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Saturday, May 30, 2009

The Breast Cancer Preventative Appointment

Since breast cancer runs on my dad's side of the family and since his side of the family is Jewish, my ob/gyn referred me to a high cancer specialist back in August. I knew I was being weird about it, but I just couldn't get myself to call for that appointment. Finally in December, I forced myself to call. I had been warned that it takes a long time to get an appointment. The receptionist took down my info and history and then told me they would contact me with an appointment. They did: three weeks ago. I received a letter with a date and time that I had been assigned.

I was already nervous about the appointment which was not helped the fact they made me confirm three separate times. The receptionist also told me that I would get lost trying to find the building since most people do. Nice. Based on the directions it sounded like I would drive into the "city" only to find out that the high risk breast cancer clinic was in my neighbor's basement. Or perhaps in Wyoming.

Anyhow, I ended up finding it without a problem, although I did park in the wrong place. Then I nearly had an anxiety attack when I walked into the building. I just was so nervous about it. Of course I had to pee as well as check and recheck my history form several times. The nurse led me to an exam room and told me that was fairly common. She said that blood pressures were off all the time because of it. Just the fact that the word "cancer" is in the building name causes a lot of people to feel anxious.

I met with the nurse practioner who did an extensive family history as well as the most thorough breast exam I've ever had. Then she showed me how to do not just a breast exam, which I did already know, but how to flex my chest muscles and shrug my shoulders to make sure that my breasts are moving and pointing in the same direction.

She ran my info into a computer program to find out my high risk percentage. Apparently I'm at 20% which isn't bad, but is still significant. I have an appointment to meet with a genetist in July where she is going to talk to me about screening for the BARC mutation and the benefits and drawbacks to it like insurance problems. Apparently I was supposed to have been scheduled for that as well yesterday. The silver lining in it though is that it is recommended to bring another person just because it's a lot of info so now at least the Big Giraffe can come with me. If I do decide to get tested and it comes back negative my high risk for breast cancer will then be 0% meaning that I have no more risk than the average woman. Either way, I'll have a mammogram at 35.

All in all a good appointment. When we got to talking about the role of healthy lifestyles in breast cancer prevention I thought she was going to refer me to a shrink in addition to the genetist. I mentioned something about my weight and she said that it was fine, but was concerned about why I was so concerned. Perhaps I had body image issues? I'll let you read my post over at GNM Parents about the horrible grocery store clerk to explain that one. The other good news is that weight is more of an issue post-menopausual so if I do shed more weight I have a good 15 years instead of having to have it done by next Tuesday for example.

I'm glad I went to the appointment yesterday, but I have to confess I fell asleep on the couch yesterday afternoon and went to bed early last night. Some people eat when anxious, some people drink, some people excercise like crazy. I on the other hand turn into Rip Van Winkle. I do feel very well rested today.

posted by Alex Elliot @ 8:28 AM 3 comments

3 Comments:

At 5/30/2009 7:19 PM, Mommy to Tyler & Kendall said…

I had my first baseline mammo about two weeks ago then got a call a week later saying they saw something that needed another ultrasound. I about flipped! I too get exhausted under stress. Luckily when I went to the second follow-up they gave me the results then and there. I guess nothing to be concerned with now but I will have to have yearly mammo's now at 35. That day was the first time I took a nap in a very long time.
At 5/30/2009 8:50 PM, Heather said…

I don't blame you a bit for the nerves. Glad you are going through the steps now though.
At 6/01/2009 10:59 PM, Suzanne said…

Glad that the appointment went well. :)

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Name:	Alex Elliot
Home:	MA, United States
About Me:	Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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