oh no - really?

Last week I decided to get my baseline mammogram. I had been putting it off for a while in some vague assumption that I couldn't possibly be at risk for two different cancers. Then I got a call today. I knew it was not going to be good news because they're not supposed to call. They're supposed to send you a letter if everything is normal, dammit. I'm not saying they found anything "bad" just inconclusive. So I am going back "at the next earliest appointment" which is a week from tomorrow... yeah 8 more days before they can do any follow up.  I am not really worried because the woman on the phone with her delightful voice assured me that 50% of people who come in for a baseline are asked to come in for some reason. However I kind of go into shock when they say anything needs follow up. I barely took in enough information to ascertain that I could call around to a couple of the locations and figure out which one had the earliest appointment. 

Exploring my options and getting an appointment was the first and only order of business on my mind for the next 1/2 hour. No time to worry about pesky details like what the implications would be if there were an actual problem.

Then I had to turn to my trusty friend: The Internet. I was sure that the Internet would set my fears at ease -- can you hear the sarcasm coming through on that one? Turns out I couldn't find ANYTHING to substantiate that 50% of the baseline mammograms require some follow up and there is certainly nothing that I found to tell me how many of those turned out to be "nothing" after all. I will see what I can do to keep it together for as long as I can. But I expect it will be at least three weeks before I get any actual results.  Not to worry - you'll get an update here one way or another.