Biopsy Fast Track

When I'm teaching, my phone doesn't get much attention. It's on silent. It's probably shoved in the bottom of my bag somewhere. I've got 25 kids to distract me from it. But not on this day.

I'd hurriedly dropped my class at their music lesson, squeezed in a trip to the bathroom, ran around tidying my classroom and finally collapsed at my desk in front of my computer. Then, my phone rang. And this day, of all days, it was on my desk in front of me. On silent, but face up, meaning that I caught it out the corner of my eye. I answered a blocked number and heard a familiar voice greet me warmly.

"Lauren...it's Ailish...how are you?"

Here I was waiting to find out if my cancer was back yet hearing her voice made me smile. Ailish had been looking up another patient's results and had been thoughtful enough to look mine up at the same time. My instruction had been to call Ailish a week after my biopsy but here I was, only three sleeps later, on the phone to her. And she had called me. Again I was overwhelmed by the standard of care, for both my physical and mental health, that I was being gifted by my little medical team.

In summary, the biopsy showed that the tissue they tested was, as expected, granulated tissue. Scar tissue. There was no evidence of malignancy. I had the all clear. Even if just hearing the word 'malignancy' made me shudder a little.

A one minute phone call is all is takes to spin you from fear, to normal life. I picked my kids up from their music lesson and went on with my day. Went on with my week. Went on with my life.