They Found A Lump

Since October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I scheduled my yearly mammogram on the 27^th of that month. As luck would have it, Imaging Associates has an office out in the Valley so I didn’t have to take the day off to go in to town. Instead, I just drove a few miles down the road and got it done in no time at all. 

A week later, I got a message on my phone telling me to call them for an appointment. Since I had just had my appointment, I thought it was a mistake and I almost ignored the message. I did call them, however, if only to just clear up the misunderstanding. I’m so glad I did because it was not a mistake - I really did need to go back in for another appointment. It turns out they had found something they wanted to get a better look at.

This second appointment was quite different: first they took a series of pictures on one machine and then had me wait in the dressing room while the doctor looked at the results. Then they took another series of pictures on a different machine and put me back in the dressing room to wait while she looked at those images. This went on for two or three times before the doctor finally decided that a biopsy was needed.

The very next week found me back at the office bright and early on Tuesday morning. The procedure itself really wasn’t so bad. I laid down on the table, face down with my left breast over an opening. They raised the table up pretty high so the doctor could get underneath and work with her needles and knives. They gave me a topical anesthesia so I really didn’t feel a thing except the pressure of the clamps holding me in place. The whole thing took maybe an hour, which really isn’t that bad. They were actually quite pleased with how quickly it went – apparently sometimes it can be hard to find the lump but mine was right where it was supposed to be.

Once it was over and they brought the table back down to a normal height, I got up to head back to the dressing room – and proceeded to almost pass right out! I had completely forgotten that my body tends to react that way, so was not prepared for that at all. They had me lay back down for a while and then gave me a ride in one of their wheel chairs out to the dressing room. Once I got changed I spent a little time in the waiting room drinking some apple juice just to make sure I was capable of driving myself home.

The test results came back on Thursday with a clean bill of health: the lump is benign! Now I have a lovely bruise and am waiting for my shower today to finally get rid of the tape holding my wound together. It’s been 5 days: plenty of time to heal I think.