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stacia l. brown

@slb79.bsky.social

1.7K followers 520 following 1.1K posts

writer. mother. sound-capturer. newsletter: stacialbrown.substack.com site: stacialbrown.com/bio

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stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 2d

it’s a once in a decade phenomenon. we can just let it stand. 😂

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 3d

i love this song, too, and you’re right. it doesn’t get enough credit.

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 6d

oooh, that sounds like an *incredible* show. enjoy!

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 6d

a cartoon of two teddy bears hugging each other

ALT: a cartoon of two teddy bears hugging each other

media.tenor.com

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

long story short: don’t let your existential dread stop you from getting your checkups.✌🏾

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

results are in: all clear till next time. no ultrasound needed. same time next year. took all of an hour in total.

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

they took me back to the flattener for additional imaging on the right side. 😬

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

saw this in a comics shop yesterday with my daughter. i was so intrigued by the cover. congratulations!!

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

okay. first part’s done. if i recall correctly, that’s actually the easier part. the ultrasound is actually more uncomfortable. I’m waiting for that now. they say it’ll be awhile. i don’t doubt it.

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

also she said it’s been almost 2x as long as i thought since my last mammogram. it was during the thick of the pandemic, so 4 years, not 2.5! 🤦🏾‍♀️

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

oop. I’m back here now. Will report back.

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

I’m only supposed be grateful and my faith is supposed to silence my fear. even if my faith is minuscule. and it isn’t! it isn’t minuscule. but it also doesn’t silence or even outweigh my anxiety.

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

then i feel guilty for thinking of any of that because i wasn’t raised to think about unknown futures in any way except optimistically.

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

i think: my daughter will probably be with her dad and his family. i think: that will be for the best. and that will make me sadder.

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

so i think: i wonder how long i could keep working? how soon would i have to move home and burden my overtaxed, only-daughter mom who’s already doing elder care?

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

i think, “damn. if routine imaging is a $96 copay, how much would longterm treatment be?”

and i already know: unaffordable.

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

i’ve been hyper-aware of my own mortality (and my kid’s, actually) ever since I’ve had a kid. a lot of my anxiety is around how I’d navigate any card in our fragile, one-adult house being pulled.

i think abt things like that at mammograms.

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

the preventive check-ups you start getting in middle-age scare me, even as I acknowledge how lucky/fortunate I’ve been not to have had to do more than preventive care, so far.

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

i actually have a two-part check-up today. the “flattener” thing and a follow-up ultrasound. I had this the first time, as well. i’m told it’s because the ultrasound checks for what might be missed via the first machine. it’s for people with “dense breast tissue.”

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 7d

y’all mind if I live-post my mammogram right quick? it’s been like 2.5 years since my first one. this is my second. co-pay was $96. parking at this hospital will also cost. i was late, finding parking. in waiting room now.

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 10d

for sure, the Black women were underwritten. but so was everyone else.

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 10d

i guess I’m in a minority but: i don’t love “one battle after another.” it had its moments but the writing felt underdeveloped in a lot of ways that mattered to me.

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 12d

watching adolescence for the first time now means that I’ve been fully spoiled. so i’m definitely not experiencing this the way it was intended.i can’t appreciate the precision of it all, though. the skill.

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 14d

things i did not have on my 2025 bingo card: guy branum discussing the “mammy dearest” episode of “a different world” on “keep it!”

& it was lovely.

stacia l. brown @slb79.bsky.social · 15d

what would be far more productive and useful to us and families like us is far more research, more specific and nuanced resources and more community education about how not to talk reckless about things you don’t know/experience.