Fibro Friday: Breasts = A Mess

 Granulo what?

 Granulomatous mastitis is a rare condition in which the breast becomes inflamed, developing a mass of tissue which is sometimes mistaken for a cancerous growth.

Granulomatous mastitis has been taking over my life for that last 2 months.  It started with a lump in my right breast which my breast surgeon wanted to get an MRI, mammogram and ultrasound done on.  It started with a 9 am appointment at the radiology center and ended at 1 pm.  I ended up having all of the above done and then 3 biopsies.  Things were not looking good and they were convinced that it was cancer. 

After a long weekend of waiting, we had great news that it wasn't cancer.  It was a granulomatous mastitis infection.  I was advised to give it some time to see what happens and if it goes a way.  About two weeks later it started shrinking and became somewhat small. (Originally it was massive and when I say massive, I mean about the size of a grapefruit). 

And then 2 weeks ago, it hit.  Another massive infection in my left breast.  I talked to my breast surgeon over the weekend and she got me in to see her on that Monday.  She was surprised/shocked/baffled as to what was going on with my boobies.  She ordered another mammogram and ultrasound to be done (which I will have next week) and wanted me to see a Rheumatologist about treating the infection with steroids.

Luckily, I already have a Rheumatologist and I was able to see her the next day.  She was baffled at the infection and had never heard of it before.  Both of my doctors talked and came up with a plan of action which includes a dose of steroids and then see what happens.

The hard part is that doctors don't know how or why women get it.  It is a rare infection and they really don't know how to treat it.  Research shows that a long course of steroids can treat it, but no where does it say how long of the treatment or what does.  So my docs are just trying to see what works.

So far the steroids seem like they are working, the pain is gone and physcially I am feeling so much better.  It felt like the infection started taking over my whole body and started a major flare-up in the mean time.  For 4 days I was 100% non functional.  I could barely walk, my back was completely out, couldn't use my arms, and my neck and head were in extreme pain.  It wasn't until I had been on the steroids for a full day that I finally started getting some relief.  I am almost done with my steroid treatment, so we shall see what happens.  Unfortunately with this condition it can reoccur quite often.  Hopefully my doctors will get a good treatment going for me and this will become less of a problem in my life.  I want my regular boobies back :).