Endocrinologist appointment ----- Please help me prepair.

[nutella]

Hey guys,

So, after 6 months of trying to ignore the lump that lurks under my left nipple I have finally convinced my doctor to reffer me to an Endo. I have seen a total of 8 Doctors in the past 6 months and they have all told me that it is a "common problem" that will go away on its own after a couple months. Untrue. My appointment date is on the 26th of January - which is still over a month away. My concern is that the longer you leave the active gland the worse - more long term - the issue will become.

In the first few months of my growth my lump hurt very much and it would go through cycles of being tender to fairly painless. At this stage my nipple is still tender but not nearly as painful as it was. I am worried that the gland is going through fibrosis and that the only way to deal with my gland is to get it cut from my body. Is there still time to correct this through non-surgical means ?

[Raider Fan]

Nobody knows with certainty if there's still time to avoid surgery.  The only thing you can do is see what the endocrinologist says and go from there.  If he wants to try one of the anti-estrogen medicines (like Tamoxifen or Arimidex) to decrease the growth, you'll need to decide whether you're going to try them, or not.  They are drugs that are typically given for breast cancer and they are not without side effects.  You may want to read up on them before you go so you'll be prepared to ask some questions while you're there.  Sometimes, a drug like this will do something about the pain/tenderness, but not do much to the gland underneath.  Then again, I've also heard stories where the med(s) were given in time and they effectively took care of the problem.  Meds like this are typically taken only short term.....2 to 3 months. 

But as far as whether drugs like this will take care of your problem satisfactorily without surgery, nobody can know that.....including your doctor.  It's basically try it and see what happens.  If the medicine works, great.  If not, you go from there.