Mammograms

ILike many others I always go for the mammagram and dread the discomfort/pain. On my last visit, I said that if men had to suffer this on their balls, an alternative would be quickly found. The nurse responded, ' if they are doing it on men's balls, I'm selling tickets'!

The first mammogram I had was ... must be 25 years ago. And they were worse then - sharp metal edges ! And these days the machines seem to have an automatic release so that you don't have to wait for the nurse to return. One thing i did learn was that pre-menopausal breast tissue is dense and opaque to X rays and therefore and mammograms useless. This was proved on this occasion by the failure to diagnose... I was very lucky that it did not grow fast - from a smartie to a mint imperial over the next 8 years - but it was cancer. They can use ultrasound to look as well if there is concern but that of course needs an experienced doctor.
So a qualified hurrah for mammograms but if you know any younger women with lumps they should be seen by a doctor in a decent unit and not just have a mammogram.

As Mamie says the process here in France is very quick and you know straight away if there is a problem. Last year they sent my scans to be verified and I received a letter to say I had to go back in six months. I did and everything was OK.

I had a lump years ago which turned out to be a cyst and it was dealt with very quickly so I say hurrah for mammograms.

We do the bowel cancer check at home and my husband had to go for further tests which did show everything was OK but they are keeping a special eye on him.

I don't care how uncomfortable the mammogram is - I am just grateful to be offered one. My daughter in law died of BC in her early forties and it was devastating for both our families - especially her mother who had had BC and recovered from it. I always wonder whether she would have had a better chance if some sort of screening had been available to younger women. I know that there are reasons why this does not work.
I have also now done the bowel cancer test - having chickened out the first time I was sent the test kit. I am not poo averse (you can't be if you have young grandkids!) but I thought it just sounded so horrible! My DH did his and poured scorn on me. I have since been offered another and did it with clear results - I still think it was gross and would rather not have to do it again! (I always thought you could be prosecuted for putting poo in a letterbox!)

I know mammograms are painful but are essential for us. 3 years ago they found a small lump, I had a lumpectomy, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and herseptin. I am still on tamoxifen and every time I have a check and mammogram I am a nervous wreck, but so far so good. So ladies ,painful or not make sure you go for them, please.

Hi crimson
I am just like you a nervous wreck waiting for the result of the mammogram. I don't find the radiographers very nice either, altogether I find the whole experience horrible, but if its going to save my life its worth going through.

I first saw this poem when I went for a routine mammagram. It was pinned on the wall in front of the scanner.

ODE TO A MAMMOGRAM

For years and years they told me,
Be careful of your breasts,
Don't ever squeeze or bruise them,
And give them monthly tests.

So I heeded all their warnings,
And protected them by law.
Guarded them very carefully,
And my bra I always wore.

After 30 years of astute care,
My Doctor found a lump.
She ordered up a mammogram,
To look inside that lump.

"Stand up very close" she said.
As she got my boob in line,
"And tell me when it hurts," she said.
"Ah yes! There, that's fine."

She stepped upon a peddle.
I could not believe my eyes!
A plastic plate pressed down and down,
My boob was in a vice!

My skin was stretched and stretched,
From way up under my chin.
My poor boob was being squashed,
To Swedish pancake thin.

Excruciating pain I felt,
Within it's vice-like grip.
A prisoner in this vicious thing,
My poor defenseless tit!

"Take a deep breath", she said to me,
Who does she think she's kidding?
My chest is mashed in her machine,
And woozy I am getting.

"There, that was good", I heard her say
As the room was slowly swaying.
"Now let's have a go at the other one".
Lord have mercy, I was praying.

It squeezed me from up and down,
It squeezed me from both sides,
I'll bet she's never had this done,
Not to her tender little hide!

If I had no problem when I came in,
I surely have one now.
If there had been a cyst in there,
It would have popped, Ker-pow!

This machine was designed by man,
Of this I have no doubt,
I'd like to stick his balls in there.
And see how they come out!

Nanajacki that's fantastic!!! That's just what I meant by a bizarre procedure! If you said "I've just spent the morning having my boobs squeezed in a vice" people would think there was something very strange about you.

nanajacki what a great poem, captures the pain and discomfort exactly. I always try to imagine that as I am quite well endowed it must be worse for ladies with smaller chests.

Agony, is all I can say! Thank God it doesn't last very long. In order to describe the process to my partner, I said, 'Imagine that your 'balls' are placed in between two large plates and those plates are pressed together as hard as possible and your bits are squeezed until you want to cry out'. That's a mammogram!

Ditto...I find it so agonising I almost forget to draw breath...

I always ask for a mammogram every 3 years and get one. Very uncomfortable but worth it. I have had every bug available during the winter and finally had a flu injection only to have flu again! I shan't be having another one!

What about the cervical smear test? I can stand mammograms, and the bowel cancer tests are painless, but I dread cervical smears...

Flu injections do not prevent you getting flu, by the way, but they may well prevent you dying of it.

I'm 66 and no longer go for the breast squeeze torture test. I've never smoked, I eat natural foods, wash all new clothes before wearing them to avoid chemicals against my skin and rarely wear a bra. No doubt I'm wrong and delusional etc etc, but I'm opting for healthy living and healthy optimism until they invent a pain free test.

