It was very simple - All I had to do was go to the 9th floor and look for Ste. 912 as I was instructed to do. Mike had dropped me off at the main entrance and after parking the car in the parking garage at Hackensack Hospital, he would be joining me on the ninth floor. Then began the confusion. 

I was told I was on the wrong floor and I was sent to the fourth floor where a nurse named Kathleen was leading me down a hall.  I told her my middle name was Kathleen and I asked her if she'd be taking me home. Then I began singing to her, “I'll take you home again  Kathleen.”  She was young but she knew that old song. We both agreed that we were probably the only ones in the building that knew that song.

I had been told that after my lumpectomy I might be confused from the anesthesia. Again I was told that I was on the wrong floor. Then I met Michael coming from the parking garage, who was about to go to the ninth floor. I told him I was on my way to the fourth floor to register. So far I was the only one who wasn't confused.

Next one of the nurses put pictures of my right breast up on the screen. I guess she got confused because my right  breast was the wrong breast. They had to try to find her so she could change it but she was out to lunch. They came miraculously to the conclusion that one of them could change it.

After that things started to clear up. Another nurse was leading me down a different hall when she told me that even though she was younger than me, that I was walking faster than she was so I apologized to her.

Then I was put on a stretcher and anesthesia was administered. I asked how they would know when the anesthesia had started working. They told me that it would be when I stopped talking to them. I was given a mild anesthesia, similar to what they give for a colonoscopy. I have never had a colonoscopy but I'd heard of older people getting deep anesthesia and then having memory problems so I wanted to avoid losing my marbles if possible.

When I woke up they put me in a wheelchair and we began searching for Mike who was in a waiting room somewhere.

Luckily we found him and he went to get the car while I was wheeled to the main entrance where I could see from inside when he pulled up to pick me up.

I am now cancer-free and, when I go for my follow-up appointment on January 19, I will see if radiation is recommended.

I firmly believe that they already know whether I will be getting radiation or not, but they like to keep it a secret because that makes it more dramatic (I'm kidding. I don't really believe that). My mind was a little fuzzy the night after I got home because I thought I had a call from George Stemper who is a relative of my deceased husband. I didn't get to answer the phone in time but Mike found out it was from George Stevens, NOT George Stemper. Misreading that name could have been because I need a change in my glasses perscription and NOT because of confusion.

Will I remain cancer-free? Only time will tell. Because they caught it so early, I expect that I will. My General Practitioner doctor discovered lumps in my left breast and sent me for a Mammography. So for all of you that have breasts, don't neglect to get a Mammography.