Surveillance

Today was a great day for me. Katie and I were interviewed by a TV station in Lubbock for an upcoming segment on their evening newscast. I will be sure and let you know when it will be airing! While I was sitting back and watching Evan interview Katie I started thinking about some topics I should discuss in the near future. Several of the question in the interview involved what would you tell other people about the genetic testing and your choices. I believe I have touched on that subject in several of my posts, but I have not elaborated much on the subject of my experiences regarding surveillance.

There are different options available for those of us who are not quite ready to have body parts removed. While I have not experienced all of them I do have a something to share with you! Katie said it best today in the interview, and if you are willing to take advice from anyone she is definitely credible.

Today Katie said, "Ten seconds of being squeezed during a mammogram is better than 6 months of chemo any time!"

With that in mind I would like to re-visit a few of my experiences from the past year. In February I had a Breast MRI, this is a newer technique used to scan the breast tissue for abnormalities. The MRI itself is a little intimidating. You are taken into a room with a huge piece of equipment and placed face down onto a table. Your girls are then placed through holes so that they are hanging in thin air. Dignified to say the least, but when considering the other options I'll give up my modesty to avoid cancer. There are two portions of the MRI the first is a thorough scan of your chest area, once this is achieved die is released through an IV. As the die enters your blood stream it can show areas that have abnormal blood flow. Since tumors are body cells that have mutated or changed from typical growth patterns it would be reasonable to expect a deviation or change in blood flow to those cells. MRI can pick up on these abnormalities as well as others.

My MRI did show an area of dense tissue. When looking at the pictures taken it reminded me of a thumb print on one side of my breast. I could not tell you much about it technically other than there was a difference in the way that specific thumb print showed up on the pictures. My doctor decided to follow up with a Breast Sonogram. Using the same instruments we associate with the happy experiences of seeing our unborn children a technician analyzed my breasts. I had experienced a breast sonogram before this so it was not much of a surprise. Just like when we go to see our little growing babies gel was applied and the wand was used to document my breast tissue. Ultimately the anomaly came back to be nothing of concern, but I was able to experience two different methods of surveillance.

The MRI was not relaxing, dignified, or comfortable in the least, but this was one small piece of the puzzle to achieve long-term benefits. It has been documented that mammography, breast MRI, and breast sonogram are all good methods of screening for breast cancer, and it has also been very well researched and proven that early detection saves lives.

In August, I went in to see my gynecologist. It was a good visit, and so far all of my results have come back with nothing to be concerned about. After my appointment I traveled down the elevator to the in house lab and had a CA-125 blood test drawn, which in my mind is the easiest of all screening. I will gladly give a tube of blood anytime. The other scan that was scheduled was a trans-vaginal sonogram. This is as bad as it sounds, but if you are a woman and have regularly seen a gynecologist for yearly exams it is nothing. I am being honest here. In comparison to what you go through each year during your exam and pap-smear this is a walk in the park. At least in my case, it was not painful, took very little time, and gives my doctors another tool in taking care of my health. Let's just say that I will be happier on the days that I go for this than my breast MRI.

So now you have the run down of what I have experienced. With the exception of a mammogram I can say been there done that. Surveillance is not something we should be scared of, getting the results may be a different story. I think it is healthy to be afraid. My experiences were by no means negative. I will be honest with you that during some of these I was scared. My fear was not of the screening, but of the fact that my sister had cancer. The "C" word is what we are really scared of, not the screening. If we will take a minute to really think about it the real reason that we avoid the screening is because we are afraid of what they will find.