The Medical (almost) ALL CLEAR

Last month I had a bit of a scare. I blogged about it late one night and then deleted it before anyone could read it.

My health history is not without it's little bumps here and there. I smoked from the time I was 13 until I was 30. I stopped smoking for 8 years, gained 50 lbs and started smoking again. Lost the 50 lbs, quit smoking and gained back the 50 lbs. I started smoking for the last time when Paul was deployed to Afghanistan. It was a way to relieve some of the stress of waiting for him to come home. It didn't help that my new next door neighbor was also a smoker. We'd spend quite a few mornings, smoking away on her balcony. It was great, but it couldn't last.

I quit for what I hope will be the last time July 2006.

I'm pretty sure you can see where this scare is leading.... During August I developed a recurring sore on my lower lip. At first I didn't really think too much about it. But early in September, I finally became aware that it just never really healed and went away. Then late one night, I found a lump in my right breast.

I have been spending the last couple of weeks having various tests done. The specific tests that have given me the "all-clear" is the mammogram and most of the blood work. While there is a "fatty tissue" lump in my breast, it is benign and not anything that needs to be removed or otherwise played with.

All my blood lab work came back normal, except one. The RBC is low and the doctor has some concerns about iron deficiency. He believes that this deficiency could be the cause of the lip irritation. So.. we are continuing tests to rule out that as the problem.

It'll be another couple of weeks before this next set of tests are done and I review them with the doctor, but since he never said the "c" word with respect to my lip, I'm gonna keep a positive outlook for these results.