Mammogram experience enlightens

A few months ago, my doctor referred me for a routine mammogram as part of my annual wellness checkup. At my age, every few years for the screening is recommended. It was my first time at Northwest Specialty Hospital’s new Northwest Breast Imaging Center in Post Falls.

I’m not sure how many mammograms I’ve had in the past 73 years, but I do know they’re not on my top five pleasant things to do list. Ladies, you know the drill ... having each breast smooshed awkwardly and sometimes painfully for the X-ray image. The good news is the images don’t take long to complete.

This appointment was a pleasant surprise; I must admit. The setting is more spa-like than clinical, comfortable and relaxed. No hospital type gown, but a plush white robe and a lovely, friendly woman to do the imaging. We chatted a bit while she went over what would be involved and the new equipment she’d be using.

While one of my “girls” was being painlessly smooshed, the woman noticed a large fading bruise on my forearm and asked about it. I laughed and said it actually looked better now, a week after I’d been slammed by the back door of my Equinox while on vacation. I noted that I bruise easily since I take blood thinner medication. We continued the test and she casually asked if everything was good at home. I said it was, especially since my husband had recently retired and we were enjoying the freedom.

Only when the test was done did it occur to me to connect the dots between my bruised arm and the curious question about my home life. I thanked her for her concern. She responded that they wanted the center to be a safe space for women in addition to any concerns about breast cancer.

What she didn’t know is that a lifetime ago I spent a decade in an abusive marriage, never confiding in anyone the hell I was living. No one ever asked if everything was good at home.

Kudos to Northwest Breast Imaging Center for seeing the whole woman in the vulnerability of a breast exam. October is both Breast Cancer Awareness Month as well as Domestic Violence Awareness Month but being aware of each all 12 months of the year can make a true difference.

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This past weekend, lifelong Coeur d’Alene resident Rob Lunceford opened a u-pick pumpkin patch on his family’s farm on Seltice Way. Rob’s parents bought the farm, just east of where Y-J Packing Company and stockyards was located, in 1952. They raised registered Angus cattle and a son and daughter.

Now that son has completed a labor of love so people can enjoy an afternoon on the farm, picking pumpkins, squash and cornstalks. There’s no admission fee, just pay for what you pick. Rob’s created farm equipment vignettes for families to take photos together. From the scarecrow guarding the fields to hay bales, sunflowers and pumpkins galore, it’s a picture perfect place for fall family memories right in town.

Rob has a strawberry field planted so come spring there will be u-pick strawberries, too.

The Lunceford Family Farm Pumpkin Patch, 3377 Seltice Way, is open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in October from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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Autumn has always had a melancholy effect upon my mood, and more so since the 12th day of October in 2004 when my world shifted and changed forever.

The two decades that my father has been gone have blessedly been filled with more joy than sadness, although we’ve experienced many family milestones in which his presence was missed mightily, including the birth of his first great-, great-grandson..

There will never come a time that I don’t catch myself reaching for the phone to call to share something with my dad, a laugh or an indignation, local politics or a headshaking current event.

When I find myself missing him the most is when I’m the most grateful. Grateful to have been blessed with a father for 52 years of my life who loved me unconditionally and who made each of his five children absolutely certain that we were his favorite. What better gift than that could there be?

Ronald D. Rankin, April 19, 1929-Oct. 12, 2004.

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Happy birthday today to Pat McGaughey, Dale Bennett, Craig Hampton, Suzanne DeTar, Laurie Rumore, Joel Elgee, Barbara Baltzell, Chris Nicastro, Josh Hissong and Jeff Hill. Tomorrow, Randy Wells, Kathy Epstein, Greg Luraski, Lyn Harris and Ron Deering toast the anniversary of their birth. Friday’s birthdays belong to Bill Everson, Nancy Kosonen, Jessica Moore, Steve Fitzhugh, Lori Gravelle, Bob Cox, Allan Knight, Lynn Jackson, Mollie Sommers, Marlea Kruger and Mike Way. On Saturday, Michael Pereira, Chris Pasquale, Greg Worley, Chad Anderson, Cindy Odd and Warren Anglin take another trip around the sun. Tom Elliott, Jeff Yates, Donnie Murrell, Alan Brown, Kathy Getchius, Kirk Hjeltness and McKade Brown blow out the birthday candles Sunday. On Monday, our nephew, Derek Scharf, Jeff Johnson, Margaret Eddings, Serena Pratt, Kathy Pierce and Judy Bennett turn the page on another year. Oct. 14 birthdays for Randy Bohach, Leslie Lien, Jeff Elder, Dave Chambers, Karen Hammond, Linda Polley, Gary Ghramm and Suzanne Metzger.

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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email [email protected].