a-writers-life-is-never-dull

That word, today, is BENIGN.

Thank you all for your good wishes.

May I please have some boring now?

Finally had the biopsy this morning. Interesting procedure, this. I apparently have sooper speshul tits, and needed to have a very specialized biopsy — a Stereotactic breast biopsy,(which you can actually watch on youtube! Wish I’d known that beforehand!)

The anticipation was MUCH worse than the actual procedure. And now I’m sore, and I have an interesting hole in my breast.

And, more importantly, I’ll have an answer by Tuesday at the latest.

I’ve decided that 2012 is more than likely going to be sacked within the next couple of weeks. And the medical community in Central Florida seems to be heavily influenced by the 1960s Batman.

Why?

Well, let’s just say that the first two weeks of this year have been a HELL of a lot more interesting than I could ever have wanted. And this is not interesting in a good way.

Being 40 (yes, there’s my real age out on the internet), I should have had a baseline mammogram done a couple of years ago. Only one problem with that idea. When you’re a nursing mother, NO ONE will do a baseline mammogram. They simply will not go near you. There’s absolutely NO reason not to. It’s perfectly safe. The only thing is that unless you drain the breast very well, it is harder to read the films. And, since it’s harder, they won’t do it.

So, I had my very first mammogram done on the 28th of December. The tech was very nice, and she pointed out that since I was a… greatly endowed female, the chances of my being called back in were pretty high. She told me that in this situation, 8 out of 10 women got called back in. Not a problem. So I was expecting it when I got the call that I needed to schedule another test.

I wasn’t expecting them to tell me that they wanted to do another test because they found something.

Yesterday, I had another mammogram. And an ultrasound. And… all they can tell me is that there is something there. The doctor is being very positive — there is an 80% chance that whatever this thing is is benign. It’s small, and the edges are well-defined and smooth. But, to be on the safe side, they want to do a needle biopsy.

That will happen sometime next week. (See where the Batman reference comes in? “Want to know what’s going to happen? Tune in NEXT WEEK!”)

Now, the first thing that ran through my mind when I got the news (last Wednesday) was the news about Boing Boing’s Xeni Jardin, who went in for her first ever mammogram at 30, and was diagnosed with breast cancer in the office the same day. Part of my brain is going “They didn’t keep her hanging two weeks. So what they found in me is probably nothing.”

Unfortunately, the freaking out part of my brain is a heck of a lot LOUDER than the logical part of my brain right now. And I’ve got a long week ahead of me. Good thing I sublimate really well — I’m gonna get a heck of a lot of writing done!

I’ll keep you all posted. And hey, if you’re past 35…. go get a mammogram.