The Doctor Said It Was Only A Lump....

There comes a time in everyone's life when they receive THE call or THE news.

For many, I probably don't need to say any more than that because they know the experience of terror and finite-ness of life that comes about.  Yet, for the benefit of others, I will elaborate.

Yesterday seemed like any other normal day.  The morning started with a shower and getting ready for work.  Then off to work and dealing with appointments as well as inbound phone calls.  All in all the day was pretty uneventful, nothing to write home about, nor be concerned with.  Dinner time came and went with a bit of time devoted to preparing for the next day and then a bit of reading before heading to bed.

Then, the phone rang.  It was a close friend.  She had just been diagnosed with lump on their breast and the doctors were strongly leaning towards a level 5 score on the BIRADS scale (Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System) or roughly a level 2 indication.  If you are not aware of the significance of these ratings, I highly encourage you to go to Google.com and look it up for yourself.

There is nothing quite like deafening silence.  Time sheerly seems to stand still.  Seconds become like minutes and minutes become like hours.  What was likely just a brief pause between her words, "I want to let you know that the doctor said......" and "they think they found it early" were probably not more than three to five seconds, but is surely seemed like an eternity. Time stood still and then like a stockcar taking off as the light goes green, the mind races with an overload of thoughts, concerns, fears and anxiety sets in.

Truly, there is nothing similar to getting 'the call' that you, your friend, or even your family member has been diagnosed with cancer or Lou Gehrig's disease, (or insert horrible potentially-terminal news here).  In the moments that follow, the thought for many is some version of 'how can this be?', 'it can't be true', 'they must have made a mistake', 'what if they are wrong?'. 

Due to the significance of the BIRADS score, she was immediately scheduled for intake the very next morning.  It seems that although her mom had experienced breast cancer, and she was getting regular breast exams, there had been no indication of these lumps.  She was doing her best to remain positive and stay focused on the path ahead, but you could hear the trepidation in her voice and the sense of doubt.  No amount of reassurance is going to remove the hesitation in her voice right now.

Not sure where things go from here...of course, she'll have her battery of doctor's tests, examination of the lumps and then struggle to 'wait' for an answer on the status of the lumps.

We all get so numb to the phone ringing and having near-meaningless conversations with life being so routine, and then 'the call' comes and suddenly it all changes.

Michael Hobbs, PahRoo Appraisal & Consultancy