Serious Mammogram Anxiety

[AnxiousJamie]

Hey friends.
My anxiety has been in check for a while not but I have just turned 40. I went for my annual gyno appt in February where everything checked out ok. I had a Pap and manual breast exam. They scheduled my mammogram for a couple of months later, waiting until I turned 40. Well my appointment is Wednesday and suddenly my anxiety is sky high! Background: I have had 2 mammograms before…the last one was in July of 2019. I was having some nipple leakage at that time. I had two, 6 months apart, and it showed I had debris in one of my ducts. The radiologist told me I was good to go until I was 40. Fast forward to now. I am 40 and I’m terrified they are going to find something. I am so afraid I’m going to get a call back and require more testing and then of course be diagnosed with C!!! Help me cope!! Thank you in advance!

[.Poppy.]

Hi Jamie, keep in mind that this is totally routine. The gyno looked at your breasts already and if there had been something to be concerned about they would have said so, and would have booked you in with the specialist sooner. As it is, this is just a "welcome to 40" visit and they certainly won't find anything because there won't be anything there.

Try to be kind to yourself the next couple of days. Take it easy and treat yourself. You can do this!

[AnxiousJamie]

Thank you Poppy for the kind words. I know statistics are in my favor. But you know how the anxious mind works. I’m embarrassed to say that my appointment wasn’t for another couple of weeks but I called today to get it moved up. I just can’t wait that long in this state.

[.Poppy.]

Oh yes, I know all too well how the anxious mind works. It will be nice to have it out of the way. Admittedly I haven't hit the age for regular mammograms yet, so I'm not sure if they'll tell you anything at the appointment or if they call later, but maybe get yourself some ice cream afterward to celebrate a job well done.

In the meantime, do what you can to ease your anxiety. Watch some comforting TV shows. I also like to journal because it lets me get my thoughts out, and it's kind of nice to come back after the fact and see that I was all worried about nothing.