Between a mammo and a biopsy

Thanks for your kind and helpful words. I met with both a nurse and the surgeon and am much clearer on what is going on. The nurse came in first, got the doctor, sat in when the dr was in, and went and asked the radiologist to explain the two BIRAD numbers. It's a 4, not a 5. Biopsy is a week from Monday. Am off work that day already so no explaining. Will keep extra busy

Thanks KTF. May the waiting be bearable and the results good. Keepthefaith is a good user name too. Hadn't thought about the song - mine is because I enjoy watching birds.

So I had the biopsy today. My surgeon said 7-8 days for the results. We had to be at the hospital at 6:30 for 8:00 wire and 9:15 surgery. Got a lovely print gown, coordinating green pants (never had pants before) and navy blue fuzzy socks. Two IV tries failed. Correctly answered a zillion questions about name, date of birth, who I came with, and more.

Patient transporter wheeled me over to breast radiology. While waiting another lady walked in, dressed as if for a fancy lunch. You probably know someone like her, who lights up the room when she enters. Learned she had been in my shoes before and was there for a 6 month follow up mammo. Her kind words and squeeze on the shoulder meant so much and were just what I needed.

And thanks to the forums and articles here, I was well informed on most of the little details about wire localization. So whether I was ready or not... it went faster than I thought, maybe 30 minutes. The lidocaine stung when it froze and they repeated it halfway. Learned you can get a mammogram sitting down. The blue dye stings a bit too. The part about pulling/tugging but not hurting is true. One of the radiologists whose name was on my report did the wire. She wore a pink blouse instead of a lab coat (having all this done in October is rather surreal).

Different patient transporter wheeled me back. Talked about his egg breakfast the whole way. Good thing I wasn't hungry yet. He helped me back into bed, served up warm blankets and wheeled me off to pre-op. The anesthesiologist picked a vein, numbed it and got an IV on the first try! Surgeon arrived, restated the plan, went to put her scrubs on. Liked her outfit and purse. Rode down the hall past the extra supplies and into OR. Slid over without dislocating the wire. The table seemed smaller than the few others I've been on but they attached an arm rest and fastened me to it with a "seat belt." The OR people introduced themselves, started anesthesia, think I was out before the doctor arrived, and woke up in recovery.

Little noteworthy about the rest. No eggs offered so chose the strawberry jello rather than toast. Headache part of the day, took Tylenol, haven't needed the pain meds. Bruise visible. Using ice pack, no swelling yet. Left side is painted orange, it itches, have remover to use. Took an easy walk after supper.

Of course, curious to know why my surgeon switched from a front incision to side and why the AN switched to plan B (full anesthesia whole time instead of just at beginning). For now, back to work, regular activities and of course, WAITING!