour I had, but I did not want surgery because I have a low threshold for pain, the thought of surgery scared me, and I did not want scars on my body.
The first day I saw the Doctor at the second hospital, some tests were carried out and I was scheduled for surgery that same day. Although I was on anesthesia, I didn’t fall asleep and I could still feel pain during the surgery. After the surgery, I was in the hospital for a while and the extracted specimen (lump) was then taken to a medical laboratory for testing and the test revealed that the lump was benign, so I had nothing to worry about.
I kept seeing the Doctor for treatment of the wound but unfortunately for me, the wound had to be stitched a number of times because the wound refused to heal. My mother had always warned me that my hatred for vegetables especially 'efo riro’ would have serious consequences (I still hate 'efo riro’), maybe that is why I easily fall sick, and maybe that is why the wound refused to heal. Just maybe.
Now, when you have a wound that refuses to heal, you have so many thoughts going through your mind. I do not want to irritate you so I will leave you to imagine how it must have looked, felt and smelt. While I was going through this, my colleagues were having lectures and even writing exams but I could not think of any other thing except my health, that episode made me understand what people meant when they said "good health is underrated”.
When the wound started closing up, I was elated. It felt like God had finally answered my prayers and when it finally scarred, I was relieved. Although after it scarred, I was still in a lot of pain, the wound was not healed and I had to revert to my everyday activities while in pain. It took about a whole year for the pain to finally go away.
I decided to write about my experience because fibroadenoma is common among young women, I know women who have lumps in their breasts but are scared to do something about it. The effects I suffered were more psychological than physical because I did not know anyone who had experienced the same thing. I did not have adequate knowledge, so I was left to my imaginations and speculations.
If you have a lump in your breast, I hope you find the courage to see a Doctor and undergo all necessary treatment.
Love and Light!
