Hey folks, I haven't posted here in a while, but I used to get great comfort from this site so I figured I'd see if anyone here had experience to share.

I haven't had top surgery yet but have been binding for 5 years, on T for 4. Before you say just get the surgery, cost is a problem, and binding hasn't been causing any problems that I knew of. I don't bind at home, just when I'm out, and for the most part, I'm home a lot.

Unfortunately the other day I noticed what I think is a cyst on my right breast. I don't usually pay much attention to that area of my body, so I didn't notice it until it got infected. I hate the whole disclosing to doctors thing so I avoided seeing a doctor until it was painful and I was worried. So I went to a walk in clinic today.

The doctor prescribed both an antibiotic cream and antibiotic pills, but he also said that I might be at a higher risk of breast cancer (a bit of family history there but also because I was taking testosterone). He said that sometimes breast cancer could present like this early on. I haven't been able to verify that claim over google, but he IS a doctor (and a rather enlightened one if he knows about trans health.) So he ordered an urgent ultrasound, which I got done this morning. The clinic called me back 6 hours later to say they had the results. The tech who did the ultrasound said it would take 2-3 days so I wasn't expecting results 6 hours later. But they couldn't tell me anything over the phone, of course. They said the doctor would be in again on Thursday and he wanted to see me ASAP. So I have an appointment first thing Thursday morning.

So I'm kind of worried right now. I know that odds are, it's not cancer. But I'm driving myself nuts worrying that it is. If it was a really bad infection, I would have thought they'd tell me to come in right away, not wait until Thursday.

Also it was totally humiliating to deal with breast health issues as a trans guy. The ultrasound tech called me "Miss (lastname)" but when she saw me, apologized because she thought I'd be a woman since I was getting a breast ultrasound. Then I had to explain transgender to her. Then I had to deal with a breast ultrasound.

Has anyone in these forums dealt with breast health issues? Have you been screened for cancer? How did it work out?

Thanks all.

I talked about this at my last appointment with the doctor who's prescribing my testosterone and she said that doctors generally don't screen young people for breast cancer because young people tend to have a lot of random fibroids and benign cysts that look just like cancer on a mammogram.

I've had some bad experiences with doctors ordering random imaging and then sort of wandering off... somewhere there is an x-ray of my chest that I can only assume is normal because no one ever said anything about it afterwards.

Anyway, you have all my sympathy -- it sounds like a miserable experience.

Sorry to hear that, man. That sucks...just keep in mind though that even cis men can get breast cancer even if it is rarer so its not just a transgender man thing

I wonder if patients can opt for chest surgery if they have a medical condition, since otherwise insurance wont usually cover it, just a thought.


Anyways good luck on those results hopefully it isnt serious, and if it is at least you caught it early

Thanks.

Unfortunately the doctor I saw yesterday told me to seek medical attention if the redness from the infection spread, so I wound up in the ER last night. They're putting me on an IV antibiotic pump for 3 days that will need changed daily. The worst part is they decided I don't qualify for in home care (basically they decide the criteria on a case by case basis, the only real disqualifier is no Ontario Health Insurance.) so I have to travel by bus to the next town over to get the pump installed and changed. I don't know why I don't qualify for them to come to me, I mean, I guess I'll take my huge aggressive infection and take a 30 minute bus ride to somewhere I've never been, find the medical centre, get the pump, and get home without passing out. And do the same every day. It's ridiculous.

They're seriously treating me like I'm annoying and they just want me to go away.

I've had to call in sick to work because they put a port in my wrist so that they can administer IV antibiotics without jabbing me every time and I can't work with that in (my job is very physical and dirty) but my boss is refusing to call me back to discuss why I can't work. She has been very unforgiving of employees getting sick in the past. If she gives me ->-bleeped-<- I think I will seriously quit. I'll still hopefully be able to make rent.

And I still have that appointment tomorrow to find out if it's cancer.

They shouldn't treat you like that. I mean seriously how callous can they be! Is there anything I can do to help?

I've never actually had a cancer screening of any kind, but I wouldn't recommend other people avoid it - it's really best to brave it and know, and the sooner you know the sooner they can treat if there's something seriously wrong. One thing I've found regards medical issues in general is that they're always kind of humiliating in some way, whether it's telling the doctor what's up or going for some intimate surgery. It's just not a pleasant experience, but worth it to know you're in good health. Then you can hopefully put it behind you.

Thanks everyone. Things are getting better. The results of the scan came back, no cancer. Just a really bad infection. I'm on my second day of IV antibiotics. Tuesday was terrible, I ran into so many bad medical professionals. The ER doc only wanted to give me 1 day off of work but the nurse who installed my IV pump later that night said "there's no way you can work like this." I talked to my boss and she wants me to take an extra week off, so I'm off until the 23rd.

Yesterday wasn't so bad. I saw a nurse practitioner in the morning to find out what the scan said, and she asked if I wanted her to change the gender in my file from F to M. I said that my health card still had an F down for gender and she was like "meh, I don't care." and changed it.

The infection is getting better, but the hard part is that since the infection is on my breast, I can't bind until it's healed enough. I'm mostly staying at home, but occasionally I need to go out and at first I was super self conscious about what people were thinking. I'm getting a bit more used to it now, and the infection is definitely starting to heal. Tomorrow I have to get it reassessed and they might order a few more days of IV antibiotics but I hope not, because I'd really like to get this IV out of my arm. I'm so paranoid that my cat will chew on the tube while I'm sleeping and puncture it.

Quote from: MrJ on October 14, 2016, 09:09:11 AM
Tomorrow I have to get it reassessed and they might order a few more days of IV antibiotics but I hope not, because I'd really like to get this IV out of my arm. I'm so paranoid that my cat will chew on the tube while I'm sleeping and puncture it.

First, I'm glad you're doing better and are going to have a more than a day to recuperate. And that nurse practitioner sounded pretty great.
My advice now is for your cat. If you have to leave the IV in longer, dish soap on the tube can sometimes work. My grandma's one cat likes to "play" with wires, and it's worked so far. Just rinse off and reapply a thin layer of dish soap periodically if possible. Good luck.

So sorry to hear about the infection, but glad it isn't cancer. Have they been able to figure out where you might've picked up the infection from?

Thanks. I'll try the dish soap but so far she's been really good about not chewing it.

I'm not sure where I picked it up from. It was a cyst that got infected, so it might have been just one of those things. I'm guessing binding while working a heavy job where I sweat a lot didn't help though.

I'm so glad to hear you're doing better! AND that you got some time off from work to recover. Please go easy on yourself; fighting off infections is hard work.

Sending healing thoughts your way! Really sorry you've had to deal with so many frustrating things when dealing with a serious infection. I'm really glad the docs are supporting more time off work though.