Are you OK with needles?

I went ahead and cut the hair. It's one of those things--you get a wild hair someplace, and you just can't stop thinking about getting it completed. What's the harm in having some friends over to cut your hair while sharing a little wine? Well, you tell me--you can see the photo.

After that mammogram and the ultrasound, I finally had the chance to meet my new doctor--the breast surgeon. It was a little scary--she is part of an oncology practice. She's incredibly nice and very energetic. I like that. She talks through everything--whether she has it figured out or not. That's pretty cool in my book, because then I can pay attention to how she is thinking (and THAT she is, for that matter).

After she checked things out and looked at all the films I brought, she decided that a couple of needle biopsies would be a good thing. I concurred, and she disappeared to go and get said needles. Oh, I hadn't thought that she meant RIGHT THEN. Alright, I can deal with it. Now a needle biopsy like this isn't an exact science. Basically the needle is inserted and moved around while drawing up tissue (cells). Yeah, ouch. It wasn't so much the needles; in fact, I do pretty OK with needles. But that spot was already sore. In the end it even wasn't so much about the stick--it was the pressure that was needed to get the bleeding to stop AFTER the needle was out. I think it's the first time I've ever gotten nauseous purely from pain. But it was these very cells that were taken that were going to determine that I was going to have to lose the hair.

The other end of this visit to meet the new doc involved meeting the new doc's admin. Along with the needles sticks, the doc decided that a full battery of tests/scans would be a good thing--so that she could get as clear a picture as to what was going on as possible. Her admin was apparently new at this--or at least I hope so. MRI, CT scan, bone scan--they were all arranged, starting 2 days later. I actually understood what all this was for. If the needle biopsies turned out positive (for cancer that is), the CT scan and bone scan would help determine the extent of spreading--if any. The MRI was purely an breast MRI (I never knew there was an MRI specific for just boobs like that). Anyway, Maurine had a little trouble keeping it all straight, but in the end, I left the office with 4 other appointments arranged...