When you have Multiple Sclerosis it is easy to become enmeshed into thinking that your whole world including all health issues revolve around this disease.  I hate to break this to you but although it may seem that way, it isn't true.  You can still get sick with other things having nothing at all to do with MS   Just because you have MS doesn't mean that you get a break from colds or even cancer.  It seems terribly unfair to think that we still have to take the time for other medical tests and procedures.  Please do not let other important medical testing go by the wayside just because you have Multiple Sclerosis. 

I had one heck of a week this past fall where in one week I had an MRI and then a couple of days later I had a repeat mammogram.  I was floored to be told that they had found something during my first ever mammogram.  I just didn't think it possible because I already had a disease to contend with.  It just didn't seem fair to me.  Yet our magical notion of fairness has nothing to do with our vulnerability to sickness and disease.  Many people out there are dealing with multiple health problems and even more than one disease.

 Although us women are supposed to get these mammograms once a year starting at the age of forty, I had neglected to get mine done basically because I was dealing with so much of the MS stuff.  I put the mammogram on the back burner.  But then it nagged at me so much this Fall that I just went ahead and did it and I am so glad I did. 

I want to now share the story of my first mammogram experience and also urge you to please keep up with any medical tests and procedures which are unrelated to MS.  These might include your yearly physical check up, getting your cholesterol checked, and for women a yearly PAP smear and gynecological exam as well as a mammogram.  It is easy to let things go and slide to the back burner.  But don't delay.  These routine tests and procedures could ultimately save your life. 

And now I present to you my story entitled, "The Waiting Room"

If you live enough life, you undoubtedly will have spent a good portion of your time in waiting rooms.  Sometimes you are waiting for the miraculous to occur such as the moment when a baby is ushered into the world.  Sometimes it is merely for the purpose of the mundane...a teeth cleaning or to get a prescription renewed.  And sometimes you are waiting for the news which could threaten your life as you know it.   

I was called back to get further imaging of my breasts based upon the first report.  They had seen "something" on the mammogram.  They wanted a more magnified view. 

This news was totally unexpected.  I had endured my first ever mammogram that week and thought that would be the end of it.  I had done my duty and was ready to come back in a year, not in a few days.