Turns out I'm 1 in 100,000

So after my chest x-ray, I found out that it was inconclusive so I needed to go for an f'n CT scan.

Bright and early Thursday morning, I ventured out to UCLA to get my CT Scan. The technician, a perfectly lovely man named Joel, looked down at my name and said, "Oh. We better this over fast."

When I hear shit like that, I feel so grateful I married into this name. At a time when that name is considered cool. As opposed to growing up with people mocking me and making ridiculous jokes about my newish last name.

"Let's. That's the only way I roll" I lamely replied.

Similar to the chest x-ray, the CT scan was relatively quick, easy and painless. I had to change into a gown and could, like the MRI, keep my own clothing on from the waist down. And then I was basically put into a similar position as the one below:

Unlike the MRI, however, the test itself lasted less than five minutes and I didn't have to contend with any of the horrible noises as I did through the lengthy MRI. I had to take a deep breath, hold it, let it out and repeat that a few times. And then I was outta there.

On Friday it was confirmed that I do have a pericardial cyst. But my doctor has assured me that it's absolutely nothing to worry about it. There's not that much information about it online, but the bottom line is that I've always had it. It's a benign cyst. There's really nothing to do about it. Most people who do have it, 1 in 100,000 people have a pericardial cyst, never even know they have it. They can go their whole lives without even knowing of its existence. And most other people only find out about it incidentally through other testing, like me.

I was with my mom and Katie when I found out. And I was and am initially annoyed and frustrated.

I get that it's "nothing to worry about."

But it can feel overwhelming to have one other thing that I ultimately have to keep an eye on. Or some other genetic nonsense going on in my body.

I just need a few days to be annoyed by it and then I know I'll be able to poke fun at my cyst and be back to normal.

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Reflections Photo Challenge- February MIRROR

During my first trip to Disneyland, on President's Day, Meghan, Katie & I accompanied Quinn on the merry go round and had a blast. Meghan stayed close to Quinn while Katie and I snapped various pictures of Quinn enjoying the ride and her reflection in the mirror.

I had a small handful to choose from, but this is the one that called out to me the most and I really love how it came out.

Taken on Monday 2/20/2012 at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA

For the rest of my mirror reflections, click here.

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MRI #1- Results

The day after my first breast MRI, I called my doctor's office to find out if she had received the results yet. Unfortunately my doctor wasn't in; "The results are probably sitting on her desk but she won't be in today."

Me- "Okay. So I shouldn't expect to hear anything until tomorrow?"

Receptionist- "No."

Alright. Expectations reset.

About an hour later, I received a surprising voicemail from the doctor's office, "The doctor actually wants you to come in to discuss these results with you."

Jesus. I thought I wasn't supposed to get any news until tomorrow. Now she's calling me. And she wants me to come in?

Ugh.

My heart sank and a knot in my stomach instantly formed.

Fuck.

I tried hard to not rush to conclusions. But hell. That's way easier said than done.

I called back and set up an appointment for lunchtime the next day.

To recap:
MRI- bright and early Monday morning (3/12)
call from doctor saying they want me to come in Tuesday afternoon (3/13)
doctor's appointment scheduled for lunchtime on Wednesday (3/14)

Before I hung up the phone I said "Is there anything you can tell me about the results?"
I was placed on hold for a few minutes and then the receptionist came back on the line and said "Your breast results are normal. Something else showed up that the doctor wants to talk with you about." She led on that it wasn't anything that major. And since I was going to see my breast oncologist the following Monday, I opted to not go in the next day, and wait to speak with the breast oncologist.

In the meantime, because my breast oncologist is not at UCLA, I had to get a copy of the MRI images and the report. So even though I didn't have a doctor's appointment anymore, I was able to see what was causing the suspicion when I picked up the report. Here's what was on it: 6.0 x 4.4 cm fluid signal in the region of the right lung base adjacent to the pericardium may represent a pericardial cyst or pleural effusion. Chest radiograph is recommended for further evaluation.

Once I saw this, I decided to go back in and see the regular (UCLA) doctor on Thursday (3/15).

So on Thursday morning off I went to speak with Dr. Gorwara. We both felt that since I've been sick and have been presenting bronchitis type symptoms, that's what likely showed up on the report. But to rule anything out, off I went to the outpatient facility to get an chest x-ray.

The chest x-ray, was very quick and painless. Between the first doctor's appointment, then the short car ride to the other side of town, the chest x-ray and the short drive back home, I was back home and working within an hour. Which far exceeded any expectations that I had.

Now I wait to find out what shows up on the chest x-ray.

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MRI #1

On Monday I had my first breast MRI since discovering I am a BRCA2 gene carrier.

I had checked in with a few people before getting this done and was given practical and funny advice on what to expect. My favorite was from someone who's been dealing with this for the past six years and said, "It’s the closest thing I can imagine to being in a spaceship."

Despite getting myself mentally prepared by talking with a few "experts", I was completely unprepared for the noise. And someone probably told me it was loud, but it didn't stick, and so I was surprised when I finally got all settled in for the MRI and was jarred and stunned by the intensity (and annoyance) of the noise.

I showed up at 745am to fill out paperwork for my 8am appointment and was brought back to change and get started at the time my appointment was scheduled to begin. As if that weren't enough, I had a wonderful technician who prepped me for the MRI and walked me through what she'd be doing. She put me at ease and made me feel very comfortable through an uncomfortable process.

After being all settled in, I was given the choice of listening to classical music or oldies. I went with oldies because they reminded me of my dad, and classical music is so not my thing. And off I went.

The duration of the tests were 15 seconds, 1 1/2 minutes, 4 minutes and then the longest and last one was for 8 minutes. 2 minutes into the last test, it was stopped so they could do the contrast (which feels super weird, by the way). They had to put an IV in my hand, so when they released the contrast, it felt like liquid was being poured all over my hand. (It wasn't).

I got up and felt a little woozy. On top of being in a weird position for nearly 35 minutes (there's a lot of down time between tests), I've been sick again with some weird cold. But more than anything, I was grateful for having survived my first breast MRI.

Upon leaving, I definitely felt like this was something I could absolutely handle once a year.

Next up: Results

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