T and I go to the diagnostic center. We sit in the waiting room. We wait for the radiologist. He and his nurse come in and they do not look happy. He says to us, I am sorry, it was malignant. You have breast cancer.
I heard CANCER! T heard CANCER......could be death! I was like OK....now what. Really , I said ok now what. They were so surprised. I was calm, angry, hyper, pissed off all at once. I thought how dare Cancer invade our lives. How dare you tell ME....I have breast cancer. Man, I was hot. Really hot about it.
T was crushed. All he could think about was the woman he loved was ill. He pulled his head back and put his hands on his head and cried. He was so upset. I became angrier. The doctor and nurse said to me, we are going to get the nurse navigator. I was like ok, let me get him and I together and than lets get a plan of action together.
Than came our Nurse Navigator-Yvonne Pike-! U have probably heard of an nurse navigator by now, if you have not. Click on the link above and it will tell you all about it.
Yvonne Pike in her role as the nurse navigator, is there to guide , uplift, counsel assit you in anything you need to get through this Breast Cancer S*&T. Period and baby she does her job well.
Yvonne came back in and talked to us about the type of cancer I was diagnosed with. invasive ductal carcinoma. She explained to us the size, the treatment options, she gave us facts as she knew them. She gave us support. She gave us guidance.
I than said to her. I need the best surgeon and the quickest appointment asap. WE need to get this thing moving. She said I can make a call. I said lets get to stepping...lets make it do what it DO!
She left and than I said , I got to call my brother, Jeff. I called Jeff and told him and he was like what? I was like I got breast cancer.
It was surreal, almost a dream and not quite a nightmare.
I thought I have Cancer. Like my dad. Different type, but cancer and my daddy died of cancer. Now at this moment I only knew what type of cancer , I did not know the stages. I did not know if it had spread to my lymph nodes. I only knew I had breast cancer and its type.
Now I and T start the journey .....of the doctors appointment, surgeries and the significance of Thursdays.......
Friday, June 13, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Needle Guided Biopsy of the Bad TaTa
The following Thursday, I had the needle guided ultra sound biopsy of the Bad TaTa.. It hurt like a B*&tch!
He numbed it up. He than got a needle and stuck it in the area that needed to be examined than he poked and pulled and got stuff out that was to be dissected, bisected, and examined to determine what it is.
The Doctor put a bandage on it and I went home to rest, cause it hurt!
Now we wait! We wait for 3 days. WE need to know what the outcome of this biopsy is. That weekend, I moved and grooved as normal. I conducted a conflict resolution workshop for a community group. Went to a dance. Had an awful fight with T. Made up on Monday. T took me to lunch on Tuesday. Tuesday was D-DAY. Feb 26, 2008. I will find out my results. I was calm. I told T...u know everything must be cool as they did not call. He was like ok....not to much to say.
He numbed it up. He than got a needle and stuck it in the area that needed to be examined than he poked and pulled and got stuff out that was to be dissected, bisected, and examined to determine what it is.
The Doctor put a bandage on it and I went home to rest, cause it hurt!
Now we wait! We wait for 3 days. WE need to know what the outcome of this biopsy is. That weekend, I moved and grooved as normal. I conducted a conflict resolution workshop for a community group. Went to a dance. Had an awful fight with T. Made up on Monday. T took me to lunch on Tuesday. Tuesday was D-DAY. Feb 26, 2008. I will find out my results. I was calm. I told T...u know everything must be cool as they did not call. He was like ok....not to much to say.
How it all started
Last summer, I felt a knot on my right breast. I felt the knot around the time that I was planning to schedule my mammogram. I was a little concerned as my mom has fibrocystic breast and my maternal and paternal aunts had breast cancer.
I contacted the diagnostic center to make an appointment. Even told them I had a lump ......just to try to get them to do the diagnostic mammogram instead of the regular one. To no avail....the regular one was done. Although, they did take extra time to check it out. ***Please note, I did not get an abnormal reading****So I kind of moved on and I kind of didn't.
Fast forward to December, I tell my fiance' Terry(T)...hey the lump is still there. He tried to feel it and he could not identify the lump, knot, bump, thinggy there. I was still drawn to it. Like a magnet. My finger always, I mean always went back to it. Everyday, sometimes 3, 4 times a day.
I again made life plans as normal. I went to Chicago for the holidays. Spent New Years with Terry, Bootsy and champagne. Did my thang. Come January, I decided that this knot is bothering me tooooooo much, I need to do something about it. I called the diagnostic center again, they said I need to call my primary care doctor. So I did. I made an appointment for the end of January. Than my aunt died.
I flew with my mom to Arkansas to attend the funeral. My mother had been very ill over the last year and was uncomfortable traveling by herself.
I than had to reschedule my appointment.
Life again interupts and my mother becomes very ill, she now must go on dialysis to save her life. This crisis takes top piority. I do not get my diagnostic mammogram until 2/14/08.
Terry goes with me. What a way to spend Valentines day!
We speak to the radiologist that afternoon and he says we have choices. WE can watch and wait, we can have a needle guided biopsy, we can have a surgical biopsy. He stated it doesn't really look like cancer. Terry, looked at the films and says but it doesn't look right. Can we do a biopsy today? My doctor says nope we cannot. Terry and I make an appointment for the following Thursday for a needle guided biopsy. ****Little do I know the significance of Thursdays*****
I made the appointment, I than called my primary care to advise them of my choice. My nurse advised that normally they recomend a surgical biopsy, I hear you, but I wanted the needle guided biopsy....I had the appointment....I wanted the procedure. She concured and all the appropriate paper work was in place.
Needle Guide Biopsy
I contacted the diagnostic center to make an appointment. Even told them I had a lump ......just to try to get them to do the diagnostic mammogram instead of the regular one. To no avail....the regular one was done. Although, they did take extra time to check it out. ***Please note, I did not get an abnormal reading****So I kind of moved on and I kind of didn't.
Fast forward to December, I tell my fiance' Terry(T)...hey the lump is still there. He tried to feel it and he could not identify the lump, knot, bump, thinggy there. I was still drawn to it. Like a magnet. My finger always, I mean always went back to it. Everyday, sometimes 3, 4 times a day.
I again made life plans as normal. I went to Chicago for the holidays. Spent New Years with Terry, Bootsy and champagne. Did my thang. Come January, I decided that this knot is bothering me tooooooo much, I need to do something about it. I called the diagnostic center again, they said I need to call my primary care doctor. So I did. I made an appointment for the end of January. Than my aunt died.
I flew with my mom to Arkansas to attend the funeral. My mother had been very ill over the last year and was uncomfortable traveling by herself.
I than had to reschedule my appointment.
Life again interupts and my mother becomes very ill, she now must go on dialysis to save her life. This crisis takes top piority. I do not get my diagnostic mammogram until 2/14/08.
Terry goes with me. What a way to spend Valentines day!
We speak to the radiologist that afternoon and he says we have choices. WE can watch and wait, we can have a needle guided biopsy, we can have a surgical biopsy. He stated it doesn't really look like cancer. Terry, looked at the films and says but it doesn't look right. Can we do a biopsy today? My doctor says nope we cannot. Terry and I make an appointment for the following Thursday for a needle guided biopsy. ****Little do I know the significance of Thursdays*****
I made the appointment, I than called my primary care to advise them of my choice. My nurse advised that normally they recomend a surgical biopsy, I hear you, but I wanted the needle guided biopsy....I had the appointment....I wanted the procedure. She concured and all the appropriate paper work was in place.
Needle Guide Biopsy
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