Superstorm Sandy and the Mammogram

Technotini PINK

The clouds were circling, the weather reports were getting more urgent and ominous, evacuation warnings were starting.  It was Thursday, October 25, 2012.  Superstorm Sandy was set for landfall that Sunday and little did I know that a medical superstorm of my own was about to make landfall.

I went in for my mammogram.  The nurse was very serious.  She wanted more pictures, more pictures, more pictures.  Each time her face getting graver and graver.  “But it’s just clogged milk ducts,”  I tried to explain.  She obviously didn’t understand my doctor’s work order.  “My doctor assured me it’s probably nothing-just clogged milk ducts.  This is just a routine check-up kinda thing.”

“We need more pictures,” is all she said.

I could feel chills up my spine, soon my whole body was shaking.  I couldn’t get warm, I was shivering and shivering.  Then I saw relief!  The NJ Housewives on the cover of US Weekly!  Hurray!  I could put all this scariness behind me and focus on “important” matters like table flipping, Fabulinis vs Skinny Girl drinks, did Theresa really set-up Melissa, and who did what and said what behind who’s back.  But alas, my usual go-to-girls for Reality TV escapism were no help. I then tried to break the ice with the radiologist by recounting my bubble bath from hell story.  She didn’t see the humor.  The clouds were circling overhead.  Things were looking bad.

The next 24 hours were a detached, foggy blur.  I went through the steps, as if in a bad dream.  Doctors explaining things in extremely serious voices with stern faces.  “We’re squeezing you in for a biopsy tomorrow.  Be here at 7:15 am-no food or water past midnight. Don’t be late, remember, we’re squeezing you in.”  “We’ll put a rush on the biopsy so we can get the results as soon as possible.”  “Things don’t look good.  It’s probably cancer.”

I knew in my heart that I could beat cancer, if just given the chance.  I thought of my aunt (a breast cancer survivor of 12 years), I thought of Lance Armstrong-probably the most famous and strongest cancer survivor out there.  I could get through this.  I would get through this.  But what scared me the most were those grave faces.  I’d seen those faces before, not even a year ago, when my dear, beloved black lab faced her ill-fated battle with cancer of the spleen.  It was those grave faces (the faces that almost seem to be the masks of the grim reaper) that scared me the most.

 Technotini Pairing

Wow, sorry to leave you with such a dark and stormy post.  Oh, how about that for a pairing?  A Dark N Stormy!  This drink is a favorite among our friends and how fitting–when things are dark and stormy, you definitely need your friends.

Dark N Stormy

2 oz. Gosling’s Black Seal Black Rum

4 oz. Ginger Beer

Serve over ice with a slice of lime for good measure

(This image is from TheCigarSmokingMan.com  Check out his post at http://thecigarsmokingman.com/2011/07/15/dark-n-stormy-cocktail/ He’s got a great post about the Dark N Stormy.)

View my “Superstorm Sandy and the Mammogram” board on Pinterest!  Click here:

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HI! I’m a Shana, self-proclaimed Media Mixologist, wife, and mom to two little girls. I love to mix up cocktails of crafts, recipes, wellness, family and business with just the right amount of sparkle to help you shine everyday. So, grab a glass, and let’s celebrate the cocktail of life!