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Re: Microcalcifications
PTSD is real. For the first time in 13 years I did not have a clear mammogram, and I flashed back to 2005 and my diagnosis of cancer. It wasn't logical, but PTSD is not logical. For me, lack of information is worse than information overload. Learning that I had calcification on or near my lumpectomy scar frightened me, although the oncologist and radiologist seemed pretty casual and told me not to worry about it. Hah! The remedy was going to the hospital's medical records dept. and getting copies of my mammogram reports. I have three calcifications of a shape that is considered harmless, with a 0-2% chance of developing cancer. Now I can relax -- but not completely. Especially since I know the 1% person who developed bone mets from DCIS. (She is living comfortably after 10 years of mets, travelling and enjoying her grandchild.) This experience was a lesson to me. I still carry the trauma of cancer diagnosis and treatment. I got high anxiety when faced with my calcification diagnosis and alternated beer and xanax until I got enough information to satisfy me. It's my new normal. Bless us all.
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