A friend of mine was recently told she has a mass in her left breast that wasn't seen on earlier mammograms. She has asked me to write her story as she proceeds through the process. She wants her kids to know her story and is afraid of not keeping up with her writings. We've agreed to chat every morning for 15 - 20 minutes for her to be as honest and free with her feelings. I've agreed to do this because I care for her family and of course her. If Megan is cured, then it wil be proof of her strength and determination. A gift to share with her two beautiful girls. If the worst happens, then she wants her journey documented for her girls but not to be shared with them until they are significantly older.
Megan is in her late forties and isn't in the best shape. Like me, she teaches which means her days are hectic and full of stress. She has two girls as do I which is why she has asked me to do this for her. I get the importance of leaving something for them. A piece of herself, that inner piece full of fear and hope that she probably won't show to everyone. I imagine that she will put on a brave face for the world. Megan's husband is a good guy. The kind who will be there for her but who won't know what to say or do. It will be the women in Megan's life that will pull her through and I'm honored to be one of them. My name is Bells. It's not my real name but what everyone calls me. I teach fourth grade and have known Megan for number of years.
Megan and I were together two weeks ago when she checked her voicemail. A nurse had called and asked her to return her call from the Breast Center where she had gone to have her mammogram . She had missed the previous year's appointment so it had been two years since she had one. The radiologist noticed that there was a mass in one breast that had not before been seen. She scheduled the appointment which was two weeks later and tomorrow is the day she returns for her ultrasound.
Standard protocol for suspicious breasts move on up a ladder system with self-exam's on the bottom and chemo on the top. After self-exam's, yearly check-ups comes mammograms and then ultrasounds. Depending on the outcome of the ultrasound, Megan will move up another rung to an MRI and then some sort of biopsy. There are a few options here whether you decide to go with needle biopsy or lumpectomy or whatever other way they have to get a more definitive idea of what's in there.
Good Luck Friend,
Bells
