My Breast Day

I have NEVER identified myself by my body parts. I AM NOT my breasts and I was never any of my other 'lady bits.' A lot of women couldn't understand how easy it was for me to 'give up' my ovaries and uterus to hysterectomy. There are quite a few women who feel as if a hysterectomy is a 'mutilation,' but I DEFINITELY don't feel that way. So, my breast scare had EVERYTHING to do with the Big 'C' and NOT with the possibility of losing a breast.

As I went through everything at the hospital today, several things became clear to me. It seems as if everything was managed so that I WOULD have answers before returning home. From my calling for an appointment all the way through my visit, all things were done in a timely manner. After all, they are aware of how scary a situation this is, so they want to resolve it all quickly. Of course, they don't want you to think that THEY are that worried or that there is anything going on that NEEDS to be taken care of IMMEDIATELY, so they give excuses. For example, when I called to make my appointment, they just 'happened' to have a cancellation for the next day, so they got me in right away.

The first thing that happened today was more mammograms. Of course, the two she did weren't good enough, so she had to retake them. I got to see the area that the doctor was concerned about and I don't know why something hadn't been done before this. (I'm not the doctor, so I certainly don't know what IS a concern--that is why we trust the professionals.) I definitely saw a pea-sized, tear drop shaped SOMETHING on the x-ray. Come to find out, it has been there since 2004. HELLO!?!? When I asked why I never was told about this, the reply was, "It was within normal parameters."

After the x-rays were taken, I had my first wait. The doctor had to be consulted, but it didn't seem to be because he had to decide on whether I would have an ultrasound or not--from the beginning it seemed as if that was a done deal. When the nurse had called to tell me that I needed a follow-up, she said IF the doctor thought I needed an ultrasound... This also made me think less was told to me so that I wouldn't worry as much.

I was then taken to the ultrasound room where another very lovely lady played with my boob. (I thought the year I had two breast exams was the highlight of my life--but today I got felt up more than I did when I was dating in high school!) I have had ultrasounds done before--just recently for the carotid--and it is a fairly straight forward procedure. But, today was a first. After being scanned for about 15 minutes, she then asked me to hum--as in "I'm sorry but I don't know the words to that song." I really didn't think enough to ask WHY, but there I was humming in a dark room with a woman touching my bare breast. Surreal. When she was done with the scan, she had to go and print off the pictures and talk to the doctor. Another wait for me.

Finally, the doctor came in to the room and sat down. While I thought we were to have a consultation--which we DID have--he proceeded to scan the boob. Very early on he let me know that he wasn't concerned about what he was seeing. He didn't let me worry needlessly, which, in his line of work, is a good thing. He and his wife are imaging specialists who work exclusively with breast patients. All I can say is this: if I EVER have anything go wrong, I want him to be my doctor. I don't think I have ever felt such an aura of calm around a doctor as I felt from him. He was just wonderful and very nice. The bottom line is this: there are two cysts in my breast, but because there seemed to be some growth, they wanted to take a closer look. The doctor thinks the growth was a lymph node and nothing more. Thus, I need to have a six month follow-up mammogram.

All in all, not the way I wanted to spend my day, but at least the results were great!