It's hard to believe that I just had my one year mammogram on my remaining breast.  The THANK YOU GOD news is that it's fine.  No signs of cancer on the mammo or sono. 

But seriously, it seems like it was yesterday that I was in that same room with the same little tech asking me to show her the lump I'd discovered days before.  Then you move on to the sono waiting room with a few other women who are similarly clad in lovely hospital robes, holding our clothes, all of us looking anxious.  The difference is that this year, I was less anxious than the other women.  Sure, I wanted a clean slate.  I am grateful I got good news.

But, unlike the others, I've been there and done that and lost half the t-shirt.  In fact I was carrying half the t-shirt rolled up inside my clothes so the prosthetic didn't fall out and plop on the hospital hallway.  (Yes, the thought actually crossed my somewhat warped mind.)  Having been through it made me just a little less anxious about what lies ahead - good news or bad.

I've been toying with the idea of writing my story highlighting all the little surprises that popped up along the way.  It wasn't the big things that got to me...  you read all about fatigue and hair loss and nausea all over the place.  But, despite having read half-dozen books and umpteen websites, no one mentioned that chemo is COLD.  Prostetics are HOT.  You get the prosthetic prescription from your surgeon not your onco.

It was these little gotcha's that threw me during the process.  So, as I sat there weather chatting with the other anxious women, that I decided to put my experience in writing.  What will happen to it, who knows?  I've written a lot of things that never found the right place.  In this case, I decided I'm not looking for the right place for publication, but for the right person to read it.

I also decided to celebrate a fight well fought.  I have kicked cancer's hindend, lived through the treatment and come out the other side ready to share what I've learned.  So, if I put my story in writing, maybe, just maybe, some other woman won't be sitting in her car crying because her onco had no idea how to help her get a prosthetic, leaving her wondering where to turn.

I'll post periodic updates for those of you who may be interested in leading other newbies to the story.

PS - Menopause SUCKS is another one of those gotcha's, just a year later on.

Take care of yourselves.

Poteet