I went in for my normal yearly mammogram on 3/5/2021. I think this was my fourth year to go for one, and my previous ones had all been uneventful, so I couldn’t help but be worried when I received a call asking me to get a 2nd mammogram along with an ultrasound because the first mammogram had an “abnormality” on it. (I’m glad I had previous years’ pictures to establish a baseline with which to compare future scans.)
I called the scheduling department to make the follow-up appointment and was told that the soonest they could get me in was almost a month away! Ugh. Thankfully, my primary care doctor was not okay with this and so she called another hospital to see if they could get me in sooner. They could. So I called the first one back and canceled that late appointment. Later in the day, the first hospital’s mammogram department called me personally (instead of me having to go through scheduling like I normally do) and got me a quicker appointment. I was relieved to not have to wait almost a month.
My follow-up mammogram happened to get scheduled the day after our big snowstorm. Even though I had shoveled our driveway the day before, it was a good 12-18″ or more of snow for probably 30 feet through our cul-de-sac just to get to a trail that other cars had forged through the neighborhood itself, so I planned on walking a block away to a semi-plowed road and calling an Uber to come to pick me up for my appointment.
Thankfully, I had allowed extra time for this, because it turns out there weren’t any Uber rides available. I was already a basket of nerves over the “abnormality” requiring this additional appointment as it was, so I couldn’t help but start crying as I hiked back through the snow back home, worried that I would miss this important appointment and not wanting to reschedule. I rang the doorbell pretty incessantly and Greg ran upstairs and could tell immediately that I was distraught. He quickly put on his boots and grabbed a snow shovel. With his help shoveling and also pushing the car when it got stuck a few times, I made it to the track through the neighborhood and was able to make it to my appointment. Thank goodness. He’s totally my hero!
The 2nd mammogram still showed the abnormality, so they made me an appointment to have a Stereotactic Breast Biopsy on 3/25. This is a mammogram-assisted biopsy, which meant I needed to hold off a little longer in getting the COVID vaccine since the vaccine can cause some lymph node swelling. Bummer, since Greg and I had just qualified in phase 1B4 in our state.
I was really nervous about the biopsy. I didn’t know what to expect (as far as pain/recovery) and I was worried that the “abnormality” might be something I didn’t want to hear. Greg was able to go to the appointment with me, much to my relief. And the women who performed the procedure were all so great. They set my mind at ease and one of the techs worked really hard to talk to me and distract me, which was greatly appreciated and helped a lot. The procedure itself wasn’t so bad after all.
When we got home, I took it easy on the couch all day, keeping the area iced. Adrianna and the girls were so concerned and helpful. They made me lunch, brought me Diet Cokes, and switched out my ice packs regularly. Honestly, getting pampered like that was so nice! The area was quite bruised (and still has a slight yellow tinge, even now – just over two weeks later!)
And then I received the results from the biopsy on the following day – negative for cancer. Whew! What a relief that was. Huge, huge, huge relief. It was just a cyst. The area has been marked with a piece of titanium (during the biopsy) so that on future mammograms, they will know it has already been investigated. I go back in 6 months for one final follow-up and then I can return to my normal yearly mammograms. So very thankful.