December 29, 2020 I was scheduled for a 3D mammogram. It was a follow up to the biopsy & mammogram I had in June. I expected this mammogram to give me the all clear, you can go back to annual mammograms now.

I was driving, bright and early, to my appointment in Charlottesville. I was enjoying my drive actually. I was alone, it was a pretty morning.

The sun was very bright. I was traveling east on an interstate. I used to travel this road daily for work. I had my sunglasses on & my visor down.

I slowed down as I realized the sun was almost blinding me. A line of cars in front of me had done the same thing.

Before I knew what was happening, I was literally almost on top of another car. I braked & swerved & some how by the grace of God I did not wreck. It happened so fast!

I was pretty shaken up. I continued my drive thinking well the Lord really saved you back there. That’s got to be a good sign about this mammogram!

Wrong.

After my mammogram they wanted an ultrasound.

After the ultrasound I was taken to small office by a very kind nurse navigator. This felt too familiar.

The radiologist told me that he recommended having a stereotypical biopsy. This us what he would want his mom or sister to do. He said a lot of stuff, but that’s what really stuck with me,

A stereotypical biopsy is different than the ultrasound guided biopsy I had 6 months previous. I would learn more about that later.

I was taken over to the breast center, again, to schedule my biopsy. I have to say, these medical professionals are so very kind. I was all kinds of grateful & impressed.

Of course it’s a holiday week & my doctor that did the last biopsy was on vacation. I was given a date of January 13th. I asked about switching doctors to get in sooner. And I was actually hoping to get it done in 2020 for health insurance reasons. Well the schedule lady did not recommend switching doctors & there were no options for getting it done in 2020.

At this point I’ve been at this appointment for 3 hours. My sister Kelly is texting & wondering why I’m not done. She didn’t even know what the appointment was for, she just knew it was taking a long time!

I hadn’t told her about the biopsy back in June. She had discovered her breast cancer had metastasized to her bones and I was not about to worry her with my issue.

So I had to come clean. Over the next couple of days she decided that the 13th was too long to wait. And I needed to see her surgeon. So she made a couple of calls. And magically I was able to be seen on January 5th and be seen by her doctor.

Gotta love a big sis!