:: all clear ::

At the beginning of this year, Jack & I switched over to John's insurance which required changing doctors and hospitals. I wasn't too sad about losing my OB though... she missed that Jack was breech until my due date... thus the c-section. {ick} I found a great office of doctors who work very closely with a midwifery group within our new hospital. The doctors get involved with high-risk pregnancies {no, I am not pregnant} but otherwise the nurse-midwives take over the annuals etc. I have to say I was a little skeptical and nervous about not seeing a "doctor" doctor, but overall I think that was my best experience ever going in for my dreaded annual exam. She met with me for over an hour getting my full {and I do mean full} medical history and is working with me to find out if everything I've got going on is connected. Anyway... I'll spare the details about all that. Here's my point {yes, I am getting to it}.

She found a lump. I had surgery when I was 25 {yes, it has already been 8 years} to remove a tumor and haven't had it checked since. The new lump is in the same location. {Any brothers reading this can stop now and skip to the next paragraph since I know this kind of talk makes you squeamish... you know who you are.} I thought it was just scar tissue when I did my regular self-exams and, since I am still nursing, figured it would work its way out. Teresa, the nurse, wasn't so sure. Bracing myself for whatever outcome, I went in to have an ultrasound yesterday to get everything checked out. Having a couple of months to stew about this made us all more than a little nervous. Especially John.

Thankfully, I'm all clear! So why did I go into all that detail and post this on a blog of all places? I'm hoping that my situation will push all you amazing women I know to put BSE into your schedules once a month if you aren't already doing it. It takes a few minutes, but it is so worth it! It's all about early detection to keep us healthy so we can have a long active life.

{More unnecessary details if you are interested: The tumor I had when I was 25 turned out to be clusters of pre-cancerous cell growth which in 10 years time could have morphed into full-blown cancer. I could have had a much different result yesterday had I not done something.}

So thank you, family, for all your prayers. I feel so blessed!