An eventful week for me… Here’s a tweet-a-day (140 character) summary.
Thursday:
Wax-filled ears = deaf for a week: syringing due Mon. DD starts school Tues, Son on Wed. Must sew curtains before in-laws arrive Sat. Busy!
Friday:
Curtains spread over floor in spare room. Motivating myself with biscuits. Slight leaky discharge from left breast surprises me. Still deaf.
Saturday:
Wake to yellowy stains from breast discharge. Put cotton wool pad in bra. Complete curtains (apart from hems) by not seeing family all day.
Sunday:
Still deaf: can’t wait to see nurse in morning. Breast discharge has changed to blood. MIL complimented the curtains – despite trailing hems
Monday:
12.45: Ears syringed. Can hear again! Advised to have appt about leaky breast. 15.15: nurse prods, but no lump. Still sent for mammogram.
Tuesday:
Just as DD left for 1st day back at school, hosp calls with appt. I have no lump. I am not worried. So why spend all day thinking about it?
Wednesday:
Breast hasn’t leaked since Sun. Lots of waiting at hospital. Lose all inhibition showing breasts. Mammogram hurts, but no lumps. All clear.
One week: a full circle of emotions, together with the normal family life as school and ‘normal’ routine resumes. Seven tweets can’t contain all the other activities that occurred (like a trip across the Pennines to prepare myself for the talk I’m giving at the Ilkley Literature Festival), nor fully express the health issues. Apparently, despite no evidence of a lump, a bloody discharge is often a sign that there is something wrong.
Above all, I am grateful for the service I got from the NHS. Others may not be so lucky, but to get a mammogram within 48 hours of being seen by the nurse was fantastic. I was confident there was no lump, and thus had little concern, but even so I wondered what if…? Waiting any longer might have driven me mad! In the UK we are very blessed by the free service we receive. Everyone I met was kind and lovely (even the one who pinched my breasts into the x-ray machine!)
The good news is that I am fine, and I’m anticipating that next week will be a little less chaotic!
Catharine I thank the Lord that your mammo was neg. take care tho and self exam monthly. when is your new book coming out out the bishop and the prof.???? loved your first, laughed the whole book thru. ps I am from Zambia xoxoxo
Thank you Carol! I am trying to find the time to write the second book – health scares don’t help!! Thankfully that is all behind me now. I’m expecting the next book to be published around this time next year…and hoping to visit Zambia before then (lots of fingers crossed!)