Mammograms and Haircuts and Birthdays, Oh My!

So, last year for my birthday, I had a fun adventure, going kayaking, and then having lunch with my mom and aunt. 

This year, I had a mammogram.  

Okay, so let me back up. If you're new here, hi! I have a husband recently diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease, and for the past six months, we've been to just about every medical specialist you can imagine. Because of that, I didn't have a lot of available PTO (paid time off) at work. I'd already requested my birthday off months ago, so I used the day for stuff that I needed to do, including a mammogram and a haircut. And to be honest, I did get to have lunch with my mom and aunt; we met up at Red Lobster the weekend before Labor Day (damn, I love those biscuits!)

My last mammo was in 2023, and it was clear, so I wasn't worried going in to this year's mammo. I was in and out of there in probably an hour. It didn't seem like anything was amiss. It didn't seem like the Tech didn't do it right. I figured everything was good. 

I went over to get my haircut, and my regular stylist was out with a broken wrist so I met with one of the other ladies, and... oh no... she cut my hair better. Anyone have tips on how to break up with a stylist, when you're seeing the other stylist in the chair next door?

After my haircut, I treated myself to lunch and then headed home. I figured that nothing more was going to come of my day. 

I was wrong. 

I got a message in MyChart a day or so later, stating that there is a mass in the upper outer posterior aspect of the left breast, adjacent to a stable intramammary lymph node. They wanted me to come back in for an ultrasound. Not surprising really, my girls are pretty dense; this wouldn't be the first callback that I've gotten. 

So on September 25th (on the same day that Hubby had a nephrology follow-up and a GE consult), we headed over to Woman's Imaging. Hubby hung in the waiting room while went back with the very chatty Tech. She lubed me up and started passing the wand over me, hovering in the same spot, with a lot of Hmmming. After about five minutes, she said that she wanted Dr. M to come in to take a look. 

Well, shit. It's never good when the doc has to come in, right? While the Tech was gone, I shot off a text message to Hubby, telling him that things were taking longer than usual, and that he should go ahead and walk over to the second building for his GE consult (he'd be late, but okay). He never texted back, so I didn't know if he'd even gotten the message! As I laid there, waiting for the doc, I was freaking out, in a dark sky, what if this is really happening kind of way. On top of everything else we're dealing with? Why now?? There were a few tears to deal with, but I held myself together. 

Dr. M came in and there was more squishing and Hmmmming. She concluded that she was pretty sure that it was just a cyst, nothing to worry about; since I'm a cysty girl to begin with, she saw no reason to freak out. She'll just check it again in 2025. 

Dressed, I went back out into the lobby, and Hubby was still there waiting for me. He looked worried but calm, and he asked if I was okay. I kind of bottled everything up and shoved it down, and said I was okay, but we needed to go - he was very late for his GE Consult. As we walked over there, I tried to put into words what I was feeling, but I could feel myself starting to cry, so I buried it back down. We had to reschedule his GE Consult to later in the day, so we headed home, where I sat, just kind of... numb. Like, what if it had been something? What would I do? I was trying to concentrate on other stuff (namely, the huge hurricane coming our way...), but I was just zoning out. 

Later, I checked MyChart to see the ultrasound results and they said There is a 6.5 x 3 x 1.6mm Septated Cyst {a cyst with segments, or tissue partitions} in the left breast; benign ultrasound. 

So yeah... I'm fine. Just a scare. I'm fine. Just a cysty girl. Which I already knew. Which shouldn't surprise me. But when they show up in my breasts, they're just a little bit scarier than when they show up on my chest. 

That big black dot looks scary!