11/04/2023 - THANK YOU MAMMOGRAM!
Let's start at the beginning...
Wed, November 2, 2022.
Routine mammogram.
My previous mammogram was three years earlier. I was due for a follow-up mammogram six months later (May 2020). Well, we all know what was happening then, so no follow-up was done. You might be asking, why was I due for another mammogram only 6 months after the one done in 2019? Well, there were two spots. And when I say spots, I mean pin-head kind. The non-alarming kind. The "women often get calcifications" kind. The nothing-to-worry-about kind.
So, I didn't worry. I even had a radiologist friend look at the teeny-tiny, barely visible spots. All ok.
I finally got around to getting back to routine mammograms. November 2, 2022.
PSA: LADIES GET YOUR MAMMOGRAMS!
During the mammogram, the technician mentioned that she wanted to get a magnified image of my left breast. That made sense to me... 1. that's where the two dots were found last time and 2. the doc would probably ask for a magnification anyway (as they had done last time), so since I was already there, might as well do it. OK. Cool.
Thursday, November 3, 2022.
I missed the call as I was about to teach my online culinary class: Teen Supper Club. Checked voicemail after dinner and though no specific information was given, the "please call my office first thing" set off all the alarm bells.I signed on to the imagery portal and compared the images: Nov 2019 to Nov 2022. Spots. Clusters. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking at, but I knew something was up. Immediately contacted my radiologist friend and asked her to take a look.
We spoke. And what subsequently followed was an action item list: next steps, practical information, helpful information and what I needed to ask my GP.
From our conversation, there were many comforting words from my dear friend, and it is these 8 words that sum up my daily mantra: "This is just a bump in the road!"
JOURNAL ENTRIES: NOVEMBER 2022