Life is really like a box of chocolates. You never know what you will get. I think each week we are given a new box to open and we can never predict what will be in the box. Last week my box included an unexpected scare and delightful celebration.
Our week started with coming back from our holiday on Monday with Esther complaining of sore ears. It was around 2:30 in the afternoon that I rang our doctor to see if there were any available appointments and there was one opening at 3pm, so I nabbed it and asked if I could also get a pap smear done because it was well overdue. With Jacob home, I’ve been multi-tasking like a boss to get as much done as I can with the extra help at home.
Esther ended up with ear infections in both ears and a raging sore throat that required drops and antibiotics. I’m glad I was able to get her into the doctors when I could. I booked in for another appointment on the Wednesday to get my moles checked because I hadn’t had that done since before Phoebe was born. Unfortunately the doctor didn’t have time to check them all there and then.
Wednesday came around and a thorough check of my skin showed that none of my moles were suspicious and all looked well. My doctor then said he wanted to do a breast check which I thought, sure why not, expecting to get the same bill of health that I’d just gotten about my skin.
After a detailed feel and a few arm movements up and down, my doctor felt a lump that I hadn’t noticed before. He said he wanted me to get an ultrasound to check the lump.
I naively just thought it might have been left over breast milk tissue and that it would just be nothing. I had the ultrasound and it went for a while. This kind of got me a little worried because couldn’t they tell it was just old breastmilk? I was told I had to book in with my doctor to get the diagnosis the next day.
My mum drove me to the doctor and we found out I have two lumps – fibroadenomas, one in each breast around 9mm wide. They don’t look to be cancerous but I will need to get them checked in 3 months time to see if they grow.
Of course I did a google search on them and despite the fact I was told they weren’t cancerous, I don’t like that I have them. And even though I was calm during the check, ultrasound and getting the results, the whole experience reiterated how much of our health and age we can simply take for granted.
October is breast cancer awareness month and my experience is a good reminder that we can’t become complacent about breast health. None of us are immune to cancer. I’m just thankful my doctor was onto it when I wasn’t, which brings me to my next point: going to your doctor to get your breasts checked annually is a good thing to do – especially if you are young like me (I’m 31). I would not have picked up what my doctor did and would have assumed it was normal breast tissue after I recently stopped breastfeeding Phoebe. But you can’t make assumptions, and being vigilant with checks is vital.
We ended the week on a high though as I booked Phoebe’s baby dedication on Sunday. Of course the date didn’t suit everyone, but I was reluctant to change it because I’d been meaning to do it since Phoebe was 6 months old. I also didn’t want to book the dedication in November and December when family would be busy with end of year and Christmas party engagements. Sadly some immediate members of the family weren’t able to make the service.
Our church does family dedications a little differently to many churches as they have one date each month that is set aside for baby dedications. They line all the families up on stage and pray a blessing over each baby. It worked out well that I dressed the girls in the same dress as it was easy for our family in the audience to pick us out on stage.

The prayer was special and we received a little certificate and bible for Phoebe.
For Jacob and I, it was special to thank God for her birth and the gift she is to our family. When the pastor talked to us about Phoebe on stage, Maggie wanted to tell everyone that she was wearing the same dress as Phoebe. It was very cute.
As I held Esther and Maggie’s hands and looked at Jacob holding Phoebe, I realized how abundantly blessed we are and there is nothing I want more than to be the best wife and mum to my family.

How has your week been? Have you had your necessary health checks this year?
I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT.