Routine stuff

Among the many things that have to be pushed to the sidelines during the period of chemotherapy are routine medical and dental tests and procedures. Little by little over the past few months I have managed to catch up with most of them. And today I went for my annual (although it has been closer to two years) mammography and pelvic ultrasound. The latter has been part of the annual ritual since a minor finding some years ago. For many years I have been having this done by a group on Madison Avenue in the 50s, so have gotten to know my two doctors there. Needless to say they were both stunned by my update. I wish I could have gotten them together in the same room rather than having to tell the story twice; I felt a bit like Arlo Guthrie recounting the Alice’s Restaurant “Massacree” in two part harmony, complete with the 27 8x10 glossy photos…. (if you’re not familiar with this and have 20 minutes to spare, here it is)

It was only this morning that it occurred to me to think about what I would do if…..I just cannot even imagine the idea of having to deal with this. So I will cut to the chase: everything looked fine! Of course losing 25% of your body weight means that the breast imaging looks different, but she assured me that everything is absolutely normal. And it appears I have some gallstones but they may never cause any problems; I am only writing about it here to help me remember. If I should happen to wake up one morning with a lot of pain in my abdomen, you can all remind me.

As we were gathering our things to leave the waiting area, I looked up and saw a former Pfizer colleague. She had left Pfizer some years ago and we had not been in touch for some time, but she immediately recognized me. She has struggled with her own illness for many years, and it is encouraging to see that she is still going strong.

It was unfortunate that we had to spend so much time indoors on this beautiful day. But all in all, it was a good one, and we can’t ask for more than that.

Love,

Rebecca