April 15, 2011 - Follow Up Mammogram

This time it's serious business.  Five or six glamour shots on each side.  Woo hoo!  After the test, I am shuffled to a waiting area where the tech tells me to stay in the hospital gown, "just in case the doctor decides we need more pictures".  So there I am, clad in my hospital dress, clutching my purse and trying to catch up on the latest People, when someone named Dr. Fish (I came to learn later) enters and motions for me to follow him into an exam room.  He says to me, "we've found something".  I am still not sure I have heard what he said when he tells me to have a seat.  He explains that they found a 7cm area across the lower right breast which contains a great amount of calcifications; many times which are found to be benign in most women.  In my case, there are A LOT of them and they are widespread and he can see from the mammogram that they are clustering in a pattern which is often characteristic for early breast cancer.  He asks if I am alone, and I was, then tells me to expect having surgery in the next few weeks.  He hands me a packet of information, smiles and shuffles me out of his office.  My next step is to have a biopsy.  Stunned, I call Harun and tell him I'm not coming down to Carmel (bummer!) but going home to make an appointment for a breast biopsy.  What an interesting change of events.