Okay, now everybody, sit back for a bit and read this and do not get all upset….it has a happy ending, with an abundance of thanksgiving and praise to God being offered.
Sunday night I had a marvelous time at the Ladies’ Advent Service at Victory, attending with my friend, Suzanne, who participated by playing her viola. All I did was sing one hymn with the choir. I loved my time spent with Suzanne both Saturday and Sunday, and the time spent with my other church family. As we lingered around the table, chatting and having a good time with Stephanie, Kelly, Emily, and Elissa (our hostess), I made the complaint that my bra was becoming ingrown. Kelly chuckled and said, “Good thing we are with ladies…” and I said, “A lady would not have said that!”, as I worked my fingers under the tightening band. Man, it was pinching me! Had been a long day already!!!
When Suzanne left my place in her own car, I came upstairs to change into my nightie to try to get warm, as it had become quite cold as night fell. Man, that bra was bothering me, and as I took it off, noticed a tender spot under my arm on the side of my left breast. (Any menfolk who might be reading this might wish to look away for a bit…). Oh, oh….I felt around and sure enough, I figured out which area was the tender spot and found what I thought was a lump. Dear God, no!!!
Sleeping was out of the question as I lay in bed making the Lord all kinds of promises and trying in my mind to get my affairs in order. Both ends of the spectrum, between doing battle against ‘it’ or resignation to having to suffer and likely die. Or worse--lose all my assets!! Fortunately I did not promise the Lord anything which I cannot or would not be able to deliver, and am rejoicing to be able to fulfill my end of the deals made. Advice to others is not to do this ‘deal making’ with God when under a great amount of duress…do not try this at home!
First thing in the morning, I started the process of trying to call the doctor’s office because, besides the obvious reason, my female doctor is HIGHLY involved in the Pink Ribbon Commission and is all about breast health and so on. Well, the office was supposed to open at 8:00 am, but every time I called (like 30 times!!!!), the automated system kicked in and told me to call back during regular off ice hours. Well, I nearly got in my car and drove up there to make an appointment but restrained myself, finally getting someone to answer at 9:30. Usually I am just a delight to talk with on the phone but this time, I was nearly frantic as I expressed my dismay at not being able to get through. Poor Eva, she had to explain calmly that their phones and computers were down and only now had gotten them up and running. I backed down, hearing this, and told her I needed to see Dr. Wonpat right this minute. NOW! Well, the soonest she could see me was at 12:45 and I grabbed the appointment.
Thankfully I decided to go ahead and attend Monday Bible study which was a great distraction, great in many ways. And lunch, which I ordered but did not eat, since my time was quite tight schedule-wise. I took my chopped steak and veggies in the to-go box (part of my agreement with God) and headed off to the appointment. I could not wait to see Betsy, as she calls herself. She took me ahead of time, since they are actually on their lunch breaks (why schedule me during their normally closed lunch hour???) and off we went.
My blood pressure was quite high, obviously due to stress, and I explained that I had not slept during the night because of being so upset. She had me find the lump, which was extremely difficult because, because, because it no longer hurt!! I had marked the area as best I could with a pen, an X, and yes, she was able to feel something. Actually, she felt lots of somethings, as is usual and normal for me. She knows I was not going to let this go as only tenderness from my bra or anything, and assured me we would follow up with an ultrasound. Good!
The office manager, who it turns out is Eva, the lady I was frustrated with on the phone earlier, is a cancer survivor, and took sympathy on me. She made the appointment, pulled strings, as it were, for the imaging place to take me STAT. Bravo for Eva! Off I went, and after a brief wait , was taken back for the ultrasound. The technician asked me when I had my last mammogram, which was done there, and I told her it was in May---I thought. Hmmm….she went to talk to the doctor and came back with the decision to have Betsy order a follow-up mammo since it had been 6 months since the last one. So, off I went to get my gown on and sit with the other ladies to freeze in our scant outfits. Should not have sat by the windows!!! Finally a lovely, caring lady took me back for the mammo, one side only, with about 8 different views, nearly painless. She was good! Then back to the cold room to wait for the ultrasound.
That young lady finally came for me and tried to get me comfortable on the table. And darn it, I could not find that lump again for anything!!! Since I had found it when standing up, she had me sit on the edge of the table and see if that helped. Nope, but she used my X to try to get an image. She took several areas, going from every direction, and then we were done. The young lady told me she was going to show ‘my doctor’ what she took, and after a few moments came back to report ‘nothing unusual’. I burst into tears and hugged her close. I had told her earlier that I had been praying to the Lord, asking this to be only my imagination…She said, “Well, your prayers are answered!” I nearly skipped to the car and called Linda to tell her the good news. She was the only one who knew what was going on…and was happy, with me.
Also, I called Justin because he knew I was going to the doctor, only did not know why. Of course, I was crying as I told him the good news, I was going to cry either way, you know that, and he was glad to hear the good report. He said, "Don't cry when it's good news because I am not sure it is good news...", just teasing me. I went home and took a nap!!! Prayers were answered and God said, “Yes, you are fine!” It was the same day as the Ladies’ Group party at Fran’s and I had to be able to drive, so needed the nap. I did not have time to buy my present, which was my plan for after lunch, so all I had was my spinach dip and Fritos to take along. I so did not care one bit that I would miss the gift exchange---I had gotten my gift already!!!!
In today's mail, which could have been yesterday's mail, was a letter from the imaging center and one from the doctor's office, with a report from the radiologist reporting it is all clear, negative results, no sign of cancer. Thank you again, Lord Jesus, thank you so much.
One thing Betsy stressed was how absolutely delighted she was that I came in right away, that I did not brush it off, and that I immediately went to have the tests done. She told me to tell my friends, all of them, that breast tissue is so much more than just the bosom part, but all the areas up to the neck, under the arms, and even around toward the back. So, I am keeping yet another promise, and telling all my readers to do your self-exams, be aware of what's what, and follow-up on anything unusual. Do it!
