Yesterday was my very first, successful breast surgeon appointment. By successful, I mean I didn't run screaming into the parking lot. So there's that.
Dr. Winchester at St. Vincent's in Birmingham (Yes, I'm totally plugging her) is amazing. We got there at 4:30 pm. The appointment was at 5. We walked out at around 7:45 after being called back in around 7:00. When we first arrived, even at that late hour, the waiting room was full. Which was surprising, but not THAT surprising.
Because I have no cancer and no cells that may be cancer, my appointment consisted mainly of meeting, taking a measure of each other, and then getting my vitals and history. She made sure to give me all my choices to prevent cancer, aside from the mastectomy that I was there to talk about. She examined me and said I was perfect for what's called a "nipple sparing prophylactic mastectomy". We'll call that NSPM for short from now on. So she explained that she does the best NSPM ever and that my boobs are perfect for this procedure.
After the examine we discussed my history in depth more, because it was important that I tell her about my Hughes Syndrome (for more on that you can go here), as well as my other surgeries and to talk about a plastic surgeon. Originally I was going to go to Nashville for a consult, but after meeting Dr. Winchester, no. No ma'am. Staying right here in Birmingham. She said she would have a couple of names of people who would be able to work with my Hughes and still be able to do pretty work by the end of the month, so now we wait.
The really awesome part about this lady was that when I thanked her for being open and continuing to take patients into the late hour (after telling us "God Bless") she said, "Well, this is my calling." Then she smiled and walked out the door.
Andrew and I had been talking about how we weren't going to see anyone that didn't see this as helping women. Neither I nor he wants to pay someone who only wants to do what they want, the job, get the money, don't get sued, and go home. And I sincerely believe that this woman is an angel sent by God to do His work. So....
I turned to Andrew when the door shut and set, "We're not going to Nashville. We're staying right here with her."
It was a pretty encouraging meeting and I'm super excited to go ahead and get started on this. I have several school things planned for the summer and was going to take classes (which my dad thinks I can still do) so we'll see how it goes.
And then my sweet husband Andrew took me out for Italian food because we were STARVIIINNGGG and it was time to eat. So I got appetizers, food, salad, wine. And it was amazing. He makes me laugh. He's such a good guy. And he's staring at me waiting for me to finish this sooooo....
For now I'm going to sleep, because I have to leave for ORCS tomorrow.
Choose the happy!
Dr. Winchester at St. Vincent's in Birmingham (Yes, I'm totally plugging her) is amazing. We got there at 4:30 pm. The appointment was at 5. We walked out at around 7:45 after being called back in around 7:00. When we first arrived, even at that late hour, the waiting room was full. Which was surprising, but not THAT surprising.
Because I have no cancer and no cells that may be cancer, my appointment consisted mainly of meeting, taking a measure of each other, and then getting my vitals and history. She made sure to give me all my choices to prevent cancer, aside from the mastectomy that I was there to talk about. She examined me and said I was perfect for what's called a "nipple sparing prophylactic mastectomy". We'll call that NSPM for short from now on. So she explained that she does the best NSPM ever and that my boobs are perfect for this procedure.
After the examine we discussed my history in depth more, because it was important that I tell her about my Hughes Syndrome (for more on that you can go here), as well as my other surgeries and to talk about a plastic surgeon. Originally I was going to go to Nashville for a consult, but after meeting Dr. Winchester, no. No ma'am. Staying right here in Birmingham. She said she would have a couple of names of people who would be able to work with my Hughes and still be able to do pretty work by the end of the month, so now we wait.
The really awesome part about this lady was that when I thanked her for being open and continuing to take patients into the late hour (after telling us "God Bless") she said, "Well, this is my calling." Then she smiled and walked out the door.
Andrew and I had been talking about how we weren't going to see anyone that didn't see this as helping women. Neither I nor he wants to pay someone who only wants to do what they want, the job, get the money, don't get sued, and go home. And I sincerely believe that this woman is an angel sent by God to do His work. So....
I turned to Andrew when the door shut and set, "We're not going to Nashville. We're staying right here with her."
It was a pretty encouraging meeting and I'm super excited to go ahead and get started on this. I have several school things planned for the summer and was going to take classes (which my dad thinks I can still do) so we'll see how it goes.
And then my sweet husband Andrew took me out for Italian food because we were STARVIIINNGGG and it was time to eat. So I got appetizers, food, salad, wine. And it was amazing. He makes me laugh. He's such a good guy. And he's staring at me waiting for me to finish this sooooo....
For now I'm going to sleep, because I have to leave for ORCS tomorrow.
Choose the happy!
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