Colleen,
Thanks for the compassion I appreciate it. I made the appointment with the breast cancer surgeon today for November 27th. My husband wants to go with me. So far, he is O.K. in public. He is so upset that he can't drive me to my appointments. He has been by my side for 56 years and has always helped me through all of my many illnesses. Our daughter drove me to one appointment that I thought would include a biopsy and our son drove me to the other appointment when I had the core biopsy done. Unless I am having biopsies or surgery, I will probably drive myself. The breast surgeon and radiation facility I might be going to is not too far from my home. My daughter has offered to take a leave of absence from teaching, but I hate to have her do that. I could change my mind depending on what my treatment will be. I have an appointment with my oncologist this Friday and I will probably learn a little more about what the plan is. In the last 4 years I have had 6 MRI's, 6 3-D mammograms and 7 ultrasounds. I am very perplexed as to why this mass was not seen sooner. Also perplexed that our local hospital imaging department could not see the mass but the university hospital had no trouble finding it.