well now hon...if it's any comfort at all, please know that I've had "lumps" removed and biosped from my breast, k? I just didn't want to go back and relive the experience. It was very scary, and one of the things they asked was whether anyone in my family had the big C. At the time, the answer was no. But in MY mind, I was surely going to be the first to have it. I just knew I was doomed. I had to wait the whole weekend for the results and it was all fine.

But during that weekend, I managed to consume enough food to feed small countries...if they could live off chocolate and Oreo's, that is.

So what I'm saying is it all turned out fine, they were benin...well, except one. It was cancerous. They removed it, and I'm fine. I mean that was over 5 years ago and look at me now!!!! I look like a basketball with teeth! I'm fine...I'm fluffy! I'm healthy....so take heart honey child...you are gonna be around to write that perfect funny novel...k?

Now you can choose to spend you every waking hour worrying (which is what I did) orrrrrrr....you can maybe do this...focus on someone else that needs your help and go help them. It will lighten the load, guaranteed...

sending tons of love your way, JJ

Why do Dr's perform tests and then you have to wait through a weekend to know the results?

I had vaginal bleeding unusual since I hadn't had a period in 5 years, when I went to the gyno the first thing his nurse said, well this usually means cancer, but you can handle it. I had the same thing 20 years ago and I am fine. Well that was a reassurance.

When the DR came in, he said "well, this is probably cancerous but won't know until tests re run and come back" I went away from there in tears and so stressed!! I stewed and worried and cried all weekend, then the results came in (on Tuesday) and there was absolutely nothing wrong! Put me on hormones for 3 months and have had no problems since! Hang in there, my prayers are with you also, praying that your news comes back good as well.

Love,
Sherri

Sherri, how awful! How is it that sometimes the medical professionals can be so ignorant of our human feelings???

Naturally I had already answered all the cancer questions about my family. I guess what threw me so much was that she asked it about half way through the procedure and then as sort of an off the cuff remark... not part of any sort of history taking. To have someone looking at your insides and then asking out of the blue whether you have cancer just knocked the wind out of my sails.

JJ, I plan on eating my weight in pudding. When in doubt, eat something chocolate. If we could just get the world leaders to sit down over a big plate of chocolate gravy and biscuits, everything would be so peaceful. And, it is a good idea to get off my pity pot and help someone else.

And besides, I had a lump removed from my breast years ago and it was okey-dokey. I'm just being dramatic today. After all, inside this southern-fried chick's body beats the heart of a true soap opera star.

Love to all...

Sorry to hear about your experience at the doctor's office. I will be praying for you!! Waiting is so nerve wracking!!! Argh!!!

When my mother-in-law had her stroke last November, Dr. Gloom and Doom said some of the most negative, depressing things. The physician's assistant was so much better. But, the point is, (and I quote Thumper's mom on this) "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

If you are going to eat pudding, can it be chocolate and can it be the cooked kind and can you eat the skin off the top, wait, let it form again, and then eat the skin of the top again, wait, form, eat, wait form, eat. Can you tell I am on a loooooowwwwwww carb diet. Chocolate pudding......deep sigh!!

I'm sitting here pondering....(hear the ponder?) I'm wondering if it were me, would I want to know? or not? I think I would. Give it to me straight I think. Then I can make an intelligent decision based on what the doc tells me. At least I think that is my thinking. But also, I wish the doc would take a class in beside manners.

Now on the other hand, don't tell me stuff over the phone. Puleaseeee! Face to face. Well, this is just one woman's opinion. Girls?

JJ

Some health professionals aren't so professional at all. They shouldn't be giving out Dx's without results in their hands... it just causes unneeded anxiety !!!!

Sher, we're wishing the best for you... Praying you get the strength and sanity needed while you wait, and hoping it's all a false alarm.

I'll take it however they want to give it to me. I don't care if it's over the phone or in person...as long as it's done gently.

Sher, I hope your doctors handle you with grace! It makes all the difference in the world.

Sounds like we could/should write a book on "Doctor's say the Dumbest Things." What a STUPID thing to say to a patient - "This is usually cancerous." Let me tell you, if a healthcare "professional" said something to me as dumb as "You can handle it," in the same paragraph with cancer, she wouldn't have been able to handle me. That is rude, inconsiderate, and totally unprofessional.

It is not uncommon for them to ask if you have cancer in your family history. That is just a routine question. He could have been a little more tactful in how he put it. Like, he could have mentioned that it is just a routine question they ask everyone.

Waiting for test results is always worrisome, no matter what. Good luck.
Louisa

I'm hanging in there, chicks. I'm spending my weekend watching funny movies, eating ice cream and dreaming of ways to get rich quick. (Not to mention dreaming of Michael Keaton...the single best Bat Man ever to fling on a cape.)

I've decided that this whole little incident should be something I allow to smack me right between the eyes. I need to stop for a moment, look at my life and change some things. I guess the "c" word is as good a reason as any to do that.

If you had any idea how much time I spend worrying, you'd never believe it. I worry about money, about world events, about what other people think of me. It's crazy. I need to find a way to let it all go and breathe free without indulging the feeling that at any moment the other shoe is going to drop. Life is short. We say that all the time, but do we really hear it?

And by the way, I have no idea what the other shoe dropping even means.

'Splain it!

Couldn't agree more....and just why weren't the shoes on the feet anyway? They were dropping from??? Never did get that one.

Oh you think you got problems? Yesterday while going thru a drive-in BBQ place (and reading while in line) I thought she said "so make that 1/2 of baked beans?" to which I said "uh huh." Got home...1/2 Gallon. 1/2 GALLON OF BAKED BEANS! THEY DON'T MAKE THAT MUCH AIR FRESHNER...Want to come over here for a visit? Didn't think so.

I was a born worrier myself back a few years ago. I worried if the stamp on the envelop I received was pasted on there crooked. Did this mean that the sender was having a bad day when they pasted it? Did I somehow contribute to this? Was I doomed? Yes, I borrowed things to worry about if my life was going smoothly...

...then Daddy got sick, Mamma got sick, and the then current love-of-my-life show a side of his personality that led to my dropping the other shoe on him and subsequently, my entire world went under. I survived it and gained a new perspective from it, and now...I leave the worry part to God mostly.

Oh I still worry bout some things from time to time...but when I do, I ask myself this, "What's the worse thing that can happen?" Usually, it's nothing life threatening, so? What's the prob? This soothes my trouble soul...I hope writing this does yours. Sometimes it helps to know you are not alone.

So...want some beans? Anybody?

JJ