Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and prayers, today. I felt myself carried by your well wishes as I underwent the mammogram, today. I feel so blessed to have you all being so supportive of me as I go through this journey.
Today, I went to the office in good time for the morning meeting which I had thought was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. and was actually scheduled for 9:30 a.m. After the meeting, I went to the farmers market and bought myself a croissant for breakfast (no, I didn't take a picture!) I had wanted to buy a small baguette, but they didn't have any. I also went to the pharmacy to buy a new bottle of ibuprofen, because the bottle I had at home had expired in 2016 (I don't normally use ibuprofen, but the nurse practitioner had told me to take some before I went for my mammogram).
Today, I went to the office in good time for the morning meeting which I had thought was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. and was actually scheduled for 9:30 a.m. After the meeting, I went to the farmers market and bought myself a croissant for breakfast (no, I didn't take a picture!) I had wanted to buy a small baguette, but they didn't have any. I also went to the pharmacy to buy a new bottle of ibuprofen, because the bottle I had at home had expired in 2016 (I don't normally use ibuprofen, but the nurse practitioner had told me to take some before I went for my mammogram).
Then, I went to my 1:30 p.m. appointment with the radiation oncologist. Except, even though they wrote out an appointment card at my last visit, they apparently forgot to enter the appointment in their computer system. So they didn't realize they had made an appointment for me and were very surprised to see me! Apparently, they had given my slot to someone else (who was standing behind me in line at the receptionist's desk). I was told it wouldn't make much sense to see the doctor today, anyway, before the mammogram results are in. I was asked if I could come on Tuesday - I said no, because I had other plans for Tuesday. So I was given an appointment for Monday, August 7. I don't know if I want to wait till so long to find out my results; I might call again, tomorrow, and ask if the Tuesday opening is still available and reschedule my Tuesday's plans, accordingly.
So there I was, at the clinic at a few minutes after 1:00 p.m. with nothing to do until my mammogram appointment which was for 3:20 p.m. I went to the radiology department, anyway, and they got all flustered because I was more than 2 hours early! I don't blame them for that. I explained the situation to them and said I will wait. They said they'll try to take me in earlier, if possible. I sat in the waiting room, read my prayer book, and dozed on the chair while I waited. Eventually, they called me in at 3:00 p.m. to have my mammogram done, a good five months after it was supposed to have been done! (Normally, the follow up mammogram is done 6 months after radiation treatment ends; the 6 months was up in February, but they delayed it due to the swelling and inflammation).
The technician looked at the form I had filled out and asked what I was there for and I explained about the palpable nodule and where it was located, etc. She looked at me and asked if I was a doctor! I said no. She said I used terminology that a doctor would normally use! LOL. She was concerned when she saw the swelling, etc., but she took 3 images on each side. The ibuprofen worked and it didn't hurt as much as it usually does. Either that, or she didn't compress as much. I waited until she showed the images to the radiologist and he gave the OK that the images were clear enough for him to read. After that, I was free to leave. Before I left, I made it a point to ask if there was any release papers I needed to sign so the results can be accessed by the doctors, (the last time, my primary care physician couldn't access them until I signed a release form which her clinic had to send to the X-ray clinic) but I was told there wasn't anything to sign.
I have had another quiet evening, today. I spoke on the phone with an aunt, a cousin, and a friend who called to find out how my appointments went; I watched news and felt depressed by what I was hearing and seeing; I replied to an email sent by a friend; I dozed a bit on the sofa; and I video chatted with my daughter. My cousin sent me a picture of her grandson on the quilt I had made for him, saying he loves it.
For dinner, I cooked some fresh rice and had it with some shrimp I had cooked and frozen, the last of the green beans I had cooked earlier in the week, and tomato chutney:
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| Dinner: Rice, shrimp, green beans, tomato chutney |
Dessert was yogurt and treacle.
Today, I am grateful for:
- The mammogram was finally done
- Ibuprofen
- Parking validation
- Prayers and well wishes from friends and family
- Paid sick leave
Tomorrow, I have taken a day of vacation from work. I want to spend the day doing some sewing and cooking, too. Maybe even running an errand or two.
How was your Thursday? What have you planned for tomorrow?
- Parking validation
- Prayers and well wishes from friends and family
- Paid sick leave
Tomorrow, I have taken a day of vacation from work. I want to spend the day doing some sewing and cooking, too. Maybe even running an errand or two.
How was your Thursday? What have you planned for tomorrow?
It would have been rude not to but a croissant at the farmers market!
ReplyDeleteYou were often in my thoughts yesterday and a quiet evening a good way to end the day. Did you sleep well?
LOL, Sandy, that's what I thought, too! I often wonder what they do with the products that don't sell out by the end of the day. Do they take them back and try to sell them at another venue the next day? I should ask them, the next time. I know that they don't reduce the prices during the last hour or anything like that (otherwise, everyone would wait until the late afternoon to buy stuff, no doubt!) so I think they must try to sell them again, somewhere else.
DeleteThank you for thinking of me. I appreciate that. Yes, I slept well, thank you. Once I went to bed, that is (around 2:30 a.m.) and I slept in. I had taken the day off, today, so I knew I could sleep in if I wanted to.
