Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Ok, so it's biopsy day, right on! By the way, many of you know that I pretty much already knew that I had BC at that point. I had received a copy of the reports on my mammogram and ultrasound and based on the wording, the BIRADS code of a 4C, and Dr. Google, I just knew. Anyway, I go in and I'm on a table and they are getting the ultrasound ready to use as a guide for the biopsy. There's also a big computer screen on the other side of the table. The technician punches up a mammogram pic of my tumor. Ok, hyperventalating now. I read all about benign tumors and their characteristics. And, I read all about the other type too and this was looking like the other type majorly! I tried to concentrate, because the doc was numbing the whole area and that kinda hurt.....about 5 needle sticks, fun. I kept looking back at that big screen on the other side of the table and all I could think while they were gathering 5 different core samples was "do you know the muffin man?" over and over again.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBZY-89EiB8&feature=related

See, the big pic on the computer screen looked like the Gingerbread Man when he was being tortchured by Lord Farquaad in Shrek (our family is obsessed with this movie). It (tumor in question) seemed to have a couple of round arms, a head, and where the legs would have been it just kinda faded away. Sooooo, the coining of the Gingerbread Man (the kids know this story too and they think it's pretty funny).

So, the gathering of little wormy looking samples is finished and I'm sitting up while they try to get the area to stop bleeding. I decide one last ditch effort to leave there with a little hope that this is going to be nothing. I point at the screen and fight my impulse to say "that's a nice boulder"* and instead say something like, that doesn't look like a Fibroadenoma? She answers, no. Ok, I'll try again......and it can't be a cyst, right? She chimes right in with a "nope". Ok "So, there's not alot else it can be, right?" Now, here's her chance......she answers "no, not really." Ok, I new that.....YIKES!

The incision wasn't bad. It hurt a little for a few days, but that little pain was a little hard to notice over those internal voices that were screaming at me....OMG!

* Donkey quote from Shrek

From the Beginning

Ok, so this is my first journal post, I've got a little catching up to do, so here goes. About 3 1/2 years ago I found a "ridge" in my right breast. It wasn't a lump, like they tell you to look for, so I wasn't too worried. However, I scheduled an appointment with my doctor right away and got in to get it checked. She checked and wasn't too worried, but said, since I was in my forties now (when did that happen?), it was time for my first mamogram. So I went. Boy, was that fun! They didn't see anything, but just to be sure, they did an ultrasound too. Nothing. Cool. I knew that.

Fast forward.....and I mean literally. Toddlers, teenagers, taxes, and tantrums gets us to September of this year. Hmmmm, that "ridge" grew. I remember thinking, I gotta get in to see the doc (by the way, I would rather write checks to Uncle Sam than go to the doctor, and most of you know how much I like to write checks to Uncle Sam). I really wasn't worried at the time (duh) and I had so much going on with the kids and work that I put it off for a few weeks. Then I started having this weird pain in my upper back that would wake me up in the middle of the night. Well, that got my full attention. After noticing (how the hell did I miss this one?) that there was swelling under my arm on the same side as the lump/ridge, I immediately called and made an appointment. Had to wait 9 days to get in because of this blasted Pink October. Finally got in on the 14th of October and had that diognostic mammogram done. Not much said, but they took me straight over to ultrasound after that. The technician looked at the ultrasound image for about 30 seconds before she said she was going to get the doctor. Hmmmmm, that wasn't what happened before....... So, the doctor came right in, looked at for about 10 seconds and said to order a biopsy. Ok, worried. The wonderful technician, Mary, gave me hug on the way out. Way worried!