vanilla, please, please go! It’s really not that bad. What I’ve heard (and it makes sense) is that if you’re really well-endowed, it’s more uncomfortable. Well, I’m about average, and mildly uncomfortable was the worst it’s ever gotten. Like MLS said, it’s not something I’d choose to do just for kicks, but it’s honestly not bad.
Okay, the hospital called me backl.
A very nice woman in radiology explained to me that insurance only pays for a screening, which is not a very extensive tool, and will only pay for a more extensive diagnostic imaging once the baseline is done. They won’t pay for the diagnostic one from the beginning.
Since is this my first one, they do want a closer look at some areas, to make sure that why they think is a lymph node is actually a lymph node, etc.
So, I go again on Sept 16.
vanilla, it doesn’t hurt. It’s just pressure, really. If I can get one, you can get one.
I wasn’t trying to man-bash. I love men. I have two in my house myself. It’s just, when you’re getting your boob squished flat between two plates, and being told not to move or the picture will be no good, you can’t help but be a little put out.
Mammograms are a wonderful invention. If you’re at least 35, go get one.
If you can, make an appointment to go a day or two after your period ends. That’s the time it’s the least likely to be uncomfortable. Anyone who scaremongers by telling anyone else how “painful” it is ought to be slapped, as they are scaring women away from a life-saving diagnostic test. Sure, I’ve felt better things than having my boob in a clamp, but I’ve felt things that have hurt WAY more, and it only takes a few seconds to take the picture, and then you are done.
thanks, I will get one.
But this pamphlet was a bit over the top and it was there on approval of the hospital, I assume.
I have had worse pain (during labor) and it lasted more than a few moments so I should be okay.
Honey, if you’ve been through labor a little boob squeeze ain’t nothin’ in comparison.
Vanilla–it hurts for a few seconds. Take ibuprofen that morning before going. Avoid caffeine for a few days or two weeks (what my pamphlet said). I think it was bad for the information you got to say it hurt THAT much to the point that it would scare someone from going.
You must go do it!! Right away!! Schedule it with a friend, or go with a friend to lunch first. Have a screwdriver at lunch or have a beer, whatever you like best. Reward yourself afterwards. Whatever it takes!!
DO IT!!
I had to go in to re-test. Turned out that they just needed a better image and all was well.
Vanilla, the key to surviving any cancer is catching it early. I had half my thyroid removed on Friday on the off chance a lump in my neck was cancerous. Now if I can go and have them cut open my neck… not to mention the brutality inflicted upon the hanger-down doody at the back of my throat from the breathing tube, then surely YOU can go and get your damn boobs squished.
In fact, I’m going to stare at you sternly and tap my foot until you make the appointment.
:eek:
(Pretend I look stern. My mouth is open because the hanger-down doody in the back of my throat is still throbbing.)
Interesting way of putting it. I’m staring 40 smack-dab in the face, and I know I need to have my first one. I have no history of cancer in my family, so my doc said I could wait till 40. Gotta get on the ball and do it now, though.
Ivylass, I hope all goes well with your second boob-smashing.
Okay, ladies, no more excuses. Call your doctors and make those appointments! Then take the day off work because you can’t wear deodorant or perfume for the exam, and face it, your co-workers are not going to appreciate your natural body odor on the day of your appointment.
(PunditLisa, it’s called a uvula. Although I like hanger-down doody better.)
:joins PunditLisa in impatiently tapping her foot while she waits for vanilla and Biblio to call their doctors…:
It’s supposed to be uncomfortable; if it’s not, the tech probably isn’t doing it right. It’s not supposed to flat-out HURT.
Robin
They don’t send letters when it is serious. That’s your first tip. If you had something to worry about, you’d get a call from the doctor and you’d have more tests scheduled.
Second, half the women over forty who get regular mammogram screening will get a false positive result. So even if you do get a positive result, that means that you probably don’t have anything to worry about.
At 37, I probably ought to go and have a mammogram done. On the other hand, I’m lactating, and from what I’ve heard, they don’t like to do mammograms on women who are lactating. Also I plan to keep at this for a couple more, and perhaps as long as 4 more years, so I’m not quite sure where that puts me. I mean, besides 40 or 41.
I ought to ask my GP about that.
My foot is really starting to cramp up here, but I stand in solidarity with ivylass stilll thumping my foot.
Being a protestor is hard work!
Especially with a sore hanger-down doody. 
Band Name !!!
IvyLass and The Hanger-Down Doodies
…what???
Debut album name: **" Cups Runneth Over " **
On the non-wiseassed side of the page, I encourage all of proper age to endure this. I’m 42.
Got my first prostate exam at 35. Going for bloodwork tests in a few weeks, and another exam. One needs to tend the machine, right?
Glad you mentioned this. I’d rather have my boobs squished than get a thumb up my butt any day. See? We ladies are actually lucky sometimes.
That was his THUMB ???
:eek:
My mom works at a clinic, and she said that during a routine mammogram, the boobie clamp or whatever you call it got stuck and apparently the poor woman was trapped until they could un jam it.
How firmly does this thing grab the breast? :eek: Tight enough that no amount of dish soap and gentle massaging can dislodge the woman from the machine? (who knows, maybe my mom made it up… :wally: )
Mammography Paddles of various sizes
From This Article, (my bolding )
Machine that measures Mammography Machine Pressure
Note This link is a virtual tour INCLUDING photos of a woman’s breast in the mammography machine paddles **** Virtual Tour of Mammography Suite ******
More than I ever knew, that’s for sure…
PUNDIT LISA MAY NOW REST HER FOOT.
I can’tbelieve it took me that long.
I now have an appointmnet for mid Nov.
The reason I finally got off my butt to do it?
I want to be around for my son and the announcement about Etheridge’s breast cancer.
(I hope Lisa’s foot is okay)