Screening and findings
When to start mammograms and how often, why the guidelines give different ages, what a callback means, and what to do about a lump, pain, or discharge.
Read about screening →Clear answers about breast health, from your Boise breast surgeon.
Dr. Shelley Perkins is a breast surgeon in Boise and Meridian. These pages explain screening, the treatment choices in front of you, and the help available along the way, written in plain language you can read at your own pace.
Four places to begin
Diagnosis and treatment
What the words on your pathology report mean, a page for each kind of breast cancer, and how surgery, radiation, and medicine fit together.
Read about diagnosis and treatment →Surgery and recovery
Lumpectomy and mastectomy compared, reconstruction, and then a page that counts the days with you after you get home.
Read about surgery and recovery →Support
Practical help here in the Treasure Valley and beyond: counseling, transportation, meals, housecleaning, wigs and head coverings, financial assistance, and ways to rest your mind.
See what is available →Not sure where to start
Start from a lump, a letter, or a diagnosis
Two places to start. One for a new lump, a callback letter, or a screening question. One for a biopsy result or a diagnosis, with a tool that turns the words on your pathology report into plain language and builds a list of questions to bring. Nothing you enter is saved.
Glossary: every term defined where you read it
Medicine has a vocabulary problem. Words like , , and get used in appointments as though everybody already knows them.
On these pages every medical term is underlined. Tap it and the plain-English meaning opens right there, without taking you away from what you were reading. The full list is searchable on its own page.
A note from Dr. Perkins
I’m so glad you found your way here. Sometimes our own health is our last thought at the end of a day where we prioritize our families and work first. Whether you are not sure how to do a breast exam or not sure what to do if you found something new, these pages are intended to provide you with information and actionable steps to help you take care of your health.
Shelley Perkins, MD
Breast changes worth having checked
Most breast changes turn out to be harmless. Some are worth an appointment rather than a wait-and-see. Make one if you notice any of the following:
- A new lump or thickening in the breast or the armpit that does not come and go with your cycle
- A change in the size or shape of one breast
- Skin that is dimpling, puckering, or looks like orange peel
- Redness, warmth, or swelling of the breast, particularly if it comes on over weeks
- A nipple that has turned inward when it did not used to, or skin on the nipple that is scaling, itching, or crusting
- Nipple discharge that happens without squeezing, especially if it is bloody or comes from one side only
- Pain in one spot that does not settle
In plain terms
Having one of these does not mean you have cancer. Most of the time it is something else entirely. It means the change deserves a proper look rather than a guess, and the sooner that happens the fewer weeks you spend wondering.
If this is an emergency
This website is education, not medical advice, and it cannot diagnose anything. For a medical emergency call 911. If you are in emotional crisis, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, at any hour.