Let me preface this by noting that I considered not sharing this information, because I realize it will make some people uncomfortable.
But then I remembered how angry I was about this, so I’m writing this post. It’s really not important that you read it, as it won’t contain any information about what’s up with me. You can stop now if you want.
Here’s the deal. I first realized I had a problem when my breast started leaking some blood.
The embarrassing part of this story is that when I first saw a few brownish spots in my bra, I thought, dang, Kate. How did you get the chocolate crumbs down there, you big slob?
But later I saw they were worse (and I hadn’t eaten any candy), so I did two things. I carefully avoided googling the symptom, because I know from experience that this will just lead to me to thinking I have cancer (oh, irony…) And I called my primary care physician.
In the couple of days it took to get in to see him, things changed. I stopped leaking, but had a palpable mass. I definitely did not google that.
When I saw the doctor, I learned that this symptom is actually very common and is usually benign. (Google backs this up, by the way. If I had Googled this, I would have found “fairly common, usually benign” as descriptors.) The mass was likely to be fluids, and the whole thing was likely to be something minor.
What eventually made me angry was this – if it’s so common, why has no one ever mentioned it to me before? Why don’t we talk about women’s health issues, what’s the big secret? I’m fairly certain that if it was common for male body parts to leak blood, it would be extremely well-known. And also probably cured.
Now I realize I’m not the poster child for “usually benign.” But the reality is, in the endless imaging that followed, I had all kinds of benign things to keep my cancer company. The first radiologist said, “you have a lot going on in there.” (I’m still thinking about why I find this comment funny.)
So for any woman who ever finds themselves leaking some fluids from their breast, please know that it’s fairly common and usually benign.
And then see your doctor, just in case.