I said it yesterday that I’m really no good with transitions.  I have no future in triathlons so I am just writing.  Sandy Hook stays in my human heart and the blog’s heart (with the green and white pegs of the heart logo) but as life dictates even in the most terrible of times, we must move on.

In keeping with the fact that I’m both bad with transitions and in denial that I’m no longer a full-time New York resident,  I waited until I went back to New York for my annual mammogram.  I’m 42 years old and have had only 1 mammogram.  I have no idea why I waited until I was 41 to have my first mammogram considering my stepmother died when I was 17 years old of what was believed to have been breast cancer (it had spread to her spine and all over her body when doctors found it during surgery) but I did.

It really is.
Image by: Mayor Of Worldwide Breast Cancer

If you’ve never had a mammogram, they really are easy and not nearly as scary as you might think.  The Memorial Sloan Kettering: Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center in NYC is extremely spa-like (there is a video on their site about the philosophy behind constructing the center with a nod to how important nutritionists are as part of the counseling team; we are dietitians but I’ll take any shout out given to my profession).

At MSKCC, there are changing rooms with gowns to change into (you’ll see my candy cane gown below),  serene spaces to sit and read, K-cup coffee and tea in the waiting rooms and wonderfully supportive people all around.  I remember the one male registrar (odd in a breast center) and he was lovely.   While I was waiting, I saw this ad in a magazine:

Ford Warriors in Pink. Models of Courage.  Powerful.

While attending my first blogging conference, Bloggy Bootcamp, in October in lovely Las Vegas, I got the chance to see one of these Models of Courage, Tina Herold speak.  She was amazing.  Tina is a woman who found a lump and knew something was wrong (despite that doctors told her otherwise) and kept going until she found the answer.  She did have cancer, survived treatment and is telling the whole world about it.  An inspiration for certain.

I should have found seeing this ad disturbing while waiting for a mammogram screening but I didn’t.  I didn’t realize it would have any significance until later.

In an attempt to make it easier for those that have never had a mammogram, these are some images you might see:

You’ll get squeezed a bit here.
Image by: Kristie Wells

Seeing it now might make you less scared in the moment.

Kristie Wells of Kiki’s Korner does quite an excellent job of documenting her journey through 2 mammograms and an ultrasound with a final diagnosis of benign cysts.  Little did I know I’d have a very similar journey until after I got back to California and got the call (on the Monday after Thanksgiving) that “based on my mammogram results, additional images were being requested.”

Bicoastal Mammogram – California, Part 2 will be posted tomorrow.