THERE IS NO relief without stress and this week I had plenty of both. Maybe you noticed there was no Mushroom Head last Friday? I gave myself a day off because I had a surgical biopsy on my right breast on Thursday. In July, after I had a mammogram and then a second mammogram and then a third mammogram plus a needle biopsy during which a metal "clip" was inserted into my breast, the doctors were still uncertain about the "architectural distortion" in my breast tissue. No-one wants to hear the word "distortion" and "breast" in the same sentence regarding your own body, and "architectural" is such a bizarre adjective for body parts that I have no emotional response to it. Just bewilderment.

When I went to the hospital for the needle biopsy, which hurt like hell, I was so relieved when it was over that I had completely forgotten why I needed it in the first place until the nurse said, "we are hoping the results say 'benign.'" I walked out of the hospital in a daze. I know two people around my age who have had breast cancer in the past six months. I tried not to think about the odds.

So color me bewildered when, after getting results that said "benign," the doctor told me that he wanted to do a surgical biopsy to make sure that what they were seeing wasn't cancerous. And that there was a "ten percent chance" that what they were seeing was cancer.

And again, the mammogram hurt like fucking hell.

The real relief came on Tuesday when the results once again came back negative, and this time it was definitive.

There were other moments of relief. Michaela started school, and it is a relief to return to a regular routine. She and I participated in Bike the Drive, an annual event when they block off Lake Shore Drive and open it up to bicycles. I was a little stressed during the ride—it was more crowded than I had expected and honestly, people on racing bikes should not be allowed on it after a certain point—but glad to have finally done it after years of wanting to. Still, I was relieved when it was over.

I was relieved to learn that Elon Musk's attempts to drum up antipathy toward immigrants in Chicago by posting a 911 dispatch call on X claiming that 32 Venezuelans were “trespassing” and “showing guns in the courtyard” of a residential building were met with clearheaded eye rolls from locals: “It’s better for [some politicians] to make it seem like Black and brown people fight amongst each other,” said Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor of the 20th ward, where the alleged threat took place, "than for them to deal with the real issue and create real policies that make everybody safe.”

And Robert White, 28. “We’re enjoying ourselves. Sometimes people don’t like to see that. They like to see us fighting.” 

I hope you all enjoy yourselves this week. And if there are people who don't like to see you doing that then screw them.

Three Things That Kept Me Going This Week

1. "Time Bandits" on Apple TV. We really enjoyed this silly reboot of the 1981 original which keeps the Monty Python–style antics but has been wittily and sensitively updated for the smartphone generation. Plus it stars Lisa Kudrow as a disgruntled employee on the run.
2. A few weeks ago we went to the Nicole Eisenman survey at MCA Chicago which turned out to be, to my genuine surprise, kind of a snooze. It was obviously lacking in sculpture, of which there were very few, but the paintings underwhelmed for obscure reasons. I did enjoy looking at "Breakup" with Michaela mainly because she instantly realized what it was about. ("He just got a text from his girlfriend breaking up with him," she said, or something to that effect.)

3. David Cross, "The Worst Daddy in the World," which we watched for free on Hoopla Digital via our library. I liked this not only because it was shot in Chicago during his 2023 tour but also for one very particular sequence involving volunteers from the audience which made me laugh so hard I could barely breathe.

Today in Mushroom News

There's a new mushroom emoji. Here's a sweet tribute to it written by someone who clearly pays attention to their emojis—and to mushrooms. H/t to Caitlin Dewey.

P.S.

I would be remiss not to mention that there was a major shooting at a US school this week, marking the 23rd time that a school shooting has resulted in injuries or deaths. Posting this comic I wrote a few years ago because I think about Kimberly Rubio's quote every time this happens.

P.P.S.

It is the one-year anniversary of Mushroom Head! In other words, a perfect occasion to share with a friend, or subscribe, or leave a tip, or best of all—send me a note!

Thank you for reading! If you're new here, welcome. Mushroom Head is a comic diary about me, Claire, a middle-aged lady who lives in Oak Park. Previous installments recorded the time I thought I'd ODed on THC and my experience parenting a person with ADHD as a person who has ADHD. There are also occasional forays into the surreal. If you'd like to get in touch with me, please feel free to respond directly to this email. I'm always happy to hear from you! (Also, you might want to put the Mushroom Head email address into your contacts to avoid having it go to your junk folder.) And if someone forwarded this email to you, I hope you will subscribe, because you are welcome here! Unless you are a bot. In that case, boo, please go away.