Doctor: “When was your last mammogram?
Me: Umm..never
Doctor: You are over 40, its a good idea to get it done
Me (defensive): I don't think they are that effective and don't they hurt like crazy?
Doctor: I understand, you are afraid but a mammogram is not that big a deal
I procrastinated almost a year and a half and finally a bit sheepish showed up in the hospital for a scheduled mammogram.As I waited for my turn on the squishing machine, there were butterflies in my stomach - I sent panic texts to one likely source of support (N) and one unlikely source of support (M). As the minutes hand on the watch slowly crept past a very kind-looking woman came and took me in for my mammogram - it lasted all of 5 minutes and it really wasn't a big deal...a little uncomfortable but not too bad. The standard monologue afterwards had me a little shaky - if you do get called in for a follow-up test it ain't a big deal (yeah right!) - but for now let's just assume all is well.
Cancer sucks...and it's affected me (lost my father to it) and close ones in more ways than one - so any reminder about it is not welcome in my world. Yet, as I looked at the stats, the incidence of Breast Cancer in women far exceeds any other kind of cancer by a wide margin - 810,170 women were detected with cancer in 2015 in the US and almost 1/3rd of it was breast cancer.
So my one call to action for any woman over 40, if you are reading this blog post please, pretty please schedule a mammogram (if you haven't done one yet!)...show yourself a bit of love.
On my way home today, I saw that the Cherry Blossoms were in full bloom...spring is truly in the air.
And a saying of Martin Luther King ran through my head as I walked into my house - The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at a time of challenge and controversy.
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