So, I was very undecided if I should take you with me this time, a journey of a different kind.
Because I have been using my blog as a kind of a journal, in the end I have decided to record this journey also. As far as I know, most of my blog visitors are women, and therefore will understand. It will also explain why I haven't kept up with your blogs past week or so.
As most of you of a certain age would have been called from time to time for a routine breast screening, so have I. In the past my every visit to a mobile screening unit was followed by a "all clear" letter.
Unfortunately not this time, they found something which wasn't there before. When the letter arrived last Tuesday, it gave me a shock, as you can understand. I was given an appointment in two days time for a second screening, this time at our county hospital some 40 miles away. Needless to say that two sleepless nights followed, during which my mind was conjuring up all sorts of scenarios. It was difficult to go on with the day to day routine. So, on Thursday DH and I (him for moral support, trying hard not to show how worried he was) drove to the hospital.
I am not going to bore you with the details, but after another mammogram and an ultrasound, some prodding with a needle to take a sample to be sent for testing, I am now waiting for the results. A week they said. However, I am calmer now. The staff at the breast care unit were friendly and smiling, the female doctor young and chatty, explaining all, while she was doing her job. I know now where the problem is and that it is being dealt with. It was the fear of the unknown which temporarily sent me spinning out of my orbit. If I'll have to go back, I will know what to expect.
There is an English saying that "an ignorance is a bliss", what do you think?
Oh, shall I mention the terrible coffee in the hospital restaurant? Or the machine at the hospital car park "pay station", which would not take our money ( high fees charged in most English hospital car parks) until a "technical help" was called, by which time a long queue formed behind us? They are all small details.........
I wish you all a pleasant weekend!