My new prayer for you is that your appointments go as scheduled from here on out. You have certainly had your difficulties in this area. I can't imagine how frustrated you must feel, because I'm I feeling pretty upset about the whole thing myself.
ReplyDeleteAlso, my advice to you is do not watch the news. You don't need that negativity in your life right now. You can ask your daughter to tell you any happenings in the world that she thinks you need to know right now.
Otherwise, relax and enjoy your day. I"m sure Dancer will be happy to have you at home.
Thank you, Live and Learn. Yes, I've certainly had my share of challenges when it comes to appointments and medications, haven't I? Who has energy left to recover after dealing with all the small things that should have been so mundane? I guess I am being shown that these things should not be taken for granted?
DeleteBelieve me, I watch (and read) a lot less news these days than I used to! I used to be a news junkie!
Thank you, I intend to have a restful day, today. Hope you are having a lovely day, yourself.
I imagine the waiting for results is really terrible. I'd rather know sooner so that I could do with problems if they are there. I hope all goes well. I'm keeping you in my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon. Yes, the waiting is hard, but I am learning how to wait with grace! I imagine you are busy getting ready for your visit; have a safe flight.
Delete{{{Hugs}}}, I'm so sorry there is so much confusion and consternation about appointments. I guess with so many services being down loaded to clients, we all need to become more pro active, verify appointment the day following generating appointment and re-confirm one day in advance. I'm so glad you actually took the Ibuprofen as it truly does mask pain. I wish I could shoulder your tension cause I know waiting for results is nerve wracking. Sending best wishes and prayers for the non threatening outcome.
ReplyDeleteDH got my car licensed, insured, tires to volume, vacuumed & washed yesterday as a surprise 'gift.' I am approved to drive today but since DS #1 will spend a few days of his vacation with us, he will need wheels to visit friends. I have a feeling he won't want to drive my tiny, ancient PT Cruiser in spite of the fact that it has less than 100,000 KM. I am trying to tell DH to not be disappointed if his 1st born makes light of his effort.
Thank you, Hon. You have enough issues of your own to deal with, you don't need to add on mine! Hope your recovery is going well. (((HUGS)))
DeleteNice of DH to get your car ready and wonderful to hear that your son will be visiting. I hope you have a lovely visit with him. Take care.
Hurry up and wait....It is so hard.. I hate that about the medical field.. eeeh.
ReplyDeleteproud you got your mammogram done.. Hopefully, you will be able to get your results soon.. Praying for you ...
Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Thank you, Judy. I have to wait until the time is right, I suppose. :) Hope all is well with you and you, too, have a lovely weekend, Judy.
DeleteYou are much in my thoughts
ReplyDeleteSiobhan
Thank you, Siobhan. I hope all is well with you. Are you all done with your renovations?
DeleteLike Live & Learn, I'm feeling frustrated that once again you had a problem with an appointment and doubly so because you would have thought someone would have realized that you needed to have the mammogram done first before seeing the radiologist? I hope you were able to snag the Tuesday appointment after all.
ReplyDeleteHmm, a croissant sounds very delicious. They probably donate the unsold goods to charity at the end of the day.
I wish you a good, peaceful weekend, Bless.
Thank you, Nathalie. The appointment with the radiation oncologist was made at the time of my last appointment with him on July 12, when he had managed to get me in for the ultrasound and we were still not sure of the status of the mammogram referral. The appointment for July 27 was actually to go over the ultrasound results (but I was able to go over them with the regular oncologist's nurse practitioner, instead, when I met with her on July 24). So, I really wasn't too upset I couldn't meet with the radiation oncologist, yesterday. I think the receptionist who was making the appointment for me just got too distracted as he was answering someone else's questions about something else at the same time. It's not easy to multitask. :) I should have realized that something was not quite right when I didn't get a call from him the day before, reminding me of my appointment. He's usually pretty good about doing that. In fact, I did think it was unusual he didn't call, but thought he might have been on vacation. I wondered if I should call, myself, but then, got busy with office stuff and forgot. Oh, well. No harm done.
DeleteHope you have a lovely weekend, too.
Oh my Bless ... that's a long time to wait for test results. I hope you can get in on Tuesday. Have the doctors indicated why you would still have swelling after all this time and after multiple doses of antibiotics? Praying that it clears up and you experience relief really soon. More (((hugs))) to you my friend. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carolyn. The doctors seem as confused as everyone else about the swelling and redness, which indicates inflammation. They don't know why. I have asked them if it could be something else, such as inflammatory breast cancer, but they don't seem to think so. I called the clinic today, but I think they are closed on Fridays, even though their answering machine states they are open Mon to Fri. I left a message and will call back again, on Monday.
DeleteI, too, hope you are able to get your results sooner than your original appointment. But I am glad that the mammogram was less uncomfortable than your previous experiences.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what to say about your radiologist appt -- it seems like you have had a run of mix ups between your clinic, prescriptions and now this!
Thank you, Laura. I guess I really should have called to confirm the appointment when the clinic didn't call me, so it is partially my fault, too. Oh, well, I guess this is an opportunity to appreciate things more when they do go according to plan. :)
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