Because of the bizarro world of when insurance allows you to schedule your mammogram and when your hospital system has availability, I didn’t get my annual screening until July 3rd.

It was the same old irritating apprehension a few days leading up to my appointment and a sleepless night. It just happens. Once you have had a diagnosis you are always going to be a little antsy.

Sometimes when you go you are the only one in the dressing room/waiting area. This time it was a few women all different ages. It’s a weird kind of camaraderie.

I was taken in and had my mammogram and the tech as always was so nice. When I came back into the dressing room/waiting area there was a woman younger than all of us who was just beginning the journey of she didn’t know what her diagnosis was yet. Up until that point I think I had been the only actual breast cancer/cancer survivor/patient.

My heart went out to this woman because she was having a hard time getting things scheduled and getting the doctors she needed because of all the overcrowding in the area and shortage of doctors and technicians.

Southeastern Pennsylvania has seen many hospital closures. So every area of healthcare is affected. And government officials talk a good game yet somehow magically no new hospitals open. And healthcare costs are skyrocketing again. People should be able to get access to the healthcare that they need. I periodically think what if I couldn’t wait for my appointment? 

This country just seems to make everything harder these days. And I’m saying that as someone who pays for my healthcare who has always paid for my healthcare. I’m not looking for handouts. I’m looking for reasonable costs and to be able to meet reasonable expectations.

As women we learned far too quickly that we have to be our own best advocates. After my appointment, I went upstairs to my gynecologist’s office suite to make an appointment. I realized I had never a regular gyno annual in 2024 because I couldn’t get an appointment. I’m in menopause and I’ve had a full hysterectomy so I’m not a child bearing years or having babies , which means that I will stand back and wait because there are so many women that need to be seen more immediately.

Well I will still be waiting for an appointment because it’s that busy. I’m not complaining because I know I will be seen, but again what if I was someone that needed to be seen more immediately? 

There are a few things I find as exhausting as the healthcare system. I get tired of making appointments and going to appointments and I will be going back to physical therapy because the lymphedema is manageable in my left leg but now it has appeared a bit in my left arm. I made the appointment more than a month ago at this point and I’m still not getting in until August to start again. Again, at this stage of my life right now, I can wait. But what if I couldn’t?

I feel like unless you’re in like the top 1% or 2% economic percentile, you are a second class citizen in this country. it shouldn’t be so goddamn hard to have access to care, especially if you’re dealing with something like breast cancer or even if you just want to see your doctor. 

I don’t pretend to have solutions, because I think this country needs among other things a complete political overhaul so things like healthcare and women’s health aren’t constantly politicized and WEAPONIZED.

And the fact that Social Security sent out something so Pravda on July 4 about the big shitty bill passing was something I never thought I would see in this country. That bill is going cause people to lose benefits, and the politicians in this country obviously don’t give a shit because otherwise it would not have passed. I don’t know about you. I am tired of politicians playing politics with our lives, while we pay for their healthcare as elected officials.

But I don’t think I have much fight left in me right now. So we’re keeping our heads down and trying to survive. I will leave you with the news that my 14 years being breast cancer free is official with the report coming back from my mammogram.

Take the life blessings as they come.