“Do we have all the time slots filled?” Lindsey was filling out permission slips for the special event scheduled for that weekend.
“Yeah. There are at least four people for each hour, sometimes more.” Danielle sat a her family computer drafting an email to send out to participants, reminding them they needed to turn in those slips by Friday and what the school deemed appropriate attire for a sanctioned carwash.
Lindsey and Danielle were co-captains for their cheerleading team. The group was holding the series of car washes over the next two months to help raise money for a trip to Orlando for a cheer competition. All the members were supposed to join in the fundraiser, and if they didn’t they couldn’t share in any of the money they made.
“Did everyone sign up? We don’t have any slackers do we?” Lindsey was hoping that some of her teammates had neglected their duties and weren’t joining in the fundraiser.
“Nope, no slackers, everyone is accounted for,” Danielle hit the send button.
The rest of their evening was spent working out with spirit T-shirt they would ear and debating whether they should instead make new ones.. perhaps puff paint or spray paint with stencils. Deciding against new ones, with all the water, they would just be wasted. They chose instead to wear their shirts from their summer cheer camp.
“Mrs. Wiseman is going to be there the whole time, she said as team coach, it’s a school requirement,” Danielle made a face. “She is so boring. I can’t believe she’s our coach. When was she ever a cheerleader… 1980?”
“I know! I’m so glad that Ms. Price is helping this year, now she is cool.” Lindsey secretly hoped that Rita Price would become their permanent coach, but she also knew Marion Wiseman would never willingly give up her position.
—
A long hot shower was just the thing after a hard day at work. She never thought working with kids would be so exhausting. The students she had weren’t that much younger than she was. She thought that school would be easy, there would be so much she could relate to. She didn’t expect to find those six or seven years age difference would be such a huge maturity gap.
The new bottle of body wash was waiting on the shelf – Lavender vanilla. The sweet scent was advertised as a soother, a nighttime relaxing aroma. She needed that, needed a good night’s sleep.
Rita grabbed her body scrubber, pouring the soap over it, lathering it into a lush foam. Once she was suitably soapy, she went through her monthly routine. A grandmother and aunt both had breast cancer and her mother tested positive for the BRCA gene. She took self-exams seriously. Every month, when her breasts were at their most sensitive she would check for changes, lumps, any thing out of the ordinary. So far, she found nothing.
But, there it was. A tiny kernel under her left arm pit, she had to hunt for it a second time, but she knew when she found it again. Rinsing off the soap, she stepped out of the shower and stood in front of her vanity mirror. Holding her left arm over her head, her finger tips touching the spot between shoulder blades, Rita looked for the lump a third time. When she finally felt it, she kept a finger on the spot, and picked up her eyeliner pencil with her other hand.
It was awkward, using her left hand to mark the location, but Rita got a scraggly X drawn over the lump. Her doctor’s office would be closed at this time of night, but Rita knew she could call and leave a message. The nurse would call her back the first thing in the morning to set an appointment.
This discovery ruined any chances of getting a good night’s sleep, so Rita pulled out the book she was planning to read during the upcoming Christmas Break at school. All she could do was try to take her mind off what the lump might mean. Changing into her PJs, Rita climbed into bed, tucking all her pillows behind her back and head, she settled in to read the night away.
When she realized she had read the same page four times, Rita put the book down and turned on the television in her bedroom, tuning the station to one of the cable news networks. Turning the volume to a level that was little more than white noise, she turn off all the lights and pulled the covers up to her chin. Despite a brain that ran through every possible scenario, Rita finally fell into a fitful sleep.
Extra concealer was necessary the next morning to hide the dark circles under her eyes, but Rita went to work as if nothing was worrying her. Before dressing, Rita redrew the X on the spot where she found the lump the evening before. She kept her cell phone in her pocket, set to vibrate, just in case her doctor’s office called her back. The call that came during her morning planning session. She could have the last appointment of the day at 4:30 if that worked for her. If not, the next available was next week.
That time would be fine, she said, I’ll be there.
Rita sought out Marion after classes, to tell her she wouldn’t be able to help with the cheerleading practice.
“Marion I have an appointment today, so I won’t be able to meet you today.”
Rita wasn’t her usual perky self. The young teacher had revitalized the program. Her choreography had help get the teams a berth in the Orlando competition. Todsay she seemed distracted, much more soft spoken than was typical.
