Mammogram or bust
I'm getting my hair cut next week. I hadn't planned on getting a hair cut any time soon...maybe a trim, or at most and inch or so cut off. I've been growing it out for the last 3 years. Once upon a time I would have the stylist use the #2 guard on the clippers, so I'm used to SHORT. But of course, with it that short, it's a little hard for the dude at the cash register to get the gender correct. OK, I digress. I'm getting my hair cut next week.

I decided to go ahead and get it cut of in advance of it falling out. I've recently been diagnosed with cancer. Wow. The big C. It's been a surreal experience at times (that word came from my sister-in-law Jane--it's an accurate descriptor). I knew I had an issue, but the reality that it is cancer came on pretty quickly.

Last fall, I noticed a lymph node in my armpit that wasn't happy. It didn't hurt, but it was enlarged a little. I think I originally noticed it while I was shaving. I "ignored" it; eh, every once in awhile I remembered it was there. It wasn't growing, it wasn't shrinking--it wasn't doing much of anything. It was just there--a smooth, squishy, swollen lymph node.

At my yearly exam (ahem), I asked the doc to feel that node. Yep, it's a little inflamed. She prescribed an antibiotic, told me to watch it, and get back to her if it started to bother me. It did, but perhaps more mentally than physically.

In February of this year, I noticed that the armpit was a bit sore. The lymph node was still swollen but perhaps a little different. I headed back to the doc for another check and she noted that it was indeed different then last time. It felt different. I knew it was different. At this point, it's a little hard to pinpoint what I was thinking. I know just enough biological/body stuff to be dangerous, but perhaps enough to know when something needs some attention. I knew this did. The doc referred me to a breast surgeon--whether that was based on a concern that something bad was going on I'm not quite sure. She did say that since it was painful it probably meant that it was an infected lymph node that might have to be cut out. A breast surgeon would be a logical choice--because of the proximity of the node to the breast area. After calling the surgeon's office, the ball started rolling (really, no pun intended). Before I even had an appointment to see her, the doc sent me in for around of tests--what amounted to an ultrasound and a mammogram.

Now I'm not old enough to have had a mammogram yet. Yea, I had a cyst a couple of years ago, but an ultrasound clearly showed that it was a cyst and nothing more. That cyst wasn't significant enough in my head to warrant going to get the ever-feared mammogram. Yea, I know Oprah did a show where she had one done to show how "easy" it is. I just really had a hard time putting together how my little girls were going to be flattened enough to x-rayed. But the time had come, I was going to have one.

It wasn't too bad. But then again, I don't really have anything to compare it to. I did have to have more "pictures" taken on the left side than the right side--the radiologist wanted a better view of some calcifications. Calcifications are normal and don't necessarily mean anything--good or bad. The ones we were seeing were microcalcifications (as opposed to macrocalcifications). Radiologists look at the shape of them, and a magnification was definitely needed to determine the shape of mine (hence the second trip to the press).

From what I remember, I had probably 8 of them. Little tiny specs infront of the background of what one might know as a radiograph of a breast. They actually shine pretty brightly. In the magnified view, the radiologist pointed out to me that a couple of them were not round. They were almost star-like. He said again that normally these wouldn't be of concern, but with that lymph node, the breast surgeon may want more testing done (she certainly did).

The ultrsound was interesting. The ultrasound technologist found that little booger right away. It wasn't a boy or girl--it was a node that had normal fatty tissue in the middle of it. The edges had lobulations (yes, that is a word). That was curious, and she even found a deeper lymph node that was perhaps a little enlarged (gender unknown). The radiologist came in for a look-see as well, but still, things didn't quite add up. Pain in the lymph node is not normally and indication of cancer. But still--something was going on...