[Marilyn]

I've had two lumps too. The first one I was in my early 30's and was really stressing. Our girls were young, and who was going to raise them if anything happened to me. Of course they still would have their dad, but they needed me. We went out of town for the weekend, and prayed that it would be nothing major. When I went back to the surgeon for a followup mammogram to locate the lump for the surgery, it was not there. There was a shadow where it had been, but the lump was gone. They couldn't figure out what happened, but just did followup mammograms.

About 3 years ago, another lump showed up on a routine mammogram. They did ultrasound, needle biopsy and got me all upset and excited again. They did a lumpectomy and it turned out to be a form of pre-cancer. They called it carcinoma, but it was not malignant. For a while I took reloxofin (sp?) for prevention of breast cancer, but it made my joints ache so much that I felt like a very elderly woman. The oncologist told me if my side effects were that bad, to stop taking it. I was getting mammograms every 6 months, but now once a year, and so far so good.

I know how scary all of this can be and how worried you can get about your future. All I can offer is a suggestion that you pray fervently for favorable results, let God take control and try to relax and enjoy the time of year. Spend some time in God's word. There is lots of encouragement there. If we love Him, he will care for us. That care may be to take us home if that's His wish, but He offers us much comfort.

My prayer for you is that it is nothing serious, just a benign bump of some kind and that you have many happy and healthy years ahead. Take care, and you are in my prayers, too.