The smear test doesn't worry me, I get it every two years, It doesn't hurt, and after three pregnancies and three other gyno procedures I'm incapable of getting embarrassed.

As for flu injections - never again. I'm allergic to something in them, and the only time I ever had one, I ended up in hospital, thinking I was dying.

Yes, I think the mammogram is one of the most undignified procedures ever invented. I am "well endowed" so this time told the radiographer she would need the "bigger plates" She was very nice and said not to worry and that she had recently had a lady that even the bigger plates werent big enough!
Have also done the bowel cancer test, at least that is in private! The things we have to go through in old age but know it is for a good reason so dont mind.

So many positive comments!!!! Yes it's uncomfortable, yes it's undignified but my 26 daughter was diagnosed with a grade 1 aggressive cancer 12 months ago She is to have a second mastectomy next Thursday (only as a precaution) and without this small inconvenient test her life would now be at real risk instead of having a positive diagnosis.
Come on ladies go for the test, join the Race for Life and if you are going to Hampton Court Flower Show this year visit the Coppafeel garden and show your support. They raise breast awareness in young girls.
And remember - Everyone knows someone!! And that's not acceptable.

Yes, mams are uncomfortable but so necessary. I was recalled in 2008 after a 4mm lump was discovered, fortunately turned out to be benign so they left it alone. I was told they are slow growing but mine seems to be getting bigger by the day! Doc doesn't think it's a prob but now wearing a bra is uncomfortable. Anyone else had this experience?

I'll take any test going - just to be on the safe side. I've recently had a clear mammogram and a clear bowel test so I can relax for a bit. My best friend died of breast cancer 2 years ago and I still miss her terribly but it has made me so much more aware of my body.

The thing I don't like is having to adjust to all the new things my body throws at me on a regular basis. Where did psoriasis come from, I never had that before 'the change'. I even have the occassional stray hair which shouldn't be there (like on the chinny chin chin) and I've never been a hairy person. All that weight round my middle, where did that come from? I think someone has done a body swap while I've been asleep!*

It takes some getting used to!

I go for all the screenings. Lately the bowel screening which is in the form of a kit to be done at home. Not pleasant but the relief I got from the negative result outweighed any feelings. Same for the mammogram, it hurts but not as much as an operation on ones breasts. [my mother died in 1969 of breast cancer at 47 years of age]. I've had a hysterectomy some 20 years ago in my late 40's so don't need screening there. I have a friend the same age as me who hasn't ever been to any form of screening at all and doesn't intend to. Also doesn't even go for the free eye sight test where they test for glaucoma. As she was fostered as a baby she hasn't any information about any genetic problems either. She'll probably sail through life without any medical problems but why take the risk? It's up to her as it's her body and I just hope she doesn't become ill and it's discovered too late.

50 is too long to wait for this sort of test, there are far too many younger women who are finding out too late that they have a lump that is cancerous.

These tests are uncomfortable, but not painful, and anything that can help young women detect this awful disease early has got to be a good thing.

Dear Sisters- I am very compliant - going to all my breast scans with noble endurance.

I also do the poo test.Of the two the poo test is the most sophisticated with a simple and private process (and flushable consumables)- after all if we are all Grans, we have already spent a life time dealing with doo doo and so is acceptable for most. (It could be much worse - we could have to send a dollop in a bottle to the lab as with mycology specimens)

I do agree that it's time something far less painful should be developed for the "Tits at Tescos torture" yet thankful that at least we have this check.

Glad to hear there is a Facebook campaign for an alternative to this excrutiating torture.

Best Wishes to you all from Big Boobed Gma Jan.

Had my mammo a couple of months ago and oh the sweet relief when the letter came saying everything was OK. (My father (yes father) died of breast cancer.) Even though I'm not that well-endowed I've always had a problem and the nurses up to now have said that the smaller you are the worse it is!! However, this time I had the sweetest nurse, who was very gentle and the mammo was digital and even though the pain was still there it certainly wasn't as bad as usual. As to the bowel cancer test, just received the initial letter again saying that I'm due for a test and it will be here in a couple of weeks. Messy thing to have to do but if it comes back clear then I'll happily do it. Or even if it's not, then things can be dealt with.

I've just joined Granset and think it's wonderful.

Totally agree with all the comments about those nasty mammeograms - I call them 'breast sandwich' machines..... a necessary evil though, and always a relief to get a negative result. But how about routine tests for
ovarian cancer? All down to money I suppose....

Just to say that I too had breast cancer found by a rotine mammo.I never felt a lump but it was a potentially very nasty,aggressive type [triple negative] and I had to have chemo as well as op and rads.It will be 5 years in October and I bless that mammo uncomfortable though it was.

I agree, they are pretty uncomfortable tests(mammograms) but just as it's getting unbearable you're released. Before I had my first one,I remembered what a friend of mine's Mum said, "you won't believe what a tit can do!" and she's not wrong!. It made me laugh and took the worry out of it somehow but they are vital and personally I'd rather know if something is up.