In my Business Analyst role I travel to the various
community health centers and hospitals within our Health Region on a regular
basis so it is fairly standard for my husband to check with me in the morning
to see where I will be going that day. I still hadn’t told him about my
appointments so when he asked this time I told him I would be in a certain area
in the a.m. and then back to the office building our team is situated in for
the afternoon.
I showed up for the tests a little early and was taken to
the back to change. The tech took me into the mammogram room and did a brief history
prior to performing the mammogram. Once she had done the requisite two pictures
per breast she told me I could go back and have a seat in the cubicle that I
had changed in and she would get the radiologist to look at the pictures before
she took me over to the ultrasound area. I was in a pretty good mood and on my
way to the cubicle there were about four ladies standing in the corridor, all
talking together. I asked them if they had known each other prior or if they
had bonded that quickly while waiting. They laughed and said that they were
from out of town and they all booked their mammograms together and made a day
of it in the city. They continued to chat in the corridor while I waited in the
cubicle.
Then the tech came back and said, “Laura, the radiologist
needs more views”. I went back to the room with her. There was a new, smaller
paddle on the x-ray machine which she explained allowed for greater
magnification, she took more views on each breast and then had me go back and
wait in the cubicle again. The ‘corridor ladies’ were a little more subdued
when I returned. After a few minutes the tech came back once again and said she
needed yet more views, this time when I went in she did the right breast only
and then had me return to the cubicle. This time, as I walked past the
‘corridor ladies’ they gave me a wide berth and there was total silence. A few
minutes later the tech returned, told me to gather my clothes and took me for
the ultrasound.
I walked into the ultrasound room and the first thing this
tech said to me was, “Oh good, I see you already have a breast surgeon”. I thought that was odd but lay down and let
her do the ultrasound. When she was done the right breast she said she needed
to go check with the radiologist and see if they also wanted the left breast
done. When she returned she was pushing a cart with some sterile trays on it.
She said she was going to do the left breast also and that the radiologist
wanted some core biopsies. I had a core biopsy on the left breast back in 2009
prior to the lumpectomies so I was familiar with the procedure, signed the
consent and waited for the radiologist to appear. When she did, she seemed a
little angry, asked me if I had any questions and then did her own ultrasound
of the breast. While she did this, she told the tech to get another container and needle
twice. She then marked the breast, inserted freezing in two areas and took the
biopsies, including one of a ‘suspicious lymph node’ in the axilla. She also
did a fine needle aspiration of a cyst near the axilla and the liquid in the
syringe was not the familiar yellow I was used to seeing when having cysts
aspirated, it was blood tinged and they seemed to kind of hide the syringe from
my sight.
Following this the tech had me sit on the side of the table
for a few moments and I was surprised to find myself light-headed. She took me
to a little recovery room with two recliners in it and some bottled water.
There was a little phone table and a box of Kleenex as well as two beautiful
quilts with the ‘pink ribbon ‘ theme on them. She wrapped me in one of the
quilts, told me she’d check on me in 10 minutes but that I was welcome to stay
as long as I wanted. The quilts provided so much more than physical comfort,
they were made by other people who had lived similar experiences, either
themselves or with their family member. It made such a wonderful difference, I
didn’t feel alone with that quilt wrapped around me.
When she returned I felt that I was ready to go so the tech
said I was to be sure to call my doctor’s office and tell them that biopsies
had been taken and that they were to watch for the results. I told her I
already had an appointment for June 20th with the breast surgeon to
review results but she was adamant that I needed to call the clinic and give
them the heads up in regards to the biopsies. I did this, leaving a message on
the answering machine for the nurse’s line at the clinic.
When I got to the car, I was shaking and cold. I had my
lunch bag in the car as I had planned on returning to work following the tests,
however it was now much later than I had anticipated and I needed to go home
and ice the biopsy sites. I ate a little of the lunch, called my husband to
confess where I had been and what had
happened. I was still cold and shaky as I drove home.
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