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So there's been a lot going on over the course of the last two weeks.  I had my annual exam a couple of weeks ago and during the appt. my Dr. recommended that I get a baseline mammogram.  I'll be 36 in June, but because my paternal grandmother had breast cancer, she wanted to start me a bit early.  I went ahead and made the appt. for two weeks ago today.  I went in and it wasn't a big deal.  I'd heard widely varying assessments of it being mildly uncomfortable to very painful, but it didn't bother me at all.

That Thursday the radiologists office called me and told me that they wanted me to come back in for some more pictures and possibly an ultrasound.  They'd found a mass on my right breast that they wanted to take a further look at.  Of course I panicked.  I was able to make an appt. for the following day, as I'm all about getting these kind of things resolved as quickly as possible.

I went into the office and had a spot compression mammogram done, which was basically just a smaller, more specific mammogram.  I then had an ultrasound done, during which the tech and then Dr. confirmed there was a mass.  They told me it looked like it was probably something called a fibroadenoma, which is a benign kind of tumor that is apparently very common in women in their twenties and thirties.  However, they said that sometimes things could present with those characteristics and turn out to be something else, so they would need to do a biopsy to confirm.

I scheduled the biopsy for this past Wednesday.  I could have had it done sooner if I didn't have ibuprofen in my system, as I had to be ibuprofen-free for five days since it can act as a blood thinner.  One of my girlfriends picked me up for a Starbucks coffee date, and then we went to the office for the biopsy.  It was in-office and took about thirty minutes.  They used a local anesthetic and it was basically painless.  I've had cervical biopsies before, and I think they use a similar tool for getting the sample.  I didn't look at it, but it sounds like a hole punch.

They took three samples and also left a clip in me that acts as a marker.  They explained that if it turned out to be a fibroadenoma, it would tell future radiologists that this spot has already been biopsied, and if something was wrong, it would tell future surgeons where to go.  I had one more mammogram before I left the office to confirm that the clip was in the right place, and then they wrapped my chest in a big old ace bandage afterwards, and I left the office with my bra in my purse and a sheet of aftercare instructions. I was told I couldn't shower for 24 hours (ugh), among other things.

My girlfriend took me to lunch after that once she confirmed I was up for it.  I took some Tylenol for the soreness, and she joked that that was the most flat chested she'd ever seen me...I was bound like a girl trying to hide her boobs!  I went home after that and just relaxed.  I tried to get comfortable, I iced my poor boob like I was told to.

I'd asked BF to come over that evening after work, as he knew what was going on.  He arrived around 4pm and we later had crockpot tacos for dinner.  I'd planned ahead for once!  He earned many boyfriend points that day and was asking me what I needed, listening to me vent my fears, distracting me when I needed it, and just generally taking care of me.  My other good girlfriend, A, also stopped by to check on me later that night.  I felt very loved!

I kept the following days as full as I could.  They'd told me it would take 2 days to a week to get the results back.  Thursday I kept myself busy as I could with mundane things around the house once I got home from work.  Friday I went to happy hour with some friends, then got home and crashed HARD by 10pm. Saturday I went to the chiropractor and I ran errands all day long.  Then I met with a girlfriend for dinner and ice cream, and she came over after to hang out.  A came by and joined us, and we just had a nice, impromptu girls night in that evening.  Sunday morning I went to brunch, then to the grocery store, and that night I was super productive around my apartment and wrapped up the night at the gym.

By Monday my patience was wearing thin.  I became convinced I wouldn't hear anything until Wednesday.  I was getting incredibly stressed.  Around three PM, the Dr. who did the biopsy called.  He informed me that it was, in fact, a fibroadenoma, and advised me that I would need to come back in for a 6 month follow up ultrasound just to monitor it.  Bottom line?  I was okay.

I felt such a huge, massive, overwhelming wave of relief, and when I hung up the phone I nearly burst into tears.  I went out to a friend's desk at work and told her, and she gave me a tremendous hug and I felt the weight of the last two weeks lifting off my shoulders.  I relayed the news to those who'd been there for me during the whole thing, and I felt this intense joy and happiness and gratitude for all of the good things in my life, all of the amazing people.

I know some people probably don't think this is a big deal.  They told me it was probably something benign, maybe I was just getting worked up over nothing.  But it was a big deal to me because I didn't know for sure, and it was incredibly stressful.  I spent a week and a half wondering if something really wrong was going on with my body, and wondering how I would deal with it, and if I would be okay.  It made me hesitate booking a weekend getaway in May, it made me unable to focus on anything beyond finding out that news.

Today the only remaining signs of this experience are the steri strips that are hanging on like champs onto my right breast, and the clip they left inside me.  When I went in for that mammogram, I thought I was just getting a baseline for future mammograms.  It didn't work out that way, and I found out that that's pretty common for first time mammograms.  They have nothing to compare it to, so everything can easily be irregular.  I found out that even ultrasounds and biopsies are not hugely uncommon results of first mammograms.  I never knew that.  It was a scary, stressful several days, but I'm glad I did it, and I'm glad the doctors and techs were thorough in their assessment.

Anyway, that's been a lot of my world for the last couple of weeks.  I have more to write about that's unrelated, but for now I'm going to wrap up.