In memory of Erika E. who died of BC that the mammogram didn't find
Rik and I met one day when two friends and I were on a road trip, and stopped to get a Coke.
Months later I got a new job near the ocean, and moved almost "down the street" from her. Becoming her friend was a blessing. We hashed out the common divorced-woman pain, calmed down, and had fun.
One day she called to say she felt something in her breast. I asked her if she wanted to "wait and watch," but because there was family history of BC, she decided to see the doctor at once.
The months after that are a blur to me now - she had so many tough times. She had taken a para-legal course, and I believe she got to start her new career. But almost immediately, she got a new hospital instead.
She spent more and more time in the hospital. And she told me then about the disc on her chest wall that the mammogram didn't find. Her roommate was a tireless nurse who was able to be near her in the hospital much of the time.
Years later, I found a note from her in my things: It said;
"Our friendship is valuable to me. It may be sorely strained soon."
Before long she was dead.
Now decades later, we are still reading "news" that mammograms are not finding every new cancer.
THIS IS NOT NEWS.
I wish you health.
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