...the big squeeze, take 2

I wrote a post, early on...
about things I've found in my mailbox...

among the things I'm not interested in learning...
by mail, or as it happened yesterday by phone...
is included the phrase...


"there is a blurry spot on your mammogram"...
and we need to see you for more pictures...
to resolve this issue...



after "reassuring " me that there was "no cause for alarm"...
[yeah, sure... "call-backs" are good for auditions...
but generally, not so much for mammograms...]
I agreed to return today, at 10 AM...
I did NOT want this hanging "over" me...

so I arrived about 9:45...checked-in...
[they couldn't find me on the computer...
and had NO record of my appointment...
a mere hint of things to come...]

so as I sat in the frosty AC filled room...
my head filled with "visions of sugarplums", NOT...
the people who had arrived before me began to ask...
"how much longer would they have to wait ?"



apparently, they were "a bit behind"...

but just in the "squeeze" department...
as other x-ray & such patients...
came in, were called in, and left...
as there we sat...

I'm not sure how long I sat there...
but after staring at the walls, floor, ceiling,etc...
and reading an old Sunset magazine, twice...
[ask me anything ...
about abalone culture or Eichler style...]

finally... they called my name...

I follow the technician back...
step behind the curtain...
take off everything above the waist...
put on the skimpy gown, opening in the front...
put my "belongings" in a plastic tub...
and carrying said tub...
try to keep "covered" ...
on my trip to the mammography room...

this was made a bit more "eventful"...
as there was a guy...
who had just had a mammogram...
[yes... guys can get breast cancer too...]
talking to a nurse in a hallway...
NOT usually occupied by men...



the technician wasn't sure what needed to be done to me...
and went to consult the radiologist...3 times...
closing the door behind her each time...
so I couldn't overhear their conversation...

all the while... assuring me that,
"this is not a big deal"...

even though the technician in the picture is grinning...
I don't believe that they WANT to hurt their patients...
but getting squeezed HURTS... !
especially while you're twisted around...

[if you're unfamiliar with the process...
just look at the juicer...
and apply THAT principle...
to the two parts of the machine...
forming the "bread" in a boob sandwich...
guys... it feels like that nutcracker
being used... well, you know...]



so when she took the 2 pictures ...
that the radiologist wanted...
she told me, "just relax [HA]...
while I take these to the doctor...
then I'll come back ...
and give you the results..."

so there I sat...
by this time...
REALLY COLD...
[she did lower the AC while I waited...]

then she returned...
all smiles...
telling me that they were ...
just "blurry" spots...
the doctor said that
everything was fine...
and I could go home...



I was dressed ...
and out of there in record time...
after nearly 1.5 hours ...
spent in the frigid AC...
for a 20 minute exam...
so as I stepped outside ...
into the Mudville Summer heat...
I've never appreciated it more...

as well as the feeling of a burden lifted...

God is so good...