Post 2 - The Mammogram.

Wednesday a.m., Jan. 21st, I arrived for my scheduled appointment. Ready to do battle because I knew they were going to want to reschedule me (thanks to the girl there at their center who did not follow-thru). I was right. They wanted to reschedule & I was all prepared to say "nope". And I did. :) We hashed it all out & because I had an 'issue', they made an exception & all was right with the world.

They called me back promptly, took me in a little waiting room to change into a gown. The technician girl was really nice (you know I love that :) so we chit-chatted for a bit & she left. In a few minutes she came & got me & off we went for round 1. As I call it. :)

Round 1 was over pretty quick. And as I stated, totally pain-free. Embarrassing? Nope. After the scans, back to the waiting room I went. In a few minutes she came back in, said the Radiologist requested more tests, so off we went for round 2. Back to the waiting room I went. She came back in, told me he yet again requested more scans, of both this time, because he was seeing 'something' in each one (she showed me the 'somethings' but heck, I couldn't decipher anything) & wanted more scans. So off we went for round 3. And then back to the waiting room I went. Here she came again. He concluded that my right 'issue' was nothing more than "tissue" & all was fine. But not the left (which, as a reminder, is the one I found the 'knot' in). More scans, different 'positions', if you will. Off we went for round 4. Now I will say that by now, the pinching of the machine intensified (in order to get different scans/positions) but again, totally & completely nothing unbearable. I'd do it all again. And I'm sure I'll have to. LOL I'm kind of losing track, but I think that was the last of the x-rays. She came back in & this time she informed me that the Radiologist requested a sonogram. I was kind of prepared for one since my gyno. requested one "if necessary". So I gathered all my belongings & off I went to another room. (Let me add, here, that I did have many scans taken but, one reason is because that was my first ever mammogram & they had nothing to compare my scans to.)

The sonogram technician - BLAH. She was older than myself & she was quite snappy & rude. I HATE people like that. But, I needed the sonogram so I went along for the ride. Nothing like having someone squirt jelly all over you & then run the little scanner all over it for 20+ minutes while idle chit-chatting. I could tell she was having a difficult time finding 'it'. Which secretly, I was glad.

Finally, she took the scans & headed for the door. She told me not to sit there & worry, & that the Radiologist himself would come in & speak with me. I was happy about that because that meant I would know something (= results) then & not have to wait hours for someone to call with the results.

So in came some older, tiny little man with a huge, bushy mustache. Heehee. Very nice man. All of a sudden, himself & the sonogram tech started throwing all this information at me. I do believe he lost me after he introduced himself. LOL This is the information I believe I received before leaving the clinic (I was very unsure of my accuracy) -

There is a "breast density" variation in my left.

Out of all the scans they took (remember, they took a bunch), he could only locate it in ONE scan.

All the other scans showed nothing, including the sonogram.

In the scan that shows the issue - from one view, it looks like nothing but tissue. Which is normal. But from another angle, it looks as if it could be something more serious - which he called "worrisome". It could be the beginning of some sort of mass.

He gave me a few options. Number 1 - he suggested a Biopsy, just to be on the safe side. Number 2 - he said I could give it a 3 or 4 months, & then go back for another mammogram & see what showed at that time. He seemed to really recommended the Biopsy as his first preference. Then the sonogram tech spoke up & said that there is also a breast MRI I could look into if I wanted to before resulting to a Biopsy.

Now the good news is it wasn't seen in all scans so I know if it is something, I'm not eaten up with cancer & probably it was caught just about as early as it could be. As far as I know, breast cancer does not run in my family, although, my mother doesn't discuss any health issues with me as she assumes I'm still "too young". I know. Pathetic. Health issues, hereditary possibility, should be discussed with every family member!! So I'm going in this blindsided, assuming I have no family history but honestly, that doesn't matter anyway. If something is there, it needs to be addressed. Now. We all know the prognosis for early detection.

Also - is this 'issue' the same knot that I discovered? I don't know. I didn't really get a clear answer on that. As far as I know, no. I guess that knot was nothing. But, I'm a little confused & I think I heard the mammogram tech mention something about "it could be, it could have moved" (relocated). So who knows. They probably don't know for certain either. I guess at this point it's irrelevant. I do know that this density location is NOT the same location as the knot I located, but if it could have moved, I really don't know.

Anyway, the Radiologist stated he was going to phone my gyno & that I would be hearing from her. He said if I haven't heard from them in a couple of days to give them a call. He said my gyno would tell me what my next step would be.

I grabbed lunch for hubby & I on the way home. I came in, chatted with him, ate a quick lunch & blogged "Sporadic Postings" on the other blog when the phone rang. That quick - it was my dr.'s office. My dr.'s nurse, actually. She said Dr. R wants a Biopsy & that they can refer me if I don't have a surgeon. Yeah, like I keep those handy. :) So she hung up & had their scheduling tech make me an appointment. That girl then called me back with my scheduled appointment & I was able to chat with her a bit.

All in all, this "breast density" is very common. She said they refer ladies all the time - better safe than sorry kind of thing. She said most of the time it is nothing more than tissue. But we all know the statistics & breast cancer is alive & well. My appointment with a surgeon is scheduled for this Tuesday a.m. @ 10:15.

I read on the internet that if one discovers a knot, "80% of them are fine". That's fantastic! That leaves 20% cancerous. My mother-in-law is a breast cancer survivor. I am woman enough to know that I am no better than anyone else who walks this earth. I may not deserve to have (or get) cancer, but neither does any other person in this world. It happens. We don't know why. And I'm fully aware I could possibly be one of those people.

PTL, I'm not really a worrier. Am I worried about this? No. Why worry? My appointment is still going to transpire Tuesday a.m. whether I drive myself insane or not. So why waste the time? :) Am I concerned about it & is it on my mind? Absolutely. I'm only human. But you know what? I know Christ. And it amazes me what peace He offers & brings. I'm calm. I'm not worried. It is what it is. There is nothing I can do. But He can. And I trust Him. If I worry it will not change anything. The results remain.

One last thing - when I was speaking w/ my dr.'s scheduling nurse, I mentioned to her that I left the imaging center confused because they had thrown so much information at me, I couldn't absorb it all. And I left with nothing - no notes, no written results, etc. She then told me she had the Final Report in front of her, which the Radiologist sent over to my gyno, & it had all the pertinent information on it I needed. She is mailing me a copy so I can have it & I can do some research on my own if I wish.

(I received the Final Report in the mail today (Friday). I'll post the conclusion in Post 3.)

For now, I wait.