Today is National Cancer Survivors Day

A day to truly celebrate

Photo by Estúdio Bloom on Unsplash

As I was scrolling through Facebook, I saw that today is National Cancer Survivors Day.

What a great day to celebrate surviving the big “C”.

Before I had ever heard of this day, I planned to celebrate every six months with a clean mammogram and ultrasound. The best day was the one when you would have your tests, wait for the doctor to review them, then have them come in and say, “See you again in six months.”

I had a few of these, and when I went for my follow-up this past October, I was ready for my good news.

Was I in for a little surprise? Yes I was.

First of all, it was my first appointment with my new oncologist surgeon. My previous doctor had moved to another hospital closer to where she was raised. She was an amazing doctor with the best personality you could ask for when you have to have surgery. This new doctor was going to have big shoes to fill.

He walked in, and I could just tell I was going to like him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t give me a clean bill of health as they saw something in the other breast. He wasn’t overly concerned, but wanted an MRI nonetheless. Since we were leaving within a couple of weeks for the winter, that would have to wait until we got down there.

Because my original cancer diagnosis came while we were in Georgia last time, I already had a doctor and hospital there. My new doctor was on top of things regarding getting my order sent down.

Just my luck. Breast MRIs can only be done at their Brunswick location, which was an hour away. The doctors there were so nice, and as uncomfortable a procedure as it was, it was done, and we treated ourselves to lunch at Olive Garden, then Starbucks for a coffee. Win, Win.

What I found interesting was when viewing the results, my Georgia doctor said I would have to go have one more ultrasound to see if they could find it now that they knew exactly where it was. If they could see it, we could do the biopsy via ultrasound. Well, luck was not with me. The technician could not view it, so that meant the biopsy would have to be done via an MRI. As my luck continued, the hospital there did not have the equipment to do that type of biopsy, so a referral was made to a hospital in Savannah, two hours away.

All I can say is if you feel a standard breast MRI is uncomfortable, the biopsy part is even more uncomfortable. All I could think is I looked like Superman flying through the air, on my stomach, both arms stretched out in front of me. While a funny thought, the worst part of it was that both of my hands were falling asleep. The nurse must have noticed that I kept trying to move my fingers. She sat by me and held both my hands, telling me to hang in there as it was almost over. When it was done, she apologized that her hands were so cold. I laughed, saying the cold actually felt good on my totally numb fingers.

I was so glad the MRI biopsy was done. Now all we had to do was wait for the results. I messaged my doctor in New York a couple of days later to let him know, and he should get the results soon. In less than 24 hours, he called me to go over everything. He had just received the results that morning. While the results showed no cancer, it did show abnormal cells that could eventually turn into cancer, so he wanted to do the lumpectomy as soon as possible.

My original plan was to return home in April, but I felt, based on the discussion with the doctor, that getting it done sooner was preferable. So the flight was booked, and I was heading home. My husband followed within the week with our motorhome.

The lumpectomy was a success. Margins clean, no sign of cancer. Follow up in six months.

This just confirms the importance of staying on top of your appointments. While mammograms are not one of the most comfortable tests we women have to go through, a few seconds of discomfort with each picture is well worth it.

If you have dense breasts, staying on top of things is even more important.

Don’t put it off, ladies. Get the girls checked.

As Gloria Gaynor’s song says, “I will survive”.

Happy National Cancer Survivors to all my fellow survivors.

***Thoughts a Thinking*** is a name I chose as I wanted to base my writing on thoughts I have. Retired and loving it. It’s time to do what I’ve always wanted, and that’s to write. I hope you all enjoy it. Feel free to check out my stories on Medium.

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