Date: 2006-08-29
To: Lefty finding her lump in 03, Part II
Miles today: 0.0

The 2003 Weekend Lefty Found her Lump- Part IISorry this has taken me forever and a day to write and post. There are certain details of my diagnosis and prognosis that I am not 110% sure about so I have been hesitant to write anything. I finally just had to decide that something is better than nothing and I can always go back later and make any edits and additions once I have all my medical paperwork in front of me. Also, I am sitting in a hostel right now. There are other people that want to get online. Buoy left an hour ago to head up the Mountain. I¢ll have to be quick. And if you know me, I like to drag my stories out, so being short and to the point isn¢t my preference. Okay, here we go (deep breath)¢¦..After stopping at various fast food restaurants on our drive home, Buoy (then just Andre) and I get home by 7 or 8ish in the evening. After our showers are over we fall into bed and feel great about our hike. We¢re also always amazed about how sore and stiff we are from our 20 mile weekend. That night, while lying in bed and watching the news, I did a pretty informal breast self-exam. I had been on the Atkins Diet for over a month and it felt like my breasts were much smaller than their already small size. All of a sudden I felt something very distinct at twelve o¢clock on my left breast. I have never felt anything unusual in either of my breasts so I was immediately alarmed. I quickly felt the same place on my right breast. It felt very different. My heart started racing (as it is right now while I am writing this). My vision became a little blurry. I was afraid. I took a couple deep breaths, turned to Andre, managed to sound calm, and asked him to feel both of my breasts and see if he noticed anything unusual. He felt the same thing. He found it fast. The questions and concerns started flying through my mind. How could I have not found this sooner, it is so big? Oh, my god, I hope this isn¢t what I think it is. I made sure I had my GYN¢s number handy so that I could call her the next am.I called her first thing Tuesday morning. I told the woman who answered the phone that my GYN was my primary care physician and that I found a lump last night. I was quite surprised that she said that I could come in that morning. Usually, it takes me months to get an appointment with her. I am very thankful that they took my concern so seriously and saw me that morning. I have learned since that most women that call their doc with this concern also get an immediate appointment¢¦..AS IT SHOULD BE. My GYN, while she saw me right away, was not concerned at all about my lump. After the exam she said that I shouldn¢t worry. It was too large to be a cancerous lump. She said that it must be a bunch of small cysts together. She said that it would go away. I was still very concerned. I reminded her that my mother had had breast cancer a few years ago, at the age of 51. Still, she said that it wasn¢t cancer. She told me to call her in a month if it hadn't changed. I was not satisfied. I asked if I should get a mammogram. She said no. My breasts were too small and too dense. Nothing would show on the mammogram. I was not satisfied. I asked if there was anything else that I could do. I needed to do something. I could not just go home and wait a month. She reluctantly said that their was a procedure called an ultrasound (or is it sonogram??) that she would write me out an order for, if it would make me feel better. I politely insisted. Since I no longer lived on the Peninsula, and I wanted to see a doctor in San Francisco, she didn¢t have names of any doctors for me to see. I had the order in hand, went to work and made a few calls trying to figure out where to go in the City to get my ultrasound. The quickest appointment I could get was in 2 or 3 days. They were confused by why I was referring myself and the doctor hadn¢t made the referral. I had to walk my referral into the office the day I made the appointment. Then 2 days later I came back for my appointment. Then next 2 days of waiting weren¢t fun. Part way through the appointment I could tell that something was not right. More people started coming into the office, looking at the pictures, consulting, and taking more pictures. The end result of this appointment was a doctor telling me that it was not a bunch of small cyst together, as I had been told, but a mass. They said that I needed to see a surgeon immediately and determine how the mass could be biopsied. They suggested a few surgeons. I made an appointment with the one who would see me the soonest. At that appointment the surgeon reviewed the results of my ultrasound, did a clinical breast exam, and explained the different options that I had regarding getting the mass biopsied. After discussing the options with Andre we thought it made the most sense to get a core needle biopsy. (Will describe later). Oh, I am feeling rushed. Lots of people want to use the computer. Will try to complete this next time I get computer access. To be continued...