Last week Eli had the week off of chemo and all other medical stuff, so I decided to take care of my own medical housekeeping. I didn’t set out to compete with Eli for number of medical appointments in a week, but it was almost a tie.

Tuesday:

About 2 1/2 years ago I had a well woman exam and the doctor ordered a routine mammogram. My youngest had just weaned, so we scheduled it out a few months to get more accurate results. When the time came, my 10 year old had discovered a mysterious bump and my father in law was dying. The order had also been sent to a different hospital than I had wanted, so I cancelled the appointment and never got around to getting it done. A couple months ago I learned that another high school friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, so I felt I’d put it off long enough, so that’s what I had done on Tuesday.

Wednesday:

I checked my mammogram report and there were a couple asymmetries on the right side, so I tracked down a doctor and made an appointment for the next day to order any further imaging and walk me through the process. I have been dealing with tendonitis involving my thumbs, so I had an appointment to get that checked out. She gave me a cortisone shot in one hand to see if that would help. She also prescribed a topical Ibuprofen for the pain. I spent the rest of the day, between schooling the kids, doing laundry, and avoiding dinner prep, studying up on mammogram results and what they mean. I now know about BI RADS, dense breast tissue, asymmetry, 2D vs 3D mammograms, and the statistical odds of getting recalled for additional scans.

Thursday:

I met with the doctor to go over my mammogram results. He ordered a spot compression mammogram and an ultrasound. I scheduled an appointment for that afternoon. I went in for the imaging appointment and was given the all clear/come back in a year by the radiologist. When a friend commented on how fast I got my follow up imaging and results, I responded “I have superpowers”.

Monday:

Eli’s week off cancer is over. Today he’s getting the follow up MRI to check on that eye tumor. What it has done since the last MRI a month ago will inform our future treatment trajectory. More chemo, then radiation? Radiation then CAR T clinical trial? Radiation then chemo?

We shall see.