I got dressed and met Mary. She was a warm, motherly matron RN. Mary was a talking machine. Sitting with her calf in a therapy boot, she spoke of her own bout with colon cancer. She said not to worry about having a biopsy, although it would be a bit uncomfortable. She gave me the address and map on how to get to the Capitol Hill clinic. She urged me to bring someone with me, someone who could listen to any directions, clarify any post procedure care requirements, and give moral support. She spent very little time talking about any potential that I might have cancer, but her friendly, bubbly, positive personality gave me a glimpse into the positive mind set of many cancer survivors.
I called the Capital Clinic the next day and scheduled the biopsy for Monday, March 9 at 8AM with Dr. LaMarch. Both Michael and Lily agreed to go with me. The morning was typical of late winter Puget Sound days: cold and overcast with a tease of white, fluffy clouds trying unsuccessfully to overtake the gray weight filling the sky. As usual we were running late. Michael dropped us off in front of the clinic while he parked the car. Lily and I caught the elevator just as Michael found us. Together we entered the radiology clinic and were ushered into a room designed to mimic a living room. There we met Dr. LaMarch, a beautiful French-Canadian radiologist. After explaining the procedure, I was led to the screening room. I had a stereotactic biopsy. I laid face down on a table with my breast hanging through a hole in the table. After a local anesthetic, I lay immobile as my dear breast was grabbed, tugged, mangled... I was tended by a sweet, petite RN named Rosa. She stroked my arm and murmured over and over that it would soon be over. I am so glad that I took the tranquilizer before the procedure. It hurt! After Dr. LaMarch got all of her samples, she applied a bandaid, patted my arm and told me that she would tell my family that it was over. Michael said she came out to speak to him wearing a huge grin. "I think I got all of the problem area," she said.How I wish she was correct.