I was all excited when I went in for my stereotactic biopsy on Wednesday, March 16. I sort of cheated; I wasn't supposed to work after having the procedure. But I only had to work half a day, and I knew I wouldn't do anything too strenuous. I remembered not to put on any deodorant (they make you wipe it off anyway as the aluminum can cause artifacts on the images). I checked in promptly at 9 am and I felt pretty darned special. Most of the other ladies were there for just a mammogram. I was getting a biopsy. Ha! Not everyone gets a BIOPSY! I sat down in the waiting room chair and heard, Hey, Dr. Stromberg! It was a client of mine, whom I recognized only a little. Small world! We chatted for awhile and then she was called in for her mammogram. I still waited.
I was finally called into the stereotactic room. The technician explained the procedure again, and the radiologist (a different one, a man - not that it matters, but why would a man go into the field of breast radiology? How many female prostate specialists are there?). I got onto the table, on my stomach with my face turned to the left and I immediately knew it was going to be a long morning. I was uncomfortable within 5 seconds. There is no support under your pelvis, so you have to lie with your back extended, right arm at your side, head to the left, left arm near your head. And, did I mention your boob is hanging through a hole in the table? I encourage you to Google images of the procedure to see what I'm talking about. Except in the pictures I've seen, the patient is smiling. Right. They raised me up, just like a mechanic would raise up a car to work under it. The technician groped and grabbed my right breast through the hole, and then squeezed it in between two plates. I couldn't see what she was doing; in fact I could only see the framed landscape painting on the wall. They didn't even have any relaxing music playing! She took one view, then another, then another, then shifted and grabbed and took more views. After each one she would call the radiologist back in and they would confer and decide it wasn't right and then there was more shifting and squeezing.
At one point the computer stopped working right so they called in two more people. All the while I'm in the stretched prone position with my right breast hanging through a hole and clamped in a vise. Awkward! Not only was that part of my body uncomfortable, but my lower back and shoulders were killing me. But I had to stay still, mind you. I was on that table for an hour when the radiologist finally said I could sit up. Wait, no biopsy was taken! I'm sorry, he explained, we can't do the procedure. They could not confidently localize the lesion with their machine, which really is the best machine around. I would need to have a surgical biopsy. What??? I won't get an answer this week? I spent an hour being tortured for nothing? Again, I sat there in a state of shock. This rarely happens, he explained. Usually they know ahead of time if they can't get the area, but there was nothing about me or the lesion that made them doubt their ability to get a sample. Maybe it's not really there? I hopefully asked. Oh, it's there, he replied. Do I really need a biopsy? Absolutely. It would be out of the question to even consider not getting a biopsy. He called my doc, who was supposed to call me to set up a consult with a surgeon. I knew this was going to drag out at least another week.
I drove to work in a daze. Yet another wrench thrown at me. This "routine mammogram" was really messing up my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment