Kris vs. Cancer

 Last time we left off with me leaving the surgeon's office with A diagnosis Pending Surgery an anticipated call to schedule said surgery and a promise that the plastic surgeon's office would be reaching out soon. As luck would have it, they called as I arrived home. Could I come in on Monday at 7:00 a.m. to meet him? Sure, apparently the rest of this 'journey' was going to involve early mornings so why not? And did I really think I was going to be sleeping at all between then and the surgery? Ummm.... NO So that all set up, I knew I had a fair few people to update.  The quarters My boss The few other folks I had told and.... Josh (the Mud Puddle) again, at this point he knew there had been follow up but not the why. And I had come close to telling him a couple of times before this. I had lunch with him one weekend in September and almost blurted it out then but didn't because we were having such a nice day. No reason to piss on our parade with chatter about cancer....

  Last time we left off with the amazing friends and their reaction to the news. After that it was back to overthinking the next step in the process: The Lumpectomy On Monday September 27th I was scheduled for the procedure. It was a day surgery with light sedation.  This would be the first time the surgeon got her hands on Lefty (RIP Lefty). I arrived at the hospital, my mom drove me and thanks to ongoing COVID guidance she could not stay with me.  Which was a blessing and a curse. If I was going to have a meltdown better she not be there but I also might need the support. As it turns out, I had a chance to meet that Radiologist again (her with the impeccable bedside manner and empathetic view of her patients... Sarcasm for those of you that just joined us). The first step in the procedure was to place two guide wires into the boob. A literal X Marks the Spot for the surgeon to be able to find what she is looking for. This was as weird as it sounds. Luckily the wires wer...

Picture it: March 2020, I was sent home from work for 'two weeks', living in a marriage that was on its last legs, and mentally and emotionally preparing for my son's high school graduation and impending  transition to college. The world had stopped but my cortisol production was in overdrive. So when my left boob started to ache at night, I was kind of busy with anxiety and overthinking. I acknowledged it, figuratively shrugged and forgot about it until the next time it ached. Ironically, I was risk adverse to the nth degree during the early stages of the pandemic. I only left the house for groceries and spend time with a friend outdoors who was also overly cautious. No hair appointments, dental appointments, visits to my parents and certainly no mammogram.  I was 'lucky' to have my first mammogram at the ripe old age of 36. My boobs have always been attention seekers - large from the 6th grade, on what has mostly been a petite frame, has meant jokes about bodaciou...

 Last time we left off with the phone call from my doctor telling me she had my test results: "Hi Kristi, I have your test results." "Really? So do I." There was a pause on her end. "How exactly does that happen? That I have to read that I have cancer sitting at my desk at work? Who let that happen?" She explained that there is a federal mandate that all patient information needs to be released to the patient at the same time the doctor receives it. WOW The asshat that came up with that clearly hadn't experienced any serious health situations. What must that be like? Seriously, I would love to know what candy colored world they live in because I know of no-one that hadn't had some medical shit sandwich handed to them or a family member, friend - someone they cared about. So how did we get here? As of April 2021, “blocking” patients from their own health records is against the law and may result in fines for hospitals and doctors. Find out how the I...