I went in for my annual check-up and pap smear back in February and was given the usual directive from my gynecologist to schedule my annual mammogram. I thought about it, but put it on the back burner because I'm just too busy. March and April came and went and then it was summer, which meant that my three kids were out of school and I was faced with lots of juggling between their activities and my work. That annual mammogram receded to the very back corner of my mind, along with all of the other things I keep meaning to do.
Then I had a phone conversation two days ago with a friend I hadn't seen in a while. It turned out that while the "busy-ness" of life was sweeping me along, she had been fighting breast cancer. In her mid-thirties, it didn't occur to her to have a mammogram until her doctor suggested that she go have one done so that she'd have a baseline to refer to in the future. Shockingly, that seemingly harmless baseline mammogram, that she never would have had if her doctor hadn't just happened to recommend it, showed cancer. And it was invasive.
So while I was blowing off my mammogram, my friend was reeling from a double lumpectomy, radiation, and the world spinning off its axle.
I called the radiology lab shortly after our phone conversation and there just happened to be an opening today. So, instead of eating my usual turkey sandwich at my desk today and stressing over how "busy" I am, I spent my lunch hour having a mammogram in honor of my friend and thinking about how lucky I am to have access to a yearly mammogram.
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Wow, Kristin. What a wake-up call.
Thank you for writing about this. I, too, have been putting off scheduling my annual exams, though for different reasons -- we've just been in this city for 8 or 9 months, and it's been hard to "get around to" finding brand-new doctors in a brand-new place. But I'm overdue for a pap smear and a mammogram, so I need to make it a priority.
It's going to the top of the list, today. Thanks for your post, and I sincerely hope that your friend recovers back to full health after her treatment.
August 13, 2009 - 8:44amThis Comment
Yay! Glad you're moving it from the back burner to the front and center like I did. My friend is doing really well, by the way, and is cancer-free.
(Please let us know if you need help finding a good doctor!)
August 13, 2009 - 12:27pmI was typing out a reply and accidentally wrote "too busty for a mammogram" LOL! Perhaps we'll find that question in our ASK section some day!
I'm so glad I read this - I'm ashamed to say I've had a referral for a mammogram since FEBRUARY! And I put it off and I've no idea why - they don't hurt me, they take ten minutes, they are important to me (my mother had it at my age, in her late 30s and succumbed to the disease soon after) but isn't there always something to do? Somewhere to be? It's just a phone call. I've made hundreds of calls since February - maybe a thousand? So what's so different about that phone call? I don't know. Or maybe I do know, and I want to hide away from the answer.
Anyway, thanks to your post, I scheduled it right now, today, for mid-September.
August 14, 2009 - 1:07pmDouble Yay! (No pun intended.) ;)
I'm so sorry that your mom had to deal with this horrible disease and that you lost her at such a young age. Makes me so sad to think about.
So why is it that this is the one appointment of the countless appointments, meetings and dates that we all have each year that is so easy to let go of and fall behind on??
August 14, 2009 - 2:21pmGood for you Kristin! I'm so proud that you got in there and got your mammogram done. What also drives me nuts is when we go to schedule it, they then tell us we have to wait 4 more months to be seen. So for you to get in so quickly is fantastic!
Big hugs to you and I know you've just helped more women get on the phone and get their mammograms scheduled too. Michelle
August 16, 2009 - 10:39pm