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Hold onto your hats, it's going to be a bumpy ride! Thank you for stopping by and joining me for a while. I've recently been juggling (as all mums do) more balls than I am comfy with, and just when I felt like a professional juggler - BAM!! I get hit with this - BREAST CANCER!! I'm hoping that writing this blog will serve as some sort of therapy for me, to get me through this 'rough patch' ahead.... if it's interesting, entertaining, thought provoking or helpful to anyone else out there then that's an added bonus. If you like what you read, please visit again or click the "join" button below, and feel free to spread the word.

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Memoirs of a Mammogram

I'm celebrating tonight! Today I had the dreaded Mammogram and survived to tell the tale.  This was my second one ever, basically it's a year since my breast cancer diagnosis and I was due a post treatment Mammogram to confirm all is well.    As you'll have seen from previous posts, I was dreading having this because the first one I had last February, hurt so much that I felt like asking for gas and air!   Plus obviously I have been anxious about what they might find.   Laying in bed at night, thinking I've found another lump ....not every night (I'm not obsessed with it) but at least once a week.    I coped with today's challenge by cleaning the house, browsing curtain fabrics with my dear Hubster, then popping 2 extra strong painkillers before heading to the hospital.   My wonderful husband always comes with me to these hospital appointments even when it's just a quick check up. His quiet strength and support means everything to me.
So, I'll cut to the chase - the Mammogram itself was basically like clamping your boobs in a vice, but I coped quite well with it and the painkillers definitely played their part.  The Radiographer was very kind and did all she could to help me relax and get it over as quickly as she could.   Usually you would have to wait a week or so for the results of the Mammogram, but as I was scheduled to then have an ultra sound scan on my scarred boob, the Doctor was able to view my Mammogram straight away and give me the results.    Whilst I'm laying there, in a state of undress waiting for him to come and see me, I thought I'd have another feel and see if that little lump I found on one of my sleepless nights was still there.   I found it straight away!  Pea sized and not far from from my scar site, there it was, the little bastard.   Trying not to freak out, I felt reassured by its small size and the fact that I would very soon find out if it was the dreaded C, back again, or just a little cyst or something.   So the Doctor came in and straight away said those precious words "Your mammogram looks fine".   He very quickly got to work covering my boob in gel (ooh Matron!).   Using the ultra sound doplar (I think that's what it's called) he pressed down on my lumpectomy scar and could see a dark area of fluid, which I had suspected was there and wanted rid of.   No problem he said, and was able to stick a needle into the area and drain it off.   He is sending the stuff he drained off to the Pathology lab, to check its nothing horrid, but he said he is confident that it's nothing to worry about.    I was elated to hear his reassuring words about the mammogram pictures, but still concerned about my little pea.  I pointed to where I could feel it and straight away he found it, pressing down hard on it with the doplar - ouch!  But looking at his monitor screen neither of us could see anything there.   Phew!  The
Doctor said any lumpiness that comes and goes is likely to be caused by the radiotherapy, so I don't need to worry.
I left the hospital feeling elated - I got the 'all clear'!   I just need to get to the 5 year mark all clear and I'm home dry - back to the same odds as anyone else of getting it again.  I shall sleep well tonight.

2 comments:

  1. YAY!!! Fantastic news!!!! Celebrate with a glass of bubbly. xx

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    1. No bubbly in the house so I had a Disaronno instead! Very yummy! Bubbly at the weekend I think. X

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