Mammograms

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

I swear...if a man had to have a mammogram, they would find another way to get it done! Surely there must be a more civilized way to screen than smushing it to the point that you could scream.

 

[edandcolleen1995]

We have to deal with prostrate exams!

All you get is a little smooshy ****. We get a one finger salute!

Plus we have to deal with our wives during the whole childbirth thing! My wife was in labor for almost 20 hours and I sit in that uncomfortable chair and eat hospital food while waiting!!

(I am going to run and hide now)

 

[nhpooh]

 

[mrsv98]

I swear...if a man had to have a mammogram, they would find another way to get it done! Surely there must be a more civilized way to screen than smushing it to the point that you could scream.

Amen Sister! Just imagine if they had to have a protate exam in the same manner! I am going Monday and am so looking forward to it....

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

We have to deal with prostrate exams!

All you get is a little smooshy ****. We get a one finger salute!

Plus we have to deal with our wives during the whole childbirth thing! My wife was in labor for almost 20 hours and I sit in that uncomfortable chair and eat hospital food while waiting!!

(I am going to run and hide now)

If you are still out there...

...we get the one finger salute, too...in TWO places!!

And I just had BOTH exams-upper and lower- this week, so don't get me started!!!

 

[apirateslifeforme]

I always have to refrain from posting on the "going for my first mammogram - what's it like?" threads. Mine was HORRIBLE and I dread going for another one. The tech had me stand up on my very tippy-toes - I asked if she had a stepstool or anything and she curtly replied, "No." I'm 5'2", not like I'm overly short. I pretty much had to balance like that, bending partially backward, and "don't breathe." The plates pinched and pulled to the point where I actually ended up with bruises afterward!

And then she came back 10 minutes later..."Your tissue is way too dense, we have to do it again."

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

I will refrain from telling the ahem..."gentleman"...what I think of his post. Let's just say it's a darn good thing that a) I'm not married to him; b) I don't know who he is; and c) I don't know where he lives! I would like to wish him well when he gets kidney stones and the women around him laugh hysterically at his "pain."

Now...to the poor 5'2" woman, sister I feel your pain. I'm 5'4" and in addition to having my breast placed into a vice...I too had to stand way up on my tippiest tippy toes to get my breast into the vice, had the darn plastic top of the vice smack me in the face and clavical because somehow you need to stand with your face and shoulders back, your breast forward and your toes under the machine all at the same time while it squishes the ever loving daylights out of you. In my case, each one was squished 3 times as they needed top and lateral views.

I swear, I go to my GYN next week and I'm going to insist on ultrasound instead next year or offer him the joy of experiencing it himself next year!

I do appreciate the "value" in screening for breast cancer and I've watched my cousin and aunt both cope with the chemo and radiation this year and lord knows I don't know how they did it...but seriously....putting my breast in a vice....you have got to be kidding me!

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

So I got up this morning and I've got bruises! Yep, I'm done. I think next year I will insist on the ultrasound instead!

K

 

[DebbieB]

You need to find a new mammo place. I'm 5'2" and have never had to stand on tippy toes, the machine adjusts up or down to the proper height. I've also never had extreme pain or bruises. I've had at least 10 of them.

I don't think ultrasound takes the place of mammograms. It is used for futher diagnosis if some suspicious or inconclusive is seen on the x-ray.

 

[Piecey]

like Debbie said they don't do ultrasounds unless they see something on the X-ray.

Even before they do an ultrasound, I think, they'll try to do spot compressions.
I've gotten that wonderful joy before, too. Ugh!!

 

[HeatherFeather]

I do breast ultrasounds for my job. Ultrasound is a great tool...used in conjunction with mammograms. I usually can't see calcifications on ultrasound and in certain patterns, they can be indicative of a carcinoma. On the other hand, ultrasound can penetrate very dense breast tissue that can't be seen very well on a mammogram. Please don't skip your mammogram and just ask for ultrasound. It sucks, but it can save your life.

 

[minniecarousel]

Well, back in the early days of mammograms, we used two balloons - one inside the other, for compression. And back then, we used a xerox-type film. They are getting much better regular x-rays these days.

I'm trying to figure out why having someone standing on their toes to get the pictures has any value. It's an uncomfortable enough exam - you shouldn't have to stand awkwardly, too.

 

[Stacerita]

I don't know what the big deal is really. Sure its uncomfortable, but I would rather deal with that than the possible alternative. I know 3 women right now in various stages dealing with breast cancer. All 3 put off mammos because they were uncomfortable and didn't like them. They wish now they would have done them regularly. Its usually once a year unless there is a problem. No biggie.

 

[DebbieB]

I don't know what the big deal is really. Sure its uncomfortable, but I would rather deal with that than the possible alternative. I know 3 women right now in various stages dealing with breast cancer. All 3 put off mammos because they were uncomfortable and didn't like them. They wish now they would have done them regularly. Its usually once a year unless there is a problem. No biggie.

My Mom was one of them. She didn't have one for 14 years when she was diagnosed at age 61. By then it was too late, it had spread to her lymph nodes. She died 4 years ago yesterday.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Squish away. My life is definitely worth some pain and discomfort. FWIW, I can't see anyone who has been through childbirth complaining about the pain and discomfort of a mammogram. At worst, with re-dos, a mammogram takes 15-20 minutes. Don't know anyone that's been through labor, start to finish, in that time. In both instances, the pain is worth it.

 

[LuvOrlando]

If men had to endure this test instead of cold hard metal and groping hands there would be a gravity helping table with heated gelcups. I just don't get why they can't use gravity to help things along and suction, like used in breast pumps, to pull the tissue away from your body slowly.

I happen to have a whole lot of this cancer in my family so I've been going since 36, the age my Aunt was when she got it. Even though the test isn't comfortable it is worth the time if it saves my life. But still, come on, how is it there have been no improvements in equipment and techniques even after all this time?

 

[PrincessKsMom]

They can't figure out how to make a pair of pantyhose that don't run when you pull them on, you want them to figure out a better way to do a breast exam?

 

[MiniGirl]

Wow... I guess I've just always been very fortunate. I've had 2 this week alone. Yes, the first one showed a very dense area, so I had a second one AND and ultrasound to get a closer look at things.

I have never experienced pain during a mammogram. Maybe a little discomfort for a second or 2 but not really pain. In fact, I thought the u/s was worse than the mammogram.

The facility I go to also offers the MammoPad which is supposed to help with the pain and discomfort that some women experience. See of your office offers it.

http://www.hologic.com/breast-imaging/breast-cushion/

 

[RitaE]

My Mom and I have this fight all the time. She claims to barely feel anything at all so I must just be overreacting.

Pain reception is kind of an individual thing. Just because one woman doesn't feel the procedure as more than "mild discomfort" doesn't mean that it isn't extremely painful for somebody else

I think there are still alot of things in medicine that are "blown off" as ridiculous complaining based on gender.

 

[crashbb]

I'm been getting them since I was 25 (family history) and I really don't find them bad at all.

The only one that was painful (rather than uncomfortable) was right before a lumpectomy. The lump (thankfully benign) was very small (you couldn't feel it - it only showed up because I was being screened). To avoid the surgeon randomly cutting into my breast, they stuck in a very thin wire while using ultrasound (so they could see the lump). The wire stuck into the lump and the surgeon could just follow it. They need a mammogram to make sure the wire was in place properly. Let's just say that a mammogram after they shoved quite a large needle in your breast and left behind a wire (that was sticking out of my breast) is not much fun. Actually, it was probably the worst bit of the surgery.

I'm not quite 5'2" and have never had to stand on my toes - the mammogram has an adjustable height.