Hospital Gown and IV Chic
Well, I went for my MRI - the one that would help to determine my surgical route and how extensive the cancer is. Fuck that MRI.
As it turns out, there were more small tumors than they could detect through mammogram and ultrasound. Also, WHY NOT DO AN MRI FIRST, PEOPLE?! I know, it's expensive, they have detection protocol, etc. But, dudes. Seriously. No one likes a useless middle man, especially when they are costly and time consuming tests that are frequently wrong...
While it appears that my cancer is contained to one side, I will be moving forward with a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction for a few reasons. The main reason being that my doctors, while amazing, have no idea why I have cancer. With no strong family history and testing negative for a gene panel, they just don't know. They believe there may be a good chance I wouldn't have a recurrence in the other breast, but they probably would have said that I have a very small chance of breast cancer in the first place if they didn't know about my actual current breast cancer... Also, longterm symmetry.
So, I arrive for my appointment and I check in and a nurse hands me 2 hospital gowns and tells me to change “Everything but underwear off, put the gown on… and leave your shoes.” There are 2 gowns, so I use them. I’m not flashing randoms in the halls.
As it turns out, there were more small tumors than they could detect through mammogram and ultrasound. Also, WHY NOT DO AN MRI FIRST, PEOPLE?! I know, it's expensive, they have detection protocol, etc. But, dudes. Seriously. No one likes a useless middle man, especially when they are costly and time consuming tests that are frequently wrong...
While it appears that my cancer is contained to one side, I will be moving forward with a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction for a few reasons. The main reason being that my doctors, while amazing, have no idea why I have cancer. With no strong family history and testing negative for a gene panel, they just don't know. They believe there may be a good chance I wouldn't have a recurrence in the other breast, but they probably would have said that I have a very small chance of breast cancer in the first place if they didn't know about my actual current breast cancer... Also, longterm symmetry.
So, I arrive for my appointment and I check in and a nurse hands me 2 hospital gowns and tells me to change “Everything but underwear off, put the gown on… and leave your shoes.” There are 2 gowns, so I use them. I’m not flashing randoms in the halls.
I get my IV (this is an MRI with contrast, so they need to start a line before the procedure. They are running a little behind and I sit in one of the chairs in the imaging hallway and wait to be called. I’m the only one there until a man gets wheeled in by staff and his wife is following. She sits next to me and he quickly gets called for his imaging. So, I’m sitting there in my beautiful double gown outfit with my IV line hanging since it isn’t hooked up to anything yet and she looks over at me and says “So, you’re waiting for someone too?”
She then seemed genuinely confused by the fact that I was actually there for testing and not just waiting for someone.
I left really, really curious about her daily fashion choices.
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