My Day at the Breast Center

Well....I was nervous...I think my Tatas were more nervous than me. I enter the building, and sit in a waiting room. There, 2 other ladies and 2 men sit waiting. A 3rd lady comes out from the back into the room, crying. She'd just been given the good news that she did NOT have breast cancer. The other 2 ladies and one man hugged her hard, I just smiled and continued to fill out my paperwork. They all held hands, and said a prayer. Then, they included me in their prayer. There was this warm, tingly feeling inside me that had tears springing to my eyes. They smiled at me, and left. The 2nd man went to his car. (I think he was offended by the prayer....OH WELL!) I sat alone, and in walks a petite nurse.

"Follow me, please." She's VERY nice, instructs me on how to wear my gown, open to the front, and to put on a white robe and wait to be called. The second waiting room is very quiet and peaceful. I sit, twiddling my thumbs and feeling the flutters and that odd warm sensation in my tummy. Of course, I texted Rene to tell her that God was with me....and He was. I felt Him.

The Radiologist Tech came in, "HI! My name is Oxana. I'll be taking care of you today." She's small. (It must be a pre-requisite to work here that you have to be petite) She's from India, maybe Pakistan and has a thickish accent, that I find charming and relaxing. I lay on the bed, and she opens the gown. The entire time, I'm not uncomfortable because she's so soothing in how she's talking to me. Finally...the goop. I cringe, just KNOWING it'll be cold, but it's not. It's very soothing and warm, and smells of some type of flower. COOL!

She's chatting with me the entire time, taking my mind off of everything. I'm watching the screen...half expecting to see a little foot or head. Pregnancy ultra sounds are just way cooler, the inside of your boob is very boring. I tense up every time she "snaps a picture" and think..."this is it....that's the cancer...." Finally, she hands me 2 towels, and says, "Go ahead and clean up, and I'll be back with the radiologist. He may want to scan you again."

So, I sit. Then, I sit.....and oh I sit some more. Finally, I get tired of sitting so I lay down...and doze. The room is very dim, and all of the 'white noise' from the machines is soooo soothing, and off to never-never land I go. I startle at the sound of the door open, and groggily sit up to see the first tall person in the building. He's the Radiologist..."Hi, I'm Dr.........(I can NOT remember his name)." He asks me 300 questions about cancer in my family, if I've had a fever, etc. Then he says, "Open your gown, let me look at both of them together." For the first time all day, I felt exposed and uncomfortable. When I opened my gown, I swear it was like peep show! LOL
Finally, he scans me again, and then we're done.

"Well," he says, "I can't see anything that has fluid in it. I'm going to suggest we put you on another round of antibiotics, and see how it goes." Then we discussed the possibility that my IUD could be causing the infections. See, most IUDs are metal wires, but noooooo, I got the Mirena, which has hormones in it. The type of hormone in the IUD is different than the pill, and b/c I just had it put in, it could be giving off high doses of hormone that is causing the infection. "And you know," the dr. says, "your uterus is attached to your breasts." I think he was trying to be funny....but it was wasted on me. So then he says, that we're going to do another round of antibiotics, and he wants me to take the IUD out. I'm not happy about this at all, especially since I was informed I can't take birth control anymore. So, now, Brian and I are faced with "the big question". Do we want more kids? We can't afford more, now, and do we really want to go through the sleepless nights, diapers, baby food expenses, child care expenses again??? The answer is most decidedly no. So, I'm very very sad. I think I'm more sad that the option is about to be taken away from me, more so than not having a baby. (Brenny, you understand what I mean) So.....now Brian is going to be getting a vasectomy as soon as we can afford to do it. *sigh*

So...the jist is this.....Get IUD out, get back on Antibiotics, wait 3-4 months to see if A) it doesn't get better or B) it comes back.....if either of those occur, I will need to return for a skin biopsy.