It's All in One Afternoon
I seemed to have spent most of yesterday afternoon lying down on some medical bed or table. It's not fun but it had to be dealt with. The bottom line is, I am just fine.
I had a my annual mammogram on Monday morning. That afternoon, the Breast Center left a message at home saying I have to call them as soon as possible. When I called them back, I was told they found something in my left breast and they want me to have more involved imaging taken, and if needed, ultrasound. We scheduled it for Friday at 12:40pm - that was yesterday.
I was very objective about it. It could be nothing, it could be something. Worst case scenario is, if it's something, it's probably in the early stages. Still, since I show none of the symptoms their materials described, I felt that it was probably just some mole or something completely innocuous.
By Wednesday, I had this pain on the left side of my back, as well as numbing and tingling sensation on the left side of my face, my arm and hand. I observed it for a couple of days and when it was still there on Friday morning, I called my doctor to schedule an appointment after the Breast Center that afternoon.
My doctor had no opening but they were concerned enough that they told me to go either to the emergency room or to urgent care. It so happened that the urgent care is close to the breast center so I figured I'd go after my tests.
I left the office a little before noon, stopped at 7-11 for a quick lunch of soda and taquitos and barely made it to my 12:40 appointment. They took several more images of the suspect breast which when shown to the radiologist, he ordered them to perform an ultrasound. They promptly took me to this room with a small clinic bed and performed the procedure. The radiologist then came in, looked at the ultrasound again and informed me of his findings. There is a growth called fibroadenoma in my left breast. The good news is, fibroadeomas are benign (not cancerous) breast tumors that are made of glandular and fibrous breast tissue. The radiologist wants me to come back in six months for follow up.
One down.
I meandered over to the urgent care. It was one of those times when luck seems to be smiling at you. No other patient was there but me. This handsome young doctor did a variety of tests to make sure that the numbing/tingling sensation was not a heart attack nor a stroke. He he said he suspects that it maybe a pinched nerve in my back that is causing it, but he wanted to make sure. He ordered an EKG right away and so I was on my back again.
Two down.
The EKG looked normal, but he wanted to see my old EKG for comparison so he had the nurse call my regular doctor's office for it. He then asked me if someone in my family had a stroke and after I told him my mother did when she was in her late 50's, he made arrangements for me to have a brain CT scan immediately.
So I went to another imaging center to have photos of my head taken. For the third time, I was lying on some cold medical table, getting poked. The technician inserted an IV on my right arm as the scans were to be done two ways - one normal way, the other with some tincture of something (maybe some form of dye) that will be visible in the scan so they could see or detect any blockage.
Three down.
The good news is with today's technologies, the doctors were able to get the results of the tests immediately and both discussed them with me that same afternoon. By 4:45 pm, the doctor from the urgent care clinic was on the phone ensuring me that my cerebral veins are fine and that stroke is not taking place. (Oh, and I DO have a brain!)
I sat for a few minutes in my car and reflected on what had just transpired. After thanking God for all the good news, I felt very tired. I called Lita and told her she had to take me out to dinner.
Somehow the hot seafood soup at the Thai restaurant helped melt away all the uncomfortable sensations of being poked and prodded earlier.
And how was your day?
I had a my annual mammogram on Monday morning. That afternoon, the Breast Center left a message at home saying I have to call them as soon as possible. When I called them back, I was told they found something in my left breast and they want me to have more involved imaging taken, and if needed, ultrasound. We scheduled it for Friday at 12:40pm - that was yesterday.
I was very objective about it. It could be nothing, it could be something. Worst case scenario is, if it's something, it's probably in the early stages. Still, since I show none of the symptoms their materials described, I felt that it was probably just some mole or something completely innocuous.
By Wednesday, I had this pain on the left side of my back, as well as numbing and tingling sensation on the left side of my face, my arm and hand. I observed it for a couple of days and when it was still there on Friday morning, I called my doctor to schedule an appointment after the Breast Center that afternoon.
My doctor had no opening but they were concerned enough that they told me to go either to the emergency room or to urgent care. It so happened that the urgent care is close to the breast center so I figured I'd go after my tests.
I left the office a little before noon, stopped at 7-11 for a quick lunch of soda and taquitos and barely made it to my 12:40 appointment. They took several more images of the suspect breast which when shown to the radiologist, he ordered them to perform an ultrasound. They promptly took me to this room with a small clinic bed and performed the procedure. The radiologist then came in, looked at the ultrasound again and informed me of his findings. There is a growth called fibroadenoma in my left breast. The good news is, fibroadeomas are benign (not cancerous) breast tumors that are made of glandular and fibrous breast tissue. The radiologist wants me to come back in six months for follow up.
One down.
I meandered over to the urgent care. It was one of those times when luck seems to be smiling at you. No other patient was there but me. This handsome young doctor did a variety of tests to make sure that the numbing/tingling sensation was not a heart attack nor a stroke. He he said he suspects that it maybe a pinched nerve in my back that is causing it, but he wanted to make sure. He ordered an EKG right away and so I was on my back again.
Two down.
The EKG looked normal, but he wanted to see my old EKG for comparison so he had the nurse call my regular doctor's office for it. He then asked me if someone in my family had a stroke and after I told him my mother did when she was in her late 50's, he made arrangements for me to have a brain CT scan immediately.
So I went to another imaging center to have photos of my head taken. For the third time, I was lying on some cold medical table, getting poked. The technician inserted an IV on my right arm as the scans were to be done two ways - one normal way, the other with some tincture of something (maybe some form of dye) that will be visible in the scan so they could see or detect any blockage.
Three down.
The good news is with today's technologies, the doctors were able to get the results of the tests immediately and both discussed them with me that same afternoon. By 4:45 pm, the doctor from the urgent care clinic was on the phone ensuring me that my cerebral veins are fine and that stroke is not taking place. (Oh, and I DO have a brain!)
I sat for a few minutes in my car and reflected on what had just transpired. After thanking God for all the good news, I felt very tired. I called Lita and told her she had to take me out to dinner.
Somehow the hot seafood soup at the Thai restaurant helped melt away all the uncomfortable sensations of being poked and prodded earlier.
And how was your day?
posted by PHLOR TORREJOS at 9:57 PM
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