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Friday, April 4, 2008

OK.... so my Doctor was right

I don't know for sure how long my doctor has been nagging me to get a mammogram but suffice it to say many years. I recently needed a refill on my ADD medicine and the wench held it captive until I went in for a consult. She gave me the obligatory 3 minutes of chat, promised to call in the prescription and also gave me a green slip to make the dreaded boob squishing appointment downstairs. She had won and she knew it so I obliged and made the appointment. It was for a little over a week later so I wouldn't have the same excuse as I had last time. You see last time I made an appointment it was months in advance and I stuck it on the fridge and promptly forgot all about it.

OK, so I finally get the mammo 3/14/08 and it's not the most fun ever, but not really that bad. I said ouch maybe three times. So the tech asks me to wait there in my lovely wrap around cotton gown while she checks the films. She was really cool and made sure I had some trashy magazines to kill the time. When she came back in and wanted to do a second on my left side she said something about dense tissue and my armpit and needing a different angle. I pretty much bought her story (remind me never to play poker with radiography tech OK?) I mean the second squishing on the left made me wonder, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt.



The next Monday a clerk from Radiology called me and made an appointment for a compression mammogram (yet another boob squish) and possibly an ultrasound on the left side. I asked her why I needed this stuff and she responded "I'm just a clerk" Okey dokey then!


Thankfully they got me in pretty fast which is good because I am not the most patient person ever. So I go in for the second mamo, the boob squisher did her thing and shows me the film and asked me if I felt that lump. There is a good sized white blotch on the film, but I tell ya I felt no lump. I really tried to feel it it after they called me to set up the second mamogram, but I felt nothing. So she goes out to show the radiologist my boob pics and comes back to tell me he wants me to have the ultrasound. She is acting pretty serious and asks "are you sure you didn't feel that" like it was enormous or something. Now I'm starting to get a bit nervous. I had been determined to put off worrying til when/if I had evidence I should do so. They take me right next door for the ultrasound and a real young friendly girl gets me comfy and does her thing. They warm the ultrasound gel and just slide the wand thing around in the goop so this is almost relaxing except I watch the girls expression and it's totally serious and now I'm starting to think I'm screwed. She gets done and goes to show her version of my boob to the radiologist. She comes back in and asks me if I have any questions for the doctor and I say "yaaaaaahhhh"! Radiologist comes in, very nice but another serious face and says something like "you have questions?" I'm like "Yaaaaah.......whats GOING ON??!!" He tells me that the spot is suspicious and I will need to have a biopsy, he's not sure if I will have a "stereotactic" biopsy which is small pieces of tissue are removed and tested, or have the whole thing removed and have it tested. Neither choice sounds like a picnic but I just nod and try to stay positive. He seemed pretty sure it would be the latter towards the end of the conversation, but I end up having the steriotactic biopsy (but that's another story for another day!) I left the office pretty numb. I hadn't really learned much except they were worried about what they saw on the first mamo did two more tests and still felt that way. couple days later I got a call to make the appointment for the biopsy it was set for 3/27/08. I promise next post the saga will continue with the details of that lovely experience.