I hadn’t had a mammogram in seven years when I got the bright idea to go get one in 2015. The place I always went to had closed because the head man retired. As I sat there in my gown after the squishing at the new place (a dedicated cancer center), a radiologist came in and said, “You need a biopsy.” Well, fuck, I thought. Had it a few days later and I’ll never forget the words of that radiologist when he came in afterwards and said, “I’m gonna give you the news you don’t want to hear.”
But as I may have said earlier, my journey was a walk in the park compared to what others have gone through and are going through. I spent a lot of time on the boards at Breastcancer.org for a few years and read many, many truly harrowing stories. Excellent information resource, BTW.
(I did go to school on “don’t be a bitch to the tech about something she can’t do anything about” day. I’m sure its a hard enough job, and its easy to be a ray of relative sunshine through the ridiculousness of the procedure)
I don’t consider it being a bitch to tell the tech that it hurts. I usually warn them that I know it will hurt and I may indulge in some cursing, but I know they have to do it, and I feel like that acknowledges the elephant in the room and relieves tension.
But this last one hurt SO much that I spontaneously and uncontrollably burst into tears.
I trained years ago as a massage therapist and I always wanted to know if I was causing pain. I know I know I know a massage isn’t the same as a mammogram, but I was a technician handling someone else’s body and there were different options for me IF I knew what I was doing was painful.
I think it is informative to tell the tech it hurts. Maybe if s/he and her/his colleagues tell their supervisors every single day, “Wow-- everybody told me today that the pain was excruciating-- can we do something about that?”
Keeping the pain to yourself deprives the technician of information I believe they need to know.
Oh, yeah, you can certainly say “I know this is going to hurt” and “this seems to be more painful for me than other women” and certainly yell “FUCK” if it REALLY hurts. But given that for me, I can “grin and bear it” I’m not going to do anything other than grin through it - they know it isn’t comfortable and I want to give them emotional space for dealing with people who need more than I do.
I don’t - I’m a nice person right up until I lose it…and when I lose it, then fuck and a lot worse are on the table. (It does take a lot to make me lose it).
I used to work with a tiny Filipina woman. With correspondingly tiny breasts. One day I told her I’d be out of the office that afternoon because I had an appt for my mammogram. She spontaneously burst into tears.
I’m usually the grin and bear it type (I’m a DD), but the last one I had was excruciating. It’s not just the squishing; it’s also the contorted positions while your breast is being squished. O.k., raise your arm over your head and touch your right ear with your left hand. Now, pivot your hips 45 degrees to the left while I twist your breast to the right. Dang. I was clenching my teeth to keep from screaming. I’m overdue now, but I’ll go in soon, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll scream this time.
Yeah, well, women’s distress being treated as a joke, right? If someone makes fun of you for doing something how long does the average person keep doing that thing?
42 is your band size. The letter(s) that follow is your cup size. I don’t think it correlates with size necessarily, though. I think it seems to vary individually.
Other that my first one, which was done while I had an already-excruciating abscessed cyst, mine have been mildly to moderately painful. For some, they are just uncomfortable. For others, it seems they may be very painful to excruciating every time. It may help to talk to your doctor about it. Maybe if more women express their concerns, it will help? I can’t guarantee that you won’t just be seen as a complainer, though.
And maybe when they do, they could do something about a height adjustment? I’m five feet tall, and in addition to the "drape this arm here. Put this arm here. Put this foot behind here. Turn slightly this way " , I also get my breast pulled upward so that I am on my tiptoes, feeling like I’m being hung by a boob. I assume that’s because I’m so short since I’ve never heard anyone else describe it.
Make sure you don’t schedule yours during the portion of the month when you are most likely to be sensitive to prodding. I made that mistake once. But only once.
Now you can just get the 23andMe Health and Ancestry Test for $199 (less if they’re running a promotion). The problematic BRCA variants are among the things they test for.
