The top left corner of my windshield was the only reminder that I didn’t, finally, have all of my “ducks in a row”. Anticipating the worse (you know the saying) and expecting the least, PACC Auto once again serviced my overdue car in just thirty minutes. So now, new clear sticker brightly blinding my vision, I could safely finish with the “ducks”.
Have I written on this subject before? “Never quite feeling that I’m done with…” fill in the blank. New shoes wear out. Clothes go out of fashion. First grade leads to second. Captain lead to chief. Part-time work leads to full time mommy. Manicures and pedicures and facials and the gym lead to dwelling too much on me. And a baseline mammogram leads to annual mammograms. So there are some things, like a visit to PACC, and yearly doctor visits that are acceptable and welcoming.
I can’t spend money on my toes unless I’ve had my yearly checkup with my doctor. A visit to PACC means I can treat myself to a lunch out. And a mammogram, God help me, allows me a guilt-free visit to Christy at Cosmetic Concepts for a facial. Facial. Say it with me. It’s like a deep tissue massage for the nose.
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Anyway, back to the mammogram. The month of April had come and gone with my 43rd birthday and the usual annual reminder that my mammo was due. But that was the month I had to work over time. And Eddie had to study for the chief’s exam. And Samantha, well, she wasn’t babysat for any part of it I can say for sure.
So, when I finally got around to it, my newfound motivation was that my favorite neighbor finally had scheduled hers. (Look under archives for last year’s mammo column. She was the one that had never had a mammo before.) We tried to do it together this time, planning a glass of wine before the appointment, but the timing didn’t work out. Suffice to say both of our appointments have come and gone. Except that her results are due in the mail tomorrow and mine arrived last week. (There aren’t many things in this world that compares with the interpreting radiologist statement, “We are pleased to inform you that the results of your recent mammography examination are normal.”).
We both had made our appointments at Henry Mayo ACC Outpatient Radiology. In fact I’m positive that we both had the same experienced technician that I saw last year.
I quizzed her again this time regarding the front page Signal column on their new Imaging technology. I was then informed that the new equipment, similar to an MRI or full body scan, will not discontinue the “decompression” of the breast that we have all come to know so intimately. But I have faith that it will someday.
I’m not going to throw statistics about breast cancer at you again. (Get that from archives too but I would bet that in the time since I wrote that last column some of those numbers are advancing.) My sister-in-law is still cancer free but has tested positive for the cancer gene. She is looking at having her uterus removed this summer as a preventative measure. And, if you recall, she is a newlywed in her early thirties with no children of her own.
Luckily I still have my dear sister-in-law as a reminder to “keep in touch” with breast cancer. I also still have my flier hanging from my showerhead reminding and instructing me on how to do my self-exam. In fact, last years column generated so many responses that I called The Cancer Society to order more laminated fliers for friends and Signal readers at that time.
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Do you still have yours? Do you remember to do your exam every month?
So now, finally, I feel “ducks in a row” good. But then, I still am anxious to hear my neighbor’s results come in. Almost as anxious to know if yours, dear Signal readers, have come in too. At least we only have to do a mammogram once a year. We have to see those honest mechanics at PACC Auto and Christy at Cosmetic Concepts at least every 2-3 months!
