Something is Wrong.....

This will be a long post.... not my typical post about gardening or animals or anything like that, but about me and a woman health issue that I am having. I have decide to blog about it , maybe helping someone else out there .
First Off, Let me say, I do not like the weather has decided to turn colder again and we have more snow and ice on the way...I have gardening to do and eggs to hatch and it needs to start getting warmed and staying that way.............

Now on to my ordeal...I will not be posting any pictures  before I begin.
It started with a couple of red marks on the side of my breast, at least that is where I think it starts. I showed them to my hubby and he told me it is probably just your bra rubbing on that area...So I tried wearing my aha bra, a sports type bra..and wore one like that for about a week, the spots faded , but was still there...I switched back to my other bras and the reds spots came back...The red spots have been there for awhile and learning to deal with it.
About 2-3 months ago  I started having pain in the side of my left breast. At first I thought it maybe just the way I slept on that side or maybe I had crocheting a lot that day, but everyday...pain on the left side of the left breast, then I started having pain in my arm pit and sometimes down my arm and sometime my left hand feel like numb feeling... and sometimes it hurt to wash my hair in the shower. I like to put together puzzles in the winter time...So I have been working on putting one together for my youngest and it was hard to pick up the pieces of the puzzle...So I would stop putting the puzzle together...a hard puzzle still not done with it .
So I was thinking , maybe I need a mammogram and I remembered my mom telling me about a foundation that help women get one...So I checked it out...I know I should already had one since I am a 49 year old women, but there is something that is green ...that has been hindering that process....So I found Breast Cancer foundation of the Ozarks website and got their  number and called and had them send me an application to see if I qualified .The sent me an application and I found out their are 2 types of mammograms a screening type and a diagnostic one...I thought a mammogram was a mammogram, ....
So I sent in the application and low and behold I qualify to get a mammogram.....So I got my voucher and call my doctor to get a doctor`s order for it and then scheduled the screening mammogram....The day comes and what do you know we have winter weather...so I had to call cancel and reschedule it....and pray we don't have any more winter weather on that day.
That day arrives and the pain is not that bad on that day...The pain is always there , but varies in the degree of how bad it is....So I am nervous, of course and worried.  .My mom goes with me....So I check in and wait and then they call my name and my on the little half gown, then go and wait till they call my name again...my name is called and I go back there and the nurses asked me  if I have been having any trouble with my breast...and I tell her and show her the red spot of the left side of the breast and then asked how long has the pain been there ...then she steps out of the room and comes back with a number and a person to contact and tells me about Show Me Healthy Women and that I need to contact that person to get a mammogram, a diagnostic mammogram at that...and that if this screening mammogram were to show anything ...I would have to come back.
I proceed to tell her that my plan was to get the screening mammogram and then it comes back abnormal then go from there....so she steps out again and comes back and then she tells me to contact my local health department...and tells me that it would be best to go thru them the Show Me Healthy Women program and she told me again that I needed a diagnostic mammogram and that they wouldn't`t do a mammogram if my breast was hurting anyway......So I proceed out and then change back into my clothes and  leave......
So I tell my mom and she says you need to call them as soon as you get home...( we do not have cell phones)
So I call the first number that she gave me and leave a message, that has been a couple of weeks ago and still haven't heard anything from that person.....Next I called my local health department and left a message, they called me back...and they had heard of the Show Me Healthy Women program but didn't know all the details and she gave me the number of someone else in a different county health department that knew about it....So I called them and left a message.....they called me back.....My hubby says it sounds like you are getting the runaround.....while I was on the phone and the lady tells me about the guidelines and that I should fall into the guideline's....She also told me to contact my regular doctor and make a appointment to get a clinical exam and she couldn't under stand why they didn't go ahead and do the diagnostic mammogram.....So After I got off the phone with her, I then called my doctor and made an appointment for  the following Monday.....
So all this time, I have been going to Google and putting in my symptoms and it kept bring up cancer symptoms ...one in particular ...Inflammatory Breast cancer.....So I read alittle about this cancer and it is a rare cancer and they only find it in stage 3 and their is only 4 stages...and it is a fast growing cancer ,so I went to the Show Me healthy Women website and seen what providers , since my own doctor office had no clue in what I was talking about......So I found another doctor office that I had been at and that did do the program and they have a sliding fee scale just like mine does and called them ...they are open on Saturday....it is an urgent care clinic. so I called them and they sent me an application and the nurse I spoke too said she would call me Monday and that they wound not take the clinical breast exam from somewhere else...So I waited until Monday and so I can cancel my appointment with the one I had made and waited for her to call...so She didn't`t call on Monday , so I call them back and set an appointment with them for the following Tuesday...and she said the Monday around there was hectic and that is why she didn't call.
So I got the application in the mail the same day I  got  a letter from the clinic from our town reminding me that I needed a pap...the last one I had one was back in 2009.....I know too long, but the green paper stuff we pass around....sometimes it just doesn't go as far....
So that Tuesday comes and I have and early appointment, first one there....at least first patient.....So I wait in the waiting room and wishing I had brought something from home to look at or to do  while I wait....So I am the only one in the waiting room....The clinic is about 30-45 minutes away depending on how fast I drive the curvy road and if their is a train on the track....gotta love these curvy roads of the Ozarks.....
So I go back and the nurse takes my blood pressure....it`s alittle high ...so I show her the red spot of the side of my breast and she writes it down...then the doctor comes in , she likes to meet her patients with their clothes on first before she has them change....I think that is a good idea...and I tell her my story , of course the nurse had told her....So I change my clothes and then she comes back in and starts doing the breast exam.....starting with the left one....she finds lump....I think she said it was elongated  but not for sure, just was a shock that she found a lump and I was hurting from the exam....then she said to order a mammogram and an ultrasound and asked how long has my breast been purplish in color.....I have not noticed that.....since it the color is on the underside of my breast....I am sorta of endowed in the breast department....so its hard to see under them ....not that they are big....but they aren't small either....so she does the pelvic exam and low and behold I have a yeast infection and my first round of poison ivy for the year and that just sprang up over night...besides a cold I am have been dealing with ...
So When I got home and looked at the underside of my breast using a mirror and low and behold my breast were discolored....
So that is where I am know in this story waiting for them to call to set up appointment for the mammogram and ultrasound.

Side note...Why don't  every county in Missouri and every one that is low income in Missouri know about the Show Me Healthy Women program?

beginning gardening for 2014

Look what I picked up in Springfield the other day.

yes that is right daffodil bulbs on clearance, I just love to get things on clearance....will be going in my garden as soon as the ground warms up a bit hopefully they will be planted this weekend sometime or next week, as it is suppose to be really nice,

of course, I will have to let some of the snow melt away first....hopefully this week it will be gone and not come again until about Dec.....

         My two helpers today while I was out taking pics, The top pic is of Bandit, the bottom pic of Buttercup

Signs of Spring, Tulips coming up, these are some of the ones I replanted last year in the fall...the rest that are coming up is covered by the snow.....
Spring cant come soon enough for me....Have some seeds and am ready to plant!!!!