January 17: Hindsight is 20/20 Journaling Challenge - Hindsight-is-Always-20-20
- Description
- Having lived almost three-quarters of a century, I had trouble narrowing down my focus for the topic “Hindsight is 20/20”. There have been a lot of decisions along the way! What turned out to be literally a “life changing” decision, at the time seemed almost trivial.
Over 20 years ago, I discovered a lump in my left breast. Of course, I was scared that it meant the “Big C”, so I called for an appointment with my gynecologist. Dr. LaVelle was a rabid baseball fan and every year would head to Arizona to watch his beloved San Francisco Giants get ready for the upcoming season. Unfortunately, my “discovery” coincided with spring training; I had to see a different doctor.
I don’t remember the name of this doctor, but I know he was younger than Dr. LaVelle and I had never seen him before. After his examination, he told me the lump was nothing to worry about, many women have fibroadenomas. They usually cause no pain and often go away without any treatment. Since the lump was not painful and this was what I wanted to hear, I was very happy – no cancer!
In July of that same year I learned that Dr. LaVelle would be retiring soon. An OB-Gyn is probably one of the most intimate physicians for a woman and I was sad that I would not be seeing him again. I decided to schedule my routine exam a few months earlier than normal so I would have the chance to say goodbye.
When the time came for the breast part of the exam, Dr. LaVelle was surprised to see that the skin of my left breast had started to “dimple” around the area where I had felt the lump. He saw in my chart where I had been examined in March, but told me he was concerned and wanted to schedule a needle biopsy just to be on the safe side. It was performed the same day and on July 5 I returned to the hospital to hear the astonishing news that the lump was malignant.
Looking back, if I hadn’t made the decision to see Dr. LaVelle one last time, I would not have been here to write this saga of “Hindsight is always 20/20”.
CREDITS: KIT - "Faithful", Kristin Aagard; FONTS - Comic Sans, Vista La Diva Regular