Not my Favorite Thursday

Not my Favorite Thursday actually began on a Monday.  My best friend called to say her baseline mammogram came back okay, after a little scare with a call back.  I was relieved and since I'm nearing that 'baseline mammogram age' myself, I decided to dial up my OBGYN while 'baseline mammogram' was still on my mind and not some distant thought on a mental to do list we all know I'm never going to finish.  :-)

So my OBGYN's office answered on the first ring - odd.  Odder still, they actually had an appointment available on Wednesday.  I pulled the phone away from my ear to be sure I'd called the same it-takes-an-act-of-congress-to-get-a-well-appointment-less-than-3-months-out office.  It was, in fact, the correct doctor and I signed up for this coveted only two days away appointment.  My brother in law and his family were set to arrive Wednesday evening, but I'd be in and out by then no problem.

Fast forward 'Not my Favorite Thursday' to Wednesday and we arrive at my check up.  Where the doctor discovered a lump in my right breast.  She kept asking me things like:  Does it hurt when I press on it?  Is it tender at all?  When I answered that it did not, she seemed slightly distressed, and called for the nurse to make me a mammogram appointment ASAP.  I left slightly shell shocked.  34 and about to have a necessary mammogram.  It was then that I discovered that google is not your breast health friend.  In an effort to figure out where all those "Is this tender?" questions were leading I googled and discovered that cysts are tender and then I found this gem:

Whoever wrote that should be shot {in the foot} for certain.  Talk about a total panic attack.  But then I decided not to panic.

I went home, greeted my brother and sister in law and nieces, enjoyed a great dinner and waited for my appointment time at 9 am the next morning to arrive.  My brother and sister in law, who were supposed to get back on the road the next afternoon graciously watch my kids when my husband had to head to a meeting.

Meanwhile, I arrived at the Breast Center (no really, they call it that!) and my morning went like: Get called back, put on two hospital gowns (no gapping here!), mammogram (not that bad!), ultrasound (again, not too bad), get called back to talk to the radiologist (absolutely uncool,) go in for a biopsy of the lump the radiologist said he 'can absolutely not ignore' (totally sucks.)  Then after another mammogram of my now numb, lump holding, biopsy-ed breast, I head out.  Took a picture for posterity:

The best part of my day was getting to hang out with my brother and sister in law and family at the US Space and Rocket Center.

The hardest part was keeping the ice packs on my biopsy site, but I managed.  My brother and sister in law decided to stay another night and head up to Chicago with us in the morning.

Not my Favorite Thursday ended Friday morning when the Breast Center (again, I'm not making this up) called to tell me that my lump was NOT cancer (Praise God!) but instead a fibroid tumor.  I was driving when I got this call and my brother in law was in front of me.  In my joy, I totally passed him without even knowing what I was doing.

Not my Favorite Thursday was scary and stressful, but I want others to know that google isn't always correct.  And mammograms are important, as are yearly OBGYN check ups.  Forget that new 'every 3 years' recommendation.  Take care of yourselves ladies, we are worth it - all our Favorite Thursdays and even our Not Favorite Thursdays are worth it.  Every day is a gift.