Not a good week

June 20 - I had my annual mammogram
June 24 - I had a severe attack of vertigo which had never happened before.  I called 911 just before I passed out and the paramedics came and rescued me. I had the presence of mind to unlock my front door.  They found me sprawled out on my living room floor in my PJs.  I was home alone and it really scared me.  It came on fast and furious and I thought I was having a stroke.   They transported me to the hospital and did a CT scan and various tests.  The ER Doctor suspected Meniere's disease.
June 26 - went to the Ear, Nose, Throat specialist.  He ordered 2 different hearing tests.  Turns out I have Meniere's disease that causes inner ear imbalance.  It is the same disease Mom has had for the last 35 years or so.  I've had ringing in my ears for the past several years and now I'll have more vertigo and dizziness attacks, gradual hearing loss and pressure in my ears.  They can treat the symptoms but it is a chronic disease.  I hope I can manage the disease as well as Mom has.  Going on a salt free diet is the first step in trying to deal with the symptoms.
June 27 -  I got a call that my annual mammogram had areas of concern.  I went for followup xrays and sonogram.  They called afterward to say I needed a biopsy.
June 28 - A biopsy was done of calcifications that had formed in the tissue. This was NOT a pleasant experience.  You are asked to lie down on a metal table with the breast that is to be examined dangling through a hole.  Then the bed is raised up and the Dr. and technicians get under the table to do the procedure.  The breast is put in a clamp similar to a mammogram clamp for 45 minutes while you lie perfectly still.  One arm is raised and the other is not.  Meanwhile the technicians take various images of the breast trying to find an angle that gets to the trouble spot without going through a lot of blood vessels.  The Dr. came in and said he was going to numb the breast.  Yeah, right.  He then proceeds to shoot this gun type apparatus into the breast.  It takes my breath away it hurts so bad.  They give more numbing medication.  He then shoots in the tube again to extract more tissue three more times to get four samples.  He then inserts a medal bead to mark the spot where the tissue was removed.  They finally let me up from the special torture table and I recover for a few minutes with juice and cookies.  Small consolation.  They say it would take three working days to get the results.   I had a biopsy surgery done 5 years ago on the other side and those calcifications proved to be benign, so I was hoping for those same results. Turns out, that wasn't to be.
July 2 - I was driving to work when my family doctor's nurse called my cell.  She said that they test results had come in and that Dr. Taylor wanted to talk to me.  Now.  If possible.  I knew my goose was cooked. He told me I had a diagnosis of breast cancer.  Fortunately, however, the mammogram caught it early and the prognosis is very good.  There is an 80 to 90 per cent survival rate, so we are encouraged about that. It is a stage 1 grade 3 tumor and is HER2 positive.  It is very small, but very aggressive.  Hence I will be having surgery followed by chemo and radiation. There is no doubt about it, the mammogram saved my life.  .