Mammograms and Mechanics

I need to take a break from pancreatic carcinoma, achalasia and peptic ulcer disease for a few minutes...studying GI this afternoon!

I had my first mammogram this morning for evaluation of a breast lump. Despite the awkwardness of exposing my bosom to 3 strangers in the past 2 weeks, this went well. Preliminary report from the radiologist reveals that all is ok!

Much more painful, in fact, was the visit to the auto mechanic which followed. I went for a simple oil change and tire rotation, and came away with anticipated repairs of over $1000. Most vexing of these is the need for new tires, coming 10,100 miles and 11 months after the last tire change. Our Toyota Sienna, is AWD, which is a necessity to navigate our driveway during the winter. As much as I love this vehicle (can't believe I actually said that I love my mini van!), I detest the run-flat tires that came standard. The last tire replacement was actually covered by an extended warranty on the original vehicle purchase. This time, I'm told that there is NO WARRANTY unless the wear is even over all the tires. Of course, these lovely tires not only wear out early, they cost more than your average tire, and take longer to change. The only benefit is that we don't have a spare tire in our trunk.

While I was stewing about this on the way home, we stopped at Giant Eagle to return our Redbox DVD rental. I also picked up a bottle of children's Tylenol to replace what Jenna reluctantly drank down over the past 48 hours with her fever (gone today, thank goodness.) Lauren insisted on carrying this and dropped it in the parking lot. Before I put it away at home, I discovered it sitting on the table in a pink, sticky puddle. At that point, I was ready to lick it off the table in the attempt to alleviate my pounding headache! However, all is cleaned up, children are quiet, and the fine print of medical texts are making me dizzy.

All this to say: mammograms really aren't that terrible!

T