I am 40 years old and noticed a new mole that started to grow on my nipple approximately two years ago when I was pregnant. The mole was on my nipple and not on the areola. It was initially small, but kept growing. I delayed having it removed because I was pregnant and then I was breastfeeding. This was a terrible idea. Terrible. By the time that I went to my doctor, it was a size that was large than the radius of a pencil, but smaller than the radius of an M&M. It was two different colors. The shape was weird. The texture was weird. It looked bad. My PCP was worried and referred me to a breast surgeon at an oncology center instead of a dermatologist. He said that the size and colors were of concern. The rate at which is was growing was also a concern. Given the large size, he thought that a breast surgeon may be able to minimize the amount of disfiguration that would occur by removing it. So, off to the breast surgeon I went.
The breast surgeon removed the weird mole from my nipple at my first visit. They instantly made me feel comfortable, explained things in an accessible way, and assured me that many people have had a mole on a nipple. The nurse took photos and then the doctor explained the process. I would have several shots to numb the area and then the doctor would remove the mole. There would be stitches that would stay in for several days and then I would come back to have them removed. I appreciated knowing what would happen upfront. I think that my breast surgeon was talented at removing the mole from my nipple and am glad that I went to a breast surgeon instead of a dermatologist.
During the process, the first couple of shots to numb the area hurt a bit, but they were tolerable. The second couple of shots weren't as bad. I didn't feel any pain at all during the small surgery. After the doctor finished, the nurse put gauze over my breast and then wrapped my chest in a binding that was kind of like a giant version of an ace bandage. I didn't have any pain. However, I did feel some pain once the numbing stuff wore off on the car ride home. The pain got worse throughout the evening, but I was able to go to bed early and it was tolerable. I woke up a couple of times at night in pain, but was better in the morning. I gently cleaned the blood off in the morning and used a special ointment that the nurse gave to me before applying new gauze and the binding. I felt a tiny bit of pain, but it wore off within 3 days. I stopped finding blood on the gauze after the 3rd morning.
My results were back in a few days. I didn't have Melanoma on my nipple! I had something called Benign Lentigo. I searched the web to learn more. I found some info here. The mole on my nipple looked like a cross between the second and fourth photos on that website. Nasty, right? It's easy to understand why two doctors were worried. I also found a website here that says that these are common in people over 40 years old. The timing was right before I turned 40, although I had it removed after 40 years old. (However, mine didn't look like any of the examples on that second website.)
In the end, I am very grateful that I didn't have Melanoma on my nipple. However, it was still a bad idea to wait so long because the amount of skin removed from my nipple was quite large. It wasn't as simple as just removing the scary looking mole, but my breast surgeon had to go pretty deep for staging just in case it was Melanoma. If I would have had it removed sooner when it was smaller, I am guessing that she would have been able to preserve more of my nipple. Still, I'm just so grateful that I was able to have the medical care of a talented breast surgeon to get me out of the mess that I was in. The growing mole was causing me anxiety and I felt a weight lifted after it was removed and the results revealed that it was benign.
Finally, let me conclude by saying that I am not a medical professional. I do not have any medical training. I am just sharing my experience and you are welcome to discuss it with your doctor if you want, but please remember that I am not educated in this area at all and that you should not consider my post as medical advice. You should consult your medical doctor.
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