What a week...

What a week!! A lot of stressful things occurred, but luckily everything is okay!

Last Sunday night I was lounging on our couch and felt a little bit of discomfort in my left breast.  When I felt it to see what was going on I felt a large lump... the size of a bouncy ball.  I immediately freaked out because on August 18th I had felt that same thing and I thought that it was a fluke because I hadn't been able to find it again.  The fact that it was a month later and I could feel it made me realize that it hadn't gone away... I realized that every time I checked for it I was standing and both times that I felt it I had been lounging on the couch.  So, I spent the night freaking out and didn't get much sleep.  I called my gynocologists office first thing in the morning.  They asked me to come in that afternoon for an appointment.  They confirmed that I had a lump, told me that they hoped it was a cyst, and they scheduled a mammogram for Wednesday at the Komen Center in Peoria.  They were SO wonderful!! They were SO supportive!! They told me that I had done the right thing by calling right away! I felt nervous when I left, but they assured me that they would do everything necessary to assure that I was okay.

To say I was nervous is an understatement!  I couldn't believe that I had a bouncy ball sized lump and had only noticed it once before.  When I got to the Komen Center I was greeted by kind ladies.  There were so many people there of all different ages.  They gave me a little pager type thing and some paperwork to complete.  Then I waited.  When my buzzer went off I was greeted by a kind lady who I found out had been in the field for 30 years.  I can't even imagine how many mammograms she has completed in 30 years!!! She gave me a pink robe and pointed out the changing room and lockers for my things.  She then told me to take a seat in the interior waiting room until she came to get me.  Once she came to get me we went into the room with the machine that would complete my mammogram.  I was FREAKING out because so many people have told me that they are horrible.  A friend had told me that it wasn't horrible, only a little uncomfortable, but I couldn't help but recall the years and years of horrible things I had heard about them... Then we started the process and I realized that it wasn't bad at all.  Yes, it was a little awkward to have my boob on a surface with a plastic piece putting pressure down onto it... but, this lady sees this every day and the pressure was less than when I am elbowed in the chest... which happens more frequently than one would think.  It is truly AMAZING that a little bit of awkwardness and a little bit of pressure is all that is necessary to detect cancer and save a life!!!! After standing in a couple different positions so that they could get a full view it was over!

At this point I was sent back to the interior waiting room.  I wasn't exactly sure what to expect... I should have asked the technician more questions!! There were a few other ladies in the waiting room, one was exceptionally nervous.  She had developed a nervous cough.  I started to worry about her and stopped worrying about myself.  I got up and got her a mint out of my locker.  I talked with her a bit and passed time until a new person came to get me... I have to admit that I was a little nervous when I realized that I had been passed to a new person.  The lady was very nice and showed me a picture of the scans.  She showed me that there was tissue blocking the area where the lump was.  She told me that the radiologist would be coming in to do a sonogram.  I began to get very nervous.  The radiologist came in and questioned me about when I had noticed the lump.  She said that it is very sizable and that it is strange that I didn't notice it earlier.  She said that they had also found another small spot on the scans.  At this point I REALLY freaked out because of the second spot!!!!   She completed the sonogram over the large lump and was very pleased to tell me that it was only a large cyst that measured 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm. She said that it is very deep into the tissue, which is probably why it was hard for me to locate while standing up.  She then checked my smaller spot and was able to confirm that it was also a cyst!  She said that it was the best outcome that I could have gotten.  She said that the first cyst is sizable enough that I might want to get it drained at some point, but otherwise I would not need to do anything.  They gave me a diagnosis sheet that stated that everything was "normal"!! I then made calls, sent texts, and went to Cold Stone Creamery!!!! :)

The week ended with parent/teacher conferences... which are always nerve wrecking because talking to adults can be hard!!! Not that working with kiddos isn't hard, but adults are harder for me!

Add in a wide variety of other craziness and super stressful stuff that was going on in our lives and the week added up to be pretty craptastic! Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful that the results were fantastic!! It is just that I had so many "plans" for how the week would go and they didn't go ANYTHING like I had planned!!! One would think that by now I would just stop trying to plan!!!!

I must say that one blessing that came from all of this is that I feel better knowing that things are looking good and that we are now even more prepared for Iowa City because I have had a good left side mammogram.  IVF treatments can cause all kinds of crazy stuff, so I am thankful that things turned out the way they did!!

It seems as though October 22nd is a million years away!  But, I know that it will be here before we know it.  University of Iowa here we come!

Final thought for the weekend... DO NOT put off a mammogram!!! They save lives and they are mearly a little awkward and slightly uncomfortable!!!! TOTALLY worth the peace of mind!!!!!!