In April 2013, at the age of 45, I noticed an occassional leaking in my right breast. It was clear and very minimal. Like many of us do, I 'googled' it and discovered this had a 50% chance of being nothing. With no family history of cancer and the fact I had been receiving annual mammograns since the age of 40 (with normal results), I wasn't concerned. In a casual conversation with my sister, she insisted I have it checked. I made an appointment with my family doctor and she immediately referred me to a surgeon. My surgeon ordered a mammogram and an ultrasound, both showing nothing. Because the leaking was continuing, my surgeon wanted to do an 'exploratory' type surgery to see if she could find what was causing this. In August 2013, I had this surgery and discovered it was cancer, invasive ductal carcinoma. I then had an MRI, where it was discovered I also had a large section of DCIS. Because of the size of the DCIS, a masectomy was recommended. I decided to have a bilateral masectomy. I did not want to worry about this ever happening again. On October 1, 2013, I had a bilateral masectomy with reconstruction, and lymph node removal. I am very thankful to have caught it early. No chemo or radiation was needed, as it did not spread to my lymph nodes. I am also thankful I made the decision to do a double masectomy, as atypical cells were found on the left side. It seems as if all we hear about are lumps. Do self exams, get mammograms to check for lumps. While these are very important, we need to let women know there are other things to look for as well. I was getting my mammograms, but this wasn't visible. I am thankful I didn't ignore the discharge and caught the cancer early.

Rhonda L
PRIOR LAKE, MN