Today I drove myself to the breast center for a mammogram and ultrasound of my left breast.
There was no drama caused by a horrible technician, like the first time I went for a mammogram after my mastectomy. Everyone was professional, pleasant and sensitive.
No, this time the drama was raging inside my head. I get very quiet on these occasions. I don’t share the test anxiety (dare I say panic) I’m feeling with the technicians. I just keep my head down and fight off tears, hoping they won’t notice.
I ask myself what I’m afraid of, because I really don’t think I have breast cancer. Of course, that isn’t the point. I’m reacting to being sent back onto the front lines after having barely escaped with my life (and losing a body part.) More pointedly, I didn’t expect to hear the words, “you have cancer” four years ago either.
I wince as the mammogram compresses my last remaining breast into a pancake. The technician apologizes and I feel like a baby for revealing weakness. As I struggle to hold it together, I wonder if the pain is actually as bad as it feels or if my anxiety creates an expectation of pain every time I walk into one of these rooms.
Three pictures and it’s over. I sit outside and wait, and wait and wait, feigning interest in a People magazine. Finally, she returns to tell me I don’t need to go back for another round of pictures (as I have done every year since my mastectomy.) Instead, I’m going to go into another room with the ultrasound technician.
I have a love/hate relationship with ultrasound. For the first four years we tried to have a baby, I associated it with the grief of a confirmed miscarriage. With my daughter and son’s pregnancies, I came to associate ultrasounds with the joy of seeing my unborn children in the womb. I try to sooth myself with those memories, but the fact is I’m back to dreading the darkened room.
The technician swirls on the lubricant and probes. Hard. I’m surprised by the pain and again worry I’m being a baby, but a part of me doesn’t care. I just desperately want this to be over and, when it seems like it’s been going on for 10 or 15 minutes, have a moment where I fear I might yell at her to leave me alone. Of course, I control my flight or fight reflexes and remain quiet.
Again I wait for the radiologist, who walks in and tells me “Everything is fine, we’ll do this again next year.” I know this is good news, but all I want to do is escape. I say my goodbyes, trying to sound chipper but feeling limp. I make my way to the parking lot, exhausted and sore. Surprisingly, my neck and shoulders also hurt.
Here’s the thing. I tried for the past few weeks to avoid thinking about today’s testing. I confessed to my husband yesterday how I dreaded it (I surprised even myself when I teared up,) but still wanted to keep it all under wraps. I was resolved to keep my head down, not talk about it, not write about it and just go into it and out again with as little commotion as possible.
Then, in the waiting room this morning. I couldn’t be silent. I grabbed my phone and wrote on my Facebook page, WhereWeGoNow as Cancer Survivors. Once I got home, I turned on my laptop and this is what I found.
Twenty-one comments wishing me luck, peace, good thoughts, hugs, prayers and hope! Twenty-one women letting me know that “sisters understand the nerves” and “are behind me all the way.”
Maybe the technicians I saw this morning didn’t understand my test anxiety, but each one of these women let me know for certain that they “got it.” I’m not a baby and I’m not weak. I’m a member of the sisterhood which, once again, has proven the importance of “Me too” in my life.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Survival > Existence,
Debbie
Comments
We Need This Dialogue to Know We’re Not Alone
Hi Melissa:
One of the most difficult things I’ve had to handle is the post-traumatic stress of this experience. People who haven’t gone through it don’t realize how hard it is to face those demons (especially when we’re bombarded with Pinktober marketing.) We’ll definitely keep talking about it! It’s only through our dialogue that I’ve come to know that I’m not alone – and that realization has been pivotal to my healing. Thanks so much for writing!
Survival > Existence,
Debbie
I can relate
Thank you for sharing your emotions so rawly. I feel exactly the same way. Both times I have gone post treatment, I have had to have biopsies, so there’s been more days for me that have been angst/anxiety-ridden waiting for the biopsy and then the results. I always am chipper, friendly, talkative to the techs, but it’s my body/mind’s way of reacting to this difficult time. I think counseling should be required for all post-cancer patients to help deal with our post-treatment demons, whether it be further testing or just moving on with our lives.
I’m a Big Believer in Counseling
Hi Karen:
I had counseling and agree wholeheartedly that it helps me deal with my post-treatment issues. It just goes to prove that we never forget, but with counseling and the support of our sisters, have the tools we need to work through our fears.
Survival > Existence,
Debbie
Glad for your good results
I’m glad you had good results, Debbie. And, I’m glad you let those feelings vent on your facebook page. That’s what we’re all here for, to support one another.
I’m So Grateful to Be a Part of This Community
Hi Catherine:
Thanks so much, Catherine. It really is a benefit to have a community that understands and shows up when you need it. I’m so grateful to be a part of it.
Survival >Existence,
Debbie
Where We Go Now 
I hear you loud and clear!
Debbie, you are the second blogger I’ve read in as many days who not only touches me with her words, but also with the discovery that we shared a diagnosis. I was diagnosed with bilateral DCIS almost 2 years ago (yay for anniversaries during pinktober), and opted for a double mastectomyearly last year. I think I’ve really hit the anger stage, after being immersed in fear when I went for my first post-cancer MRI on the 30th of last month and being bombarded with inane pink marketing. Thank you for touching on so many of the things I wonder, especially WHY we allow people to keep prattling on in their ignorance when their words are doing nothing but making our heads and hearts swell with yet more fear and anger? Perhaps that’s a dialog we as a community of sisters could engage in.
I’m so glad to have found you.