The left breast of a woman who’s been set up for radiation. (Not to put too fine a point on it, mine.) It’s blue because that’s the color sharpie marker the radiologist and her helpers use to mark up your breast so they can figure out where to direct the radiation. It’s white because, well, that’s what I am. Read all over? A stunning number of people (all women, all medical professionals) spent a stunning amount of time yesterday studying the markings and talking about them.
The whole time I was lying flat on my back with my left arm over my head, thinking maybe it would all go better if I could just sleep.
Oh, one other thing. Around the holidays, the preferred jewelry of fifty percent of the nurses I ran into turned out to be made out of Christmas lights. Earrings. Necklaces. Some lit up. Some not. You notice stuff like that when you’re flat on your back.
And I also want to mention that I now have four very small tattoos on my left breast. That they’re there to guide the radiologist amuses me. It’s never occurred to me to get a tattoo, but I’d have said if I did it would be voluntary and something a little more interesting than a dot.
The setup appointment was sandwiched between two research appointments. I like doing these studies. There are a lot of them going on at UCSF and they all aim to make life better for breast cancer patients. It gives me a lot of pleasure to think that I’m part of something like that, even if all I have to do is have my blood drawn or my arms measured.
And now, a little breather until next week, when things begin in earnest.
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January 6, 2007 at 7:15 pm
marymom
Hi BL– I just thought I would check this blog to see the latest. Well, you have been busy! Harlan was over there selling beads at the UCSF winter bazaar in December– maybe you crossed paths. Sounds like some of the male docs are donating their magazines. I have a stack of old Real Simple, Natural Health and Lucky if you want to take them over. I bet the orthopedic surgeons bring those hunting and tennis mags in. Seems pretty silly to have those in radiology.
Did they tattoo you at UCSF? Maybe you can get them to add flower petals later on, or happy faces, or something. Dolly Parton had a scar decorated with roses and trailing vines, I read somewhere.
I know the feeling of lying there, exposed, while the professionals all carry on. When Ariela was in the two-day long process of being born, it seemed that they were all lined up outside my room, waiting to fist me. At one point, I bitterly spat out that if I wasn’t having a baby, they would all go to jail for a very long time. The nurse simply stared at me.
Your resident needs to understand the effect her manner had on you. Sounds like she is a little emotionally awkward. But overly friendly doctors can waste a lot of time and creep you out, too,I know. Maybe it’s hard to find a balance. Good for you for doing the research stuff. It’s an extra pain in the whatever, I’m sure, but you’re right– someone else will be better off because of it. I’m going to donate blood again Monday. That’s my little part for humanity. Right now, my kids are next door– I had our little neighbor child all day, and now they are all over at his house, so I’m going to pour a glass of wine, put on some music, and read. TTFN, dearest BL–