<p>Our house, Spanish revival, has green shutters (not hunter, but a deeper green with black mixed in…). The house color is “Cashmere” by DunnEdwards which is pinky brown and the trim is white (Swiss Coffee). Our neighbor’s house, brick and wood front has a green wood (sort of a taupy green), black shutters and white trim.</p>
<p>You’ll get the party done…and ask for help. Enjoy the day and take lots of pictures to show your grandchildren when they graduate.</p>
<p>snowball- my h and I are the opposite, he says he will not worry until there is something to worry about, but he hates to see us girls in pain so that stresses him out. I am an ICU nurse and get paid to worry and anticipate problems so it is part of my nature. i also see the worse case scenario all the time. My new thought has been however if we really don’t know-why can’t we focus on the good, but we never do, I think it’s because it is so devastating when it doesn’t turn out the way we hope. Grad parties were nice but I found myself exhausted by the effort to put up a good front, came home and lost it. These parties were important to me though because they were kids I knew from when they were little and so special, and I just don’t want to retreat. but it was an effort. Still trying out colors your suggestions are good, I will go check it out. I really want to paint my house yellow, a happy color but my neighbor has a yellow house with different shutters, so maybe a different tint? We are considerate neighbors.</p>
<p>I guess it’s just as devastating when the news is bad though. We try to protect ourself from pain.</p>
<p>I got news today again that I have to go in for an ultrasound following a mammogram. This has happened so many times over the years. It’s scary and I’m tired of it and have been trying to find info on breast care centers that give immediate results and do followup studies at the same time. I’m too old for all this stress and anxiety. You wait for mammogram results then, if it’s before a weekend you wait to make an appt., then wait for the appt. and finally are there and waiting for them to tell you the results. I’ve always been treated very nice and have no complaints about that and am thankful for this technology but I’m just tired of the process and feel there has to be a better way. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Yes I do have SEVERAL suggestions. If there is a radiologist at your facility he or she can read your results while you are there the first time. I learned from a dear friend to ask for that. (We live in an area where we have access to several places for mammorgrams.) After diagnosis/treatment I go to Cedars/Sinai for an enhanced mammorgram…read right away. If there is a problem they can do everything right there and that day. (Yes, it is a major research/teaching hospitol).</p>
<p>When I was diagnosed with the anxiety raising/problems of getting appointments I went to a facility here which isn’t a preferred provider. It cost extra but the doctor called my husband in to talk with me. Told us that if he were a betting man he would say that it was cancer, but I would be fine. </p>
<p>After the surgery I went to my ob/gyn because I was out of my mind with fear. He picked up the phone to get the results of the lymph nodes two days earlier than the doctor said that they would be ready. He then told me that I would, “have to jump through some hoops but in the end I would be fine.”</p>
<p>The bottom line is the need for communication and the right for every patient to be treated as a person. I think that there are times when overstressed medical providers can’t or won’t give the information or speed the process up. I know that some of this is cliche, but I cannot tell you how many times I have seen people waiting and worrying unnecessarily.</p>
<p>sixties, if you are in the LA area, PM me and I can give you the name of a doctor that gives immediate results.</p>
<p>sixties - no great advice, just commiseration. I’ve had the same thing 4 out of the last 5 mammograms (not this year, though, I was shocked).</p>
<p>I’ve sometimes been given the all-clear to leave, only to arrive home and find a message on the machine, or a call two days later saying they need to do a sonogram. In my case it’s usually asymmetry. The worst was year before last, when they kept repeating the mammo on one side (8 times, to be exact), to get the picture they needed. That breast was probably glowing by the time I walked out of there, not to mention squashed flat. I sometimes wonder if the radiation (though the amount is small) after years of this can cause cancer itself (?)</p>
<p>Just read some more of these recent posts–
Hang in there, downtoearth, and best wishes and prayers to you.</p>
