My doctor told me that it was time to stop procrastinating and just make an appointment for my routine mammogram.

Let's face it--there's nothing fun about a mammogram, so the incentive to just postpone it was pretty strong.  But I caved, and made the appointment for early last week.

I've had a mammogram before, so I knew what to expect, and I walked out of the imaging center afterward feeling a little sore, but confident that everything was just routine.

Less than 24 hours later, though, I answered a phone call from the receptionist at the imaging center.  Apparently things weren't so routine this time, and I had to make another appointment for a second mammogram and ultrasound on one side.  I had to wait three days for that second appointment, and I spent those three days freaking out with all the "what-if" scenarios running through my head.

The waiting truly is the hardest part.

When the day for my follow-up appointment finally came, I was herded into a tiny waiting room where I could practically reach out and touch the 8 other patients huddled on their chairs.  Nobody was talking; everyone just sat there in their own little bubbles of anxiety.  Finally it was my turn, and the technician who led me toward the changing rooms told me the most comforting words I'd hear all day:  "The doctor will read your mammogram before you leave, and then he'll talk to you.  You won't leave here without knowing exactly what's going on."

Even before I had that second scan, I was incredibly relieved by those words.  And the doctor's diagnosis just added to my relief.  Nothing was wrong; come back in a year.

And I will be back; I won't put that off.  Next year, I'll make that appointment right on time.  Hopefully, I won't have to go through that kind of wait again.

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