My first and soon second mammogram experiences this month

I recently went in for my very first mammogram. Before leaving, I posted a status update on my Facebook/Twitter to let my friends know I was feeling a bit nervous.
 
Well, I wasn’t exactly nervous – in fact I was a bit overly confident – but I guess I was feeling nervous about being nervous. I’ve been through so many experiences in my life that I’ve learned to combat negative emotions as soon as they arise to prevent dealing with them later. I wanted to prepare myself for the mammogram and do whatever I could to NOT freak out when the time came.
 

Thankfully, several of my belly dance friends replied to my status update with words of encouragement, which definitely helped (and reminded me why I started this Hip Mix of fabulous people in the first place). From their comments I realized that even though a lot of people are negative about the procedure, the word “mammogram” isn’t a 4-letter word. The support I garnered from the amazing community of bellydancers and musicians out there really gave me the strength to push past my anxiety.

When the time came for the girls to have their first photoshoot, I started a conversation with the tech because, as everyone knows, I’m a “bit” of an extrovert (hehe). At one point, I turned around and saw an X-ray image of my boob on the screen behind her.

I almost fainted. Really.
 
"Is it hot in here? OMG... no it's just me.  Take a deep breath, relax.  Think about something... ANYTHING!  Ummm, my vision is getting very white... "  These were the things I was saying to myself.  The tech was still talking to me, her voice became a distant muffle.  When that happened, I had to confess to her I was not such a big girl after all.
 

She got me a cool cloth for my forehead. It helped everything but my bruised ego. I'm a baby when it comes to body "stuff."  Not everybody's body stuff, only mine.  She assured me it's not uncommon, I chose to faithfully believe her and I did feel better.

10 minutes later, I put the experience out of my mind and went on to other events happening in my life-In fact, I had all but forgotten it, until yesterday's call.
 
"We need to do another mammogram, but this time an ultrasound-your breasts are "dense." Dense? Huh? I quickly told the nurse my boobs aren't dense, they're just slow learners! Jokes help-they almost always help.
 
So tonight I'll tell my girls to study a little more this time and prepare myself with a few distractions-perhaps create a new playlist on my iPod... and tell myself it's time to grow the hell up!  The test isn't a nightmare... but my immature anxiety is.