How it all began...

I figured my first post would be a great place to tell the story of how this whole thing happened. Warning... this post is a little detailed and you may not be interested in reading about how one finds a lump in her breast...

About a month and a half ago I noticed a "lump" - a dreaded lump. I remember exactly when I felt it. I was actually driving my car to dinner and my seatbelt cut across my chest and I felt a small pain in my chest. I though it was just the seatbelt, but later on I touched it (probably because it hurt still) and I felt a lump in my breast.

A few days earlier I had a treatment at my chiropractor's office where he really stretched out my arms and pecs. I figured somehow he pulled my muscle and maybe it was a lump of muscle that kind of surfaced. In any case, I was certainly not raised to be a hypochondriac. I figured it would go away on its own, but I knew I had a doctor's appointment coming up in about a month and I could deal with it then if it still even existed. (And I was sure it wouldn't).

I continued to monitor it periodically, noticing it growing and shrinking. Sometimes it hurt, sometimes it didn't. By the time I went to see my doctor, it was still there. She knows all about the history of breast cancer in my family, so she immediately took it seriously and scheduled me for an ultrasound of the area. However, she did reassure me that she's had many many patients with the same kind of concern and "the overwhelming majority" of them have a benign condition. I felt better. Now I was doing something about it.

A week and a half later I went to my appointment for the ultrasound, which actually turned out to be several mammogram pictures, two ultrasounds, and a biopsy. Whoa.

The ultrasound was first. This wasn't really a big deal. They basically take a wand and they run it over your chest for several minutes. The radiologist couldn't quite tell what the lump was, so I had to go for the dreaded mammogram. I say "dreaded" because I'd heard that this was pretty painful. Basically, in a mammogram they squish your boob between two plates and take an x-ray of it. Sometimes they contort it in curious shapes to get a different view. The only thing that comes to mind is a balloon animal. It's not really that bad, but it is kind of weird watching someone manipulate your boob that way. I had several of these. Honestly, I was prepared for way worse pain. It wasn't fun, but I don't think there's any reason for a woman not to get one if she needs it.

After several balloon animals, the radiologist still couldn't tell what it was, so she recommended a biopsy. They were able to do it that day if I was ready. Now, at this point, I'm thinking "damn... I am never going to get to work today!" But, I'd rather get it over and done with in one day (so I didn't have to explain two mysterious absences instead of one), so I told her to go ahead with it. Let me tell you... this was pretty freaky. At this point, I think I was starting to understand the gravity of the situation. But still, it was probably nothing.

I was awake during the biopsy, but they numbed everything. I didn't feel anything when I was on the table, but I had a huge core needle sticking out of my boob. I tried not to look, but it was kind of in my peripheral vision. They left it in there while they took several tissue samples (better than them having to poke me with that monstrous thing more than once!). They also took a sample of fluid from my lymph node.

When they were done, I was told I should not go to work. I had to keep an icepack on my chest (now I know why I can't go to work...) and I was to "take it easy" for the rest of the day. My doctor would call me within 2 days with the results.