The Mammogram

Day 3-

“Approximately one in seven American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime and more than 2 million Americans are living with breast cancer today. I am joining the more than 200,000 women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.”

 — Sheryl Crow

I had never had a mammogram. 

Are you shocked?

 Why not, you might ask? 

Unpacking my reasons for not taking this action has been interesting. Perhaps it's laziness, or refusal to interrupt my life with difficult tasks that I'd rather avoid. Perhaps at the heart of it, I am defensive when I do any medical visits. I come into a doctor's office feeling like I am there because I've failed my body in some way or another. I'd like to think I can take care of everything by myself and I don't need assistance. 

And there is always the issue of being overweight. What is it with the need to get on a scale right off the bat at every medical visit? Before you have your blood pressure checked, you must stand on a scale and face the number you have been avoiding at home.  

Excuses aside, I really wanted this mammogram nine months ago. After the appointment with my GP, who agreed I needed further testing,  I thought the next step would be simple. But, alas, the order for a diagnostic  mammogram got lost and then found, and lost again. I learned at that junction that I needed to be my own advocate. I asked to know the names of the schedulers and the secretaries so that when I called back I could refer to them by name. Finally after three weeks I had an appointment.

I was praying that the outcome would be benign but the tumor was detectable and looked suspicious. After doing the mammogram I went into another room to do an ultrasound. When the technician called in the radiologist I knew things were not going to be simple. As she investigated with her probe she off handedly made a peculiar statement.

"You might want to give up sugar." 

"What?" I asked.

"We know that cancer feeds on sugar. Just a recommendation."

A week later this same radiologist would do a biopsy on my tumor. I reminded her what she said about sugar and she looked at me in surprise. 

"I said that? Well, unfortunately it's true."

Her words would stay with me and become the catalyst for some major changes in my life. Up next.....the biopsy results.

Go To Day 4

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