WEST PALM BEACH, FL--Dianna Craven has what some people consider a dream job. She's the sales director for Sun Fest, Florida's largest festival. But life hasn't always been one big party for Dianna.
Dianna Craven: "For the past 18 years I have been diagnosed with multiple fibro adenomas. I was diagnosed at a very early age with fibrocystic breast disease, where my breasts are very dense…Over that time I had 13 surgical biopsies performed. Then in 2006 I had 10 fibro adenomas that they detected that they did needle core biopsies on."
So, what are fibrocystic breasts and fibro adenomas?
Robin Stevens, Oncology Nurse Practitioner:
" Fibrocystic breast disease is a broad term used for benign breast disease. And its a lumpy uncomfortable condition of the breast that women can suffer with and cause some discomfort about the time of their periods. Fibro adenomas is very similar to fibrocystic breast conditions in that they're both benign tumors of the breast. They're noncancerous and that needs to be stressed."
Fibro adenomas and fibrocystic conditions do not increase the risk of developing breast cancer.
Robin Stevens: About 60% of women have fibrocystic breast disease and of those women maybe 3-5 % develop breast cancer.
Dianna: Both my mother and my maternal grandmother both had breast cancer. So I felt in a way that I was just waiting for something to come.
Because of the extreme number of fibro adenomas Dianna was experiencing and her already high risk, she opted, for a double mastectomy.
Dianna: It was definitely the right choice for me.
