Big Fat Stupid Ugly Breast Cancer

The mammogram office let me know that a nearby hospital could see me November 20th. I said okay and scheduled the appointment. In my mind I was FREAKING out! You drop possible “CANCER” on me and tell me I need to wait a month for answers?! Hell no. My “get shit done” surfaced and I called another hospital the next day and they were able to schedule me for November 4th. I got a call about 20 minutes later telling me they had a cancelation that day (10/24) and asked if I could come in today. I said “I’ll be there in 45 minutes”, got in my car and hit the road.  The radiologist the day before showed me 2 areas that were near each other. The total area of both masses was less than 3 mm. The assumption was that they were the same mass so we only biopsied one area. The procedure was painless aside from the first numbing local injection. They took the samples and placed a small metal marker in my breast tissue so in the future they knew that area was already biopsied and I wouldn’t have to do

In April, I scheduled my yearly mammogram for October 18th. Exactly 366 days after my previous screening. By nature I am a “get it done, get it off my plate and move on” type of person. At the time I remember thinking “This is 6 months in advance, isn’t this a little early?” Ultimately my “get shit done” attitude took over and I called to schedule my mammogram. I could tell the scheduler thought it was strange that I was scheduling a mammogram 6 months in advance but she of course scheduled it and on I went with my life. I’m not a religious person, except for mammograms and oil changes, but I see now that this was an inspired move. You can chalk it up to the universe, or karma or whatever you believe in, but I do feel I was urged to make the call that day. October 18th came and all went well. I even told a friend that wished me good luck that “It’s just a routine one, it’s not a big deal”. October 23rd I get a call about an abnormal image and a call back for a diagnostics screening. Th

Since I was a child, I’ve hated the color pink. A tomboy at heart the color pink stood for everything I was against. Pink was delicate, soft and quiet. Ribbons, bows, ballet shoes and makeup. I was into sports, playing outside and riding bikes. When I was 8 years old, my grandma passed away from breast cancer. I remember her in the hospice bed in the front room and being outside riding bikes in her driveway the evening she passed. Because of this experience I have religiously gotten mammograms since I turned 40. I always go in October which is Breast Cancer Awareness month (it may or may not have something to do with the free Breast Cancer swag we get at my local hospital 😀). They also have a pink Christmas tree that you can dedicate ornaments to by writing an “In memory of” and “In celebration of” message and hanging it on the tree. Pink is the color of my grandma’s early departure. For the past 6 years I’ve hung an ornament in memory of my grandma after every mammogram. My family an