It’s never just one thing.

As tempting as it is to think your diagnosis will receive your undivided attention, we lead complex lives when it comes to our health. My invitation to participate in the provincially-sponsored mammogram screening program arrived while I was still navigating tests early in my diagnosis. I called the closest center and requested an appointment. It was early November. My appointment would likely be February I was told.

This is where becoming your own advocate comes in handy. Waiting a couple of months for a mammogram normally wouldn’t bother me, but I was preoccupied with my other symptoms, so wanted a clear result as soon as it could be arranged. I made friends with the receptionist late on a Friday afternoon — she happened to be the person responsible for booking mammograms and gave me her extension to call directly on Monday to find an earlier time. I ended up with a confirmation for 4 December.

At the same time, I was waiting on the results of my Pap test. The first had been rescheduled because I was experiencing vaginal bleeding — the symptoms that took me to the clinic in the first place. A second test happened on 20 October and was shipped off for analysis. I marked 20 December on my calendar, knowing it would take two months for the results to be returned.

Since the pandemic, the turnaround time for Pap test results has stretched from two to four weeks to four to five months in some parts of Canada. The issue is the limited number of labs to analyze the tests. The follow on concern is that cervical cancer goes undetected longer, leading to poorer outcomes when women are diagnosed. The switch from Pap tests to a self-administered HPV test is underway in Québec and has the potential to address this gap, but the roll out will take until 2025.

Three weeks after my biopsy results confirmed my endometrial cancer diagnosis, I got a recall notice from my mammogram screening. The current guidelines for breast screening are under review in Canada. About 10% of women will be recalled, and of those recalls 9 out of 10 do not have cancer. Still, I spent an afternoon curled up in my favorite chair, convinced this was ‘what’s next’ and the results would be in that 1 of 10 fraction. It helped that the next afternoon my Pap test results came back clear. Inhale. Breathe.

Canada has a comprehensive screening program that varies province by province. When you are recalled, your next mammogram can be one or two different types. In my case, because the first was a traditional 2D set of images, the radiologist recommended I have both a 3D mammogram and an ultrasound, two weeks apart so the images could be analyzed and available at each step along the way.

As luck would have it, the only 3D machine that my clinic had was not at the downtown location where I’d had my first mammogram. That meant arranging a transport out to the West Island. My best friend — the same one who had kept me company for a few hours during my pre-op consult — agreed to drive me, and we used the trip as an excuse to meet up with another friend who lived close to the clinic for an early lunch. Unlike my pre-op appointment, this time I was in and out in less than 30 minutes, and most of that was spent standing in line to check in.

As I write this, my third mammogram appointment is a week away. After making friends with the gynecologic oncology clinic administrator, I know that my surgery window is likely to be between 5-8 February but won’t be confirmed until the head of surgery is back on the 29 January and can approve the February schedule. There’s a possibility that I’ll have my mammogram and get my surgery date confirmed on the same day.

While I wait for these next steps to come together, I’m keeping up with my running schedule, trying out new Peloton classes via the app, and hoping we all weather this frigid cold snap that has gripped Montréal for the last week.

29 January update: No surgery date today, but the ultrasound technician for my mammogram was lovely and took the time to show me what she was checking against the 2D and 3D scans, and how they show up different in each. I learned an ultrasound will tell you whether a mass is solid or liquid. She also said she saw nothing worrisome on my scans and that I should expect follow up in six months or a year, depending on my doctor’s interpretation.

10 February update: My doctor called this morning with the official news that my results were benign. The next check-in will be in a year instead of every two years.