Mammogram

by Laura

This past Saturday we went for our annual mammogram and sonogram.  A bit of history:  We've been going to get our boobs squashed annually (and sometimes semi-annually) since the body was 38.  We've been told that we have "dense tissue," which necessitates the taking of a sonogram after each mammogram to provide additional images.  We had a surgical biopsy in 2008 and two stereotactic biopsies in the three years after that.  Since then, our history has been uneventful.

Last Saturday the techs squashed us and squashed us and squashed us again.  It took considerable restraint to keep Rachel from giving them a piece of her vitriol-infested mind.  And after the sonogram, they made us come back to the mammo machine and get squashed again.

Several phone calls passed between the mammo tech and the radiologist.  Why the radiologists never actually meet with the patients is beyond me.  It's like we become objects to them.  Anyway, after the umpteenth such phone call, the mammo tech handed us the phone and told us that the radiologist wanted to speak to us.  Gee, whiz. *sarcasm*

Allegra took the phone call.  The radiologist explained that the mammo results were fine, but that the sono showed irregularity with the lymph nodes by our left armpit.  He recommended that we discuss the possibility of a biopsy with our referring doctor, and we agreed.

So.  That's this week's installment of Do Not Panic 101.  Our appointment with the breast doctor's nurse-practitioner was scheduled for this Friday.  It didn't surprise us when the doctor's office called us to reschedule the appointment with the doctor himself, since the NP only sees routine cases.  The first available appointment with the doctor was three weeks from today.

"Will it be a problem for us to wait that long?"  Allegra asked.  The receptionist said that the sooner we get them a set of films from this year and two years prior, the sooner they can consider moving us up to an earlier date.

Sigh.