Seemed I was just on a roll with a happy attitude when I was brought into the waiting area for my localization...whatever that means. Here I met Joyce, the delightful nurse who was responsible to assist but also to chatter away with me because they were running slightly behind schedule. We discussed a wide range of topics as she was a great conversationalist. When I mentioned being part of the Chorale, she told me she remembered the group being at her church. Before long, we discovered we both knew a very special couple and neither one of us could say enough complimentary things about them both!
About a half hour passed before I was wheeled into the room to face that giant gray mammo machine once again. This time though, the plastic plates were different. I remember one of my late husbands templates which immediately came to mind when I saw rows of open circles. I believe there were about six across and 4 down, but it just reminded me, for some reason of the game, Battleship.
Once again the breast is place on the shelf and the plastic plate with the holes was lowered onto it to flatten it once again but not to the point of pain. They were looking for my little clip that had been placed inside to indicate where the mass was and where the earlier biopsy had been taken. There it was on the screen the little rectagular ship they were aiming for. Next, the technician had to assure that it was place within one of the open holes. She let the radiologist know when she had the target in her sites and the procedure officially began.
Dr. L came into the room, took a look at the picture they had taken, showed me the needle with the little cap on the end and also an extremely thin wire with a little hook on the end. He explained that he was going to insert the capped needle into my breast to get as near to the clip as he could. Then he was going to insert the wire through the opening in the cap, through the needle, and down to where the clip was since it was going to be there to use as a guide for the removal of the mass, kind of like fishing but with a guaranteed catch!
To my beading friends, the first thing I thought of when I saw the wire is that my Fireline looks just like it! I told my group there that it would be nice to have some colored beads to slip onto the wire since I'd be wearing it for awhile. We all had a good chuckle! When he got the wire in, I turned my head and bumped my vertical wire with my nose. I suggested maybe we make it into a sparkler and it would help me remember it was there. A few more chuckles later, Dr. L made a small curl out of the wire and taped it to my chest. A metal chest hair! What can I say?
Dr. L left and they raised the plastic plate and I admit, I cracked up again. I had about 12 clear circle indentations on my breast! I did look like a type of graph similar to Battleship. I don't think I'll ever look at that game in quite the same way!
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