“Is every thing okay,” Marion asked, trying to look Rita in the face. The younger women was looking at a spot on the ground some where between her shoes.
“I don’t know yet. I found something last night, in the shower. I’ve got a call into my gyno to get it checked out.” Rita tried to smile. “It’s probably nothing.”
“Oh sweetie, it will be okay, and you’re right, it probably is nothing,” Marion put an arm around the younger woman’s shoulder, and hugged her close. “You go, do wht you have to, we’ll be fine. The girls know the routines, they just need a little practice.”
Rita hugged her friend back, fighting down the lump in her throat. Stepping away, but keeping her hands on Marion’s arms, Rita gave her a small shake.
“Please, please don’t say anything to them about where I am. I don’t want to worry them.”
“Not a word, I’ll just say you had a meeting to go to.”
“That’s perfect. If I’m lucky and the appointment doesn’t run long, I can get back for the last half of practice. Thank you Marion, I appreciate it.”
She watched Rita walking away, knowing about her family history of cancer, Marion offered up a little prayer that this really was nothing to worry about.
—
Rita laid prone on the exam table, her gown opened from the waist up. Her doctor had applied a thin layer of warmed gel to her left breast and was searching for the lump Rita had found the night before.
“Marking the spot was a good idea, I can feel it right here,” Dr. Ridenour, had her eyes closed, concentrating on her task. “We need to get you in for a mammogram and ultrasound to check this puppy out.”
Rita sat up as Ridenour removed her gloves. Writing on an prescription pad, she gave her the order for the screening tests.
“I know you’ll want to set this up as soon as possible. Let me make a call, I might be able to get you seen today. Could you do that?”
“That would be great! Less time for me to obsess over this, thanks!”
Marion handed Rita a fistful of wet wipes to clean the gel off her skins.
“Get dressed and meet me at the front desk..”
After the doctor left, Rita quickly redressed. Letting out a sigh of relief, Dr. Ridenour didn’t seem concerned, so maybe this was just a cyst or she just had lumpy boobs. This really was going to be okay.
Ridenour sat at her desk, flipping through her Rolodex, looking for the contact information of the radiology clinic she preferred sending high risk patients. Dialing the number, she told the receptionist that she needed to schedule an emergency screening for that afternoon, and wanted the chart to be red flagged for priority review.
Hanging up the phone, Ridenour sat quietly for a minute. She needed to collect her thoughts, so she could appear nonchalant when talking with Rita about the tests. On the outside chance she was wrong about the diagnosis, she didn’t want to needlessly scare her.
Rita was standing at the receptionists window when she left her office.
“All set up. Here is the address, they can see your right way.” Ridenour handed Rita another prescription paper with the clinic’s street address. “They are very efficient. I could have your results today, depending on how busy they are, by the morning at the very latest.”
“Thank you so much Dr. Ridenour, I really appreciate getting me in so quickly,” Rita put the two prescription into her purse.
“Not a problem, I’ll call you as soon as I get your test results.”
—
Rita had gone with her mother to her last mammogram, but had to sit in hte waiting room while she had the exam. She had an idea what to expect, her mom having told her in great detail what was involved including the level of discomfort she could anticipate.
The technician handed her a short silk kimono, asking her to remove all clothing above her waist. She pointed to a warming pot for wet wipes in case she needed to clean off any deodorant.
Removing the heating pad that was warming the glass plates of the mammogram, the tech guided Rita to the machine, turning her slightly so she could maneuver her breast between the plates.
“Now, just hold your breath, this will only take a few seconds.”
The tech didn’t have to tell Rita to not breathe, when the glass plates closed, squeezing her right breast flatter than she thought possible, she involuntarily inhaled.
Repositioning and changing sides, the entire test lasted less time than Rita expected. Once the tech checked the films were right, she led Rita to the next room where another tech performed an ultrasound.
“We’re all done,” the technician was a little too perky for Rita. “You can drop you gown here in the hamper, there are wipes there for you. Once you’re dress, just check out at the desk.”
The receptionist told Rita that her test results would be sent to her doctor and her office would contact her. As she was getting in her car, the radiologist was called Dr. Ridenour.
“Nila, this is Paige. I’ve read over the films, you need to call your patient as soon as you can.” Dr. Paige Williams saw the mass as soon as she looked at the X-rays. The ultrasound only supported her diagnosis. “Yeah, I’m sorry but she’s going to need a biopsy to confirm, but I’m 99% certain it’s malignant.”
