Yearly mammos

speace

Going for my yearly mammos tomorrow, I'm 3 years out, hoping for 4. Always scary going for mammos , anyone else ever start to worry non stop when it's your mammo time ?

TB90

Start to worry?! I get so I can hardly breathe and by the time I am there, feel like my weak knees will give way. I tell them and they have been so supportive and helpful. It's like walking back into the battle field.

speace

I'm glad it's not just me, the xanax helps me get through till I get results but I just wish theyd tell me before I leave. The waiting is the worst thing ever.

TB90

Spence, they basically do tell me before I leave. It seems to be an unspoken rule. They have me wait till the radiologist views it. If I am not called back, I know all is well. If callled back, not necessarily a dx but then I know they are checking something out and they come and explain. I would love to reinvent our system as the agony of test and waiting is inuhame in my opinion. And I know our medical professionals know how to avoid this fir their family members. Can taking a friend with you help? I prefer to be totally alone. Do anything it takes to get through this. Wish we could be there for each other. When I was having my mx, laying in the operation table and looking up into those lights, I thought about my BCO friends that went there before me and that gave me strength. Just know that so many of us are with you.

speace

Thankyou so much !!! I actually like to go alone too. I think maybe I will explain to them the situation about my anxiety over the waiting, I can only hope they will be understanding, I wouldnt even mind waiting an hour if need be , it would be worth it for my sanity. Although we cant physically be there for each other, it's very reassuring to know we are there for each other in the internet world. Thankyou for that.

TB90

Spence, you are going tomorrow, please let me know what time and I will seriously be there with you. Text me if you wish and I will be there. I will be waiting on my phone. But only if this helps.

edwards750

I am the proverbial poster child for worrying whether I need to or not but I absolutely go into panic mode right before my annual mammogram and I’m 7 years out last August. No guarantees so even though I passed the 5 year milestone I still get anxious. I don’t think I will ever be totally calm about my mammograms again. Thing is I was actually antsy even before I was DX because my mother had breast cancer.

I take generic Prozac which takes the edge off.

What’s really ironic is while I’m in the room waiting on my results other ladies are there as well and they are so calm. I asked them how they did it and they said if it happens again at least theyknow what to expect. Wish I could develop that mindset.

Diane

TB90

Can I tell you something so sweet. I have lived in virtually every province in Canada. I have amazing friends that I have had to leave behind. One from Calgary, Alberta, I had not heard from in excess of five years. At the very moment I was stuck in one of those horrendous cubicles waiting to be told I had bc, out of the blue she texted me and asked how I was. I fell apart and we have been inseparable. We can be there even when we are not.

speace

Awe, your the best , means more than you know. I will def let you know how it goes. Xoxoxo

speace

I often think about the oh no! Not again, all the what ifs, I have a friend who had BC the year after me , shes always so calm and has a I dont worry attitude, I'd love to be like her. And in all honesty I know that my reoccurrence chance is so low for me because of they type of cancer I had and stage and treatment and after care , blah, blah, blah. But my irrational mind just cant seem to comprehend that and the fear takes over. Oh well, hopefully by next week the worry and fear will be behind me , at least for another year.

koshka1

Hi, I am 11 years out and worry before my mammogram. I have gotten so bad sometimes one time i actually got sick in the mammogram room...lol. i felt bad for the technician but the stress this puts us through only us can understand.

just know that we are all there with you..the strength of support is important.

Hopeful82014

I don't worry before the mammogram or while waiting for the results but I get almost physically ill just picking up the phone to schedule it, to say nothing of having to sit in that waiting room. Even being there for a simple DEXA is awful. I just shutdown. I'll never meltdown but it takes a lot of will power to get through those experiences. I think there's a little bit of PTSD associated with that particular place and I wish I could go to a different facility but that's not in the cards.

Jelson

On Thursday I had my 10th annual mammogram post treatment. I am usually blase, even though sometimes I have had twinges and such that have caused the RO to order a diagnostic mammo or ultrasound. This year I was anxious, I think because it has been a wonderful year: my daughter gave birth to our first grandchild for whom I am providing the daycare and my 30 year old son who suffers from chronic back pain, a tbi and ptsd due to a car accident 6 years ago, has had an amazing year full of love and hope. Anyway, I was afraid that the mammo was going to lead to a new bc diagnosis, just ruining everyone's happiness. So usually, after the mammo I am given the option to wait in the office till it is read by a radiologist. I was not given that option on Thursday because my appt was late in the day. I said that would be ok because when my RO gets the results he will call me, usually that night or the next day. Well I did not get a call Thursday evening or Friday and began to worry in earnest. Then, this morning, Saturday I get a call from the head of the Radiology Oncology practice who says right off, he was calling to tell me my mammo was fine/no problems. I told him I had been alarmed because my usual RO had not called, was he all right??? And was told he was fine, just on vacation. I told him how much I appreciated his call. These people really get it, how terrified we are. All the staff from the receptionists to the head of the Department make their patients feel cherished. The best part of this is that even if my mammo had shown a problem, I would have felt confident that I was in good, caring and kind hands. I wish this for all of us in all of our encounters with the medical system.