<p>downtoearth, my two cents on your house color – a medium-to-deep taupe for the siding, with cream window trim, would be a great combo with hunter green shutters/door. So would a creamy, buttery yellow (as opposed to a pale/pastel or bright lemon), with white or creamy white window trim. If you find paint stores’ selections overwhelming you might pick up a Pottery Barn paint color fanbook. Their paints are interior, not exterior, but there’s a taupe, a soft yellow and some other nice hues that might provide a starting point. Paint stores can always match a color chip! If you have the hunter green paint at home, paint some on a piece of cardstock or an index card to take along when you’re color shopping.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information. I’ve already decided it’s time for me to take more control of this situation. I’m going to talk to my family practice physician and explain things to her. If I can’t be accommodated by my health care facility (and it’s a very good one) I will look elsewhere.</p>
<p>Thanks so much. I’m in the Denver area and really feel that there must be someplace here that gives results and does ultrasounds at the same time. Possiblly the breast care center at University Hospital. Thanks again.</p>
<p>Ispf72, Thanks. I have horror stories that go back 23 years since I started having mammograms early because my step sister had breast cancer. I’ve been 5" away from a needle biopsy due to a poorly done mammogram. I’ve sat in a surgeon’s office and had him tell me how he was going to remove my breast and reconstruct it when nowhere on my chart did it say I had breast cancer (I didn’t). I’ve been called back and called back needlessly because no one marked my films to show where I had a benign lump removed earlier. I feel I’ve had at least two lifetimes worth of anxiety from a precedure that can be life saving. I just don’t think this is the way it should work and I’m going to do things differently from now on. Thanks again.</p>
<p>sixties, the hospital sounds like an excellent idea. I have my mammograms done at a nearby hospital which has a special breast diagnostic center. I have cysts, and my doctor always writes on the paperwork that I need a “diagnostic” mammogram rather than a “screening” one. That means that if they see anything on the mammogram, I get taken in for an immediate ultrasound, so I only have a few minutes of anxiety rather than days’ worth! Wishing you the best through all of this.</p>
<p>A word on diagnostic versus screening – insurance may treat them differently. I once was accidentally given “diagnostic” as the procedure and my insurance did not want to cover it the same way they cover routine mammograms. I had to get it changed.</p>
<p>I just do not do mammo… to begin with. Not knowing is better. They are saying that only women at risk need to be concerned, otherwise cancer screenning does more harm than good. Most autopsies show that good percentage of dead who have died of unrelated to cancer causes, had some cancer going on which did not cause any symptoms and would not be fatal.</p>
<p>Thanks booklady, that’s just the solution I was looking for. I really did not know there were screening and diagnostic mammograms.</p>
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<p>Who is “they”? We’re all at risk. Most breast cancers occur in women who do NOT have a family member with the disease. Get a mammogram. In this case, ignorance is not bliss.</p>
<p>I’ve had wonderful mammogram “care” at a nearby cancer care center with ties to the big state university as well as a local medical research facility. I’m sure I also have “handle with care” all over my file. It would be nice to think all women receive this courtesy. I am not “released” or even told to get dressed until my initial films have been screened. On a few occasions additional compression checks were ordered on the spot. Most recently when the compressions did indeed indicate something, they scooted me next door to ultrasound. They were ready to go ahead and stick a needle into right then, too! I think that is the benefit of going to a larger, comprehensive center. But then again, maybe it’s the difference between screening and diagnostic - dang insurance. But shouldn’t anyone who has ever had to deal with a suspicious something or other deserve to fall under the diagnostic category?</p>
<p>So it’s definitely worth the peace of mind to check around and find a place with that process in place. And if you go that route, be sure to track down all of your old films and have them PERMANENTLY sent to the new screening facility if it meets your requirements.</p>
<p>And not knowing is NOT better. Please define “risk”? There is NOTHING about me that says high risk. On the contrary. Yes, my mom had breast cancer, but my recent BRCA testing was clean as a whistle. Absolutely NO known genetic issues. I can check off so many reasons why I should NOT be dealing with this disease it’s comical. And yet…</p>
<p>No risk factors for me. Breast fed my 4 kids for 13 months each. The radiologists and surgeons all said my lump would have taken another year to feel yet there was micromets in my sentinel node. No, I don’t think not knowing is better. I DO believe however, that not everything that is found needs to be treated in the same way and that is where it is vital to get at least two opinions and do some research.</p>
<p>All such good advice, I will check my insurance and right now all my films for the last 20 years are at the same place. I just need to make sure that’s the right place. As I said before, my stepsister had breast cancer and we had the same mother. Should I be tested for the gene?</p>