First Post Treatment Mammogram

I had my first post treatment mammogram today.

I managed to keep a lid on my anxiety until we actually got in the car and headed up to the doctor’s office. I started to get nervous then. Uncomfortably, constantly feel like you have to pee kind of nervous. We drove the twenty minutes to the doctor’s office (during the drive, the song that I listened to on the way to my mammogram last year randomly came up on my iPod, we both superstitiously reached over to change it to a new song as fast as we could - spooky), and I filled out all the paperwork and gave my co-pay and waited in the lobby. I brought a book on chanting with me in hopes that I would find it soothing. I did.

After I was all checked in, I had to walk across the hall to the imaging center. Everything in there was pink. I bought $5 worth of pink ribbon temporary tattoos. I’ll wear some of course, but I wanted to have some to give out to my friends too.

Getting the mammogram was as uncomfortable as I anticipated. The breast that was radiated is sensitive (my surgeon says that it will always be that way) so smushing it was pretty unpleasant. Clearly, I’ve been through worse though! The lady who took the films was really terrific and the one time that I said it really was too uncomfortable, she made adjustments that made it much easier to tolerate.

The hardest part was sitting alone in the little waiting room with my exam gown still on waiting for them to check the films. That about had me on the ceiling. My purse and stuff was all locked up in a little locker, so I had nothing to do but thumb through the pile of magazines and breast cancer support literature. Ugh.

Then they led me back to my surgeon’s office for my exam and results (yes they read the results right away – I’m so relieved that I didn’t have to wait for days). The mammogram looked GREAT, my breast exam was also great! She does not want to see me for another year! I still have to see chemo guy every three months because someone needs to keep an eye on me, but I don’t need another mammogram for a year.

I’m so relieved that I want to dance around, drink some wine and take a nap all at the same time.