Pulling It Off........

10/29/12--Monday--Day 16--My First Lie
For those of you who know me, you know I just don't lie--like, ever.  But I also didn't want to worry anyone unnecessarily, and since I knew this was really nothing big, I didn't really want to share it.  It was, after all, my breast--kind of personal!  I felt bad getting all that helpful information from Paula, and not being honest with her, especially after calling her mom.  So on Saturday night when we were in Philadelphia and I was laying awake again at midnight, I texted Paula and confessed.  She assured me I was doing the right thing getting it checked, but also that it probably wasn't a bid deal and I'd be fine.

So I could explain staying in Phoenix Monday because we had a Monday Night Football game to attend, but Tuesday was going to be a trick.  And, how was I going to make all these arrangements Monday morning without anyone finding out?  We were staying at Preston's apartment (my son) and of course, he didn't have classes that morning.  I took the dog for a walk and got all set up with the MD Anderson Center for a 7:30 appointment the next day.  BUT.... They had to have the images from Safford that day, or I couldn't keep that appointment for the next morning.  Wow, how was I going to pull that off?  I called the only person I knew who might be able to help me without anyone else finding out, Susie Case.  I told her what I needed and asked if there was any way she could get the CD from the hospital then drive to Globe and meet us.  And, oh yea, not to tell anyone anything.  She agreed.  She rearranged her scheduled, and was off to Globe in no time.  I kept Preston busy shopping and told him his dad had to run some errands and we would meet up later.  Greg picked up the CD in Globe and delivered it to the imaging center, then we were off to the game.  Whew.  We would finally settle this thing in the morning and it would all be done.

10/30/12--Tuesday--Day 17--The Biopsy and One More Lie
Just one more lie.  We left Preston's telling him I had to get to work.  We had Sierra, our dog, because Preston had dogsat while we were in New York.  Hmmmm, now what.  Greg offered to wait in the car with the dog, but I wanted him to go in with me.  My dad was at my Aunt Mary's house helping with my grandma.  It was just a few miles away.  I called my dad and told him we had a few errands to run on our way out of town, and could be please leave the dog there for a couple of hours.  Of course.  On the way there, I realized he had Find Friend on his iPhone and could possibly see me at the hospital.  When we got to the house, I told him I was going to see Paula who was having a treatment that morning.  Gosh, this was awful.  I should not lie to my dad.  But I couldn't have him worry.  This was nothing, after all.  I'll confess after I get the results and this whole thing is for nothing.

The MD Anderson Center was great.  Super nice ladies.  I felt completely at ease except that Greg couldn't come in the procedure with me.  The radiology technician came in and explained everything.  She did the first ultrasound and had similar looks of confusion on her face.  She finally got a pen and told me she was going to make a mark on my breast to help the doctor.  The radiologist came in.  He kept moving the wand around and pushing.  He asked the technician to try.  They see it, but it's hard to see the edges.  They finally settled on a spot where they are happy and the radiologist slipped the needle in. He numbed me and immediately put in the biopsy needle.  I didn't even feel the pinch for the numbing medicine.  Before I knew it, it was over.  Wow, that was no big deal.  I knew this wasn't anything.  Now it was done and this whole silliness was over.