It’s not easy taking a selfie of my bruise on my boob!
This marks the spot of my biopsy last Thursday. If you have read my 2 previous blogs, you will be up to play on where I’m at after finding a lump on my breast in February 2020.
The day: Drive to Invercargill, mammogram, 2nd mammogram, ultrasound, biopsy, mammogram, drive home. No wonder I’m still tired.
Let’s start with the obvious. Did it hurt…yes. Is it sore now…..yes. Sore enough that cuddles are at a bare minimum.
This experience was one I will never forget and it taught me some valuable lessons and got me thinking….
Any woman going for a mammogram or breast appointment should be accompanied by someone, anyone. This is one of the points that stuck out to me throughout the day as I watched women in fear, waiting their turn for procedures and then results.
Why do we think we can do everything on our own? Why do we think we will put someone else out if they take the time out of their day to come with you and be by your side while your breasts are squeezed, manoeuvred into different shapes into an oversized piece of whiteware? They can send a man to the moon yet this is the technology to see what’s going on inside your breasts. It comes back to asking for help and I feel that this is something as women we have become too proud or afraid to ask for.
I asked a friend to join me, which I will be forever grateful for. We had the best day through the laughter and the tears. 4.5 hours in the hospital flew by. The distraction and conversation meant that my mind didn’t wander to any unpleasant thoughts which are so easy to encounter when you are waiting in sterile conditions, freezing from the paper-thin gown you are wearing, staring at blurry poster lined walls.
It takes a very special person to work in theses spaces and I can say that the care I received at Invercargill hospital far exceeded that of the private hospital in Dunedin. Every one of them was present and patient and you could feel the love, warmth and care.
The biopsy…..clear
But the story continues. I originally found the lump in the left breast and I only received an ultrasound on this side…..flaw in the system right there. They found several (I counted 4) tiny lumps on the ultrasound and mammogram on the right side, so instead of biopsying all of them, I am now being referred for an MRI. Whop whop.
I am grateful for them being so thorough but I do have to wonder with all the procedures that I have received so far have produced more trauma to my breasts than I already had. What we do for peace of mind. And your mind is the biggest tool and asset that you can use to your advantage or the thing you will battle with most through any difficult situations in your life. Master that and you can do anything.