Mammogram on a bus!

henetha

I didn't realise that, Mt61. Thanks. I will look into this.

henetha I've noticed a telephone number on the side of the units. If you see one, you could ring that or Google the breast screening service for your area.

How lovely Merlot kill two birds with one stone eh
Anybody watch the GP programme on TV they seem to now have a mobile unit and very nice it seems too
I wish we had more of these sort of units save a lot of people a lot of rides to and from hospitals cut down on carbon waste and help us oldies not have to get buses and taxies

As all women in a certain age bracket are routinely offered screening mammograms, why on earth would anyone in the car park be concerned at who’s going into the mobile unit?

I usually had mine in the leisure centre car park. Not sure if that's better or worse. The main thing for me was the result.

henetha

I didn't realise that, Mt61. Thanks. I will look into this.

Mt61 is correct. I asked last time as I was 69 and that was exactly what I was told. So next year I'll give them a ring. I've always been keen to have my mammogram as we have had so much BC in the family, then found out we have the BRCA gene in the family. I had the genetic tests and fortunately didn't inherit it but still makes me very aw mare if how important mammograms are.

You can still have one but you need to request one I think after 70

I had my three-year routine appointment in January this year, I was 67 at the time.
I was 68 in May.
The nurse told me I'd be called for one more routine screening but after that I can request one.
So we are recalled up to and including age 70, if that's in our three-year cycle.

DD has just had her first appointment for a mammogram in the post. She messaged me to ask if I’d like to go with her? I thought this was an odd request until she pointed out the mobile unit was in the car park of our local garden centre! 😂

Well that's a sure-fire way to encourage us to go, genius! 👍🏻

I've never felt embarrassed about it unlike escorting teenage GC to the sexual health clinic as they wouldn't go alone. Sitting there I wondered if people were shocked at a 70 year old needing their services

Did have a laugh with the nurse about waiting so long for my first visit to what we'd have called the clap clinic when I was a teenager. We were a bit uncouth.

theworriedwell

I've never felt embarrassed about it unlike escorting teenage GC to the sexual health clinic as they wouldn't go alone. Sitting there I wondered if people were shocked at a 70 year old needing their services

Did have a laugh with the nurse about waiting so long for my first visit to what we'd have called the clap clinic when I was a teenager. We were a bit uncouth.

At one point out local sexual health clinic was in the same place as the hearing aid clinic!

Please DO NOT promote ignorant prejudice that might put women off going for a mammogram.

When we lived on an island, the mammogram bus came over on the ferry once a year , parked in the supermarket car park for a week and local women due for screening were invited (in advance by post) to make an appointment . The procedure was just as kind, discreet and efficient as mammography in the hospital where I had breast surgery (and several mammograms done.)

Many people in rural and remote areas live a long way from a hospital and radiographer..

Less than half an hour in the Mobile van, fitted in around supermarket shop; was much more convenient for routine regular screening, than taking an unreliable ferry to the mainland then a train to Glasgow then a bus or taxi to hospital A return journey of 100 miles taking the best part of a day. .... subject to sea conditions.

40 + years ago I survived breast cancer because it was detected and treated in time.

I wonder if OP has to cover her head when she goes for her dental checkup, so nobody can guess why she's there.

I am sure she feels a lot better after this display of kindness.

All good as far as I’m concerned, I had every one in a ‘bus’ very convenient, a few miles down the road, plenty of parking.
Why would it matter if people knew you were going for a mammogram? And why on earth would anyone care?

Does it matter that people know you are there for a mammogram. Is this just NHS bashing again….its supposed to make it easier than trekking to hospitals

Personally I don’t care what carpark it is in. All I know from personal experience is that it identifies things and there is immediate follow up. Without that initial scan in the carpark, where would I be now.

I have had mammograms in several different supermarket car parks and in the Health Centre car park. When something was picked up I was sent to the Breast Imaging Centre at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford. Breast cancer was diagnosed and dealt with. Eight years on if I have a mammogram it’s back to the car parks, which is fine.

Mine was next to the cinema and pizza hut! But so easy to park!,

My breast cancer was picked up on a mammogram, the venue, Sainsbury's car park. 15 plus years cancer free now and well over 70 I still have a three yearly mammogram. Only difference is that I now have to request one instead of being on automatic recall. Very easy to do, just phone, you often get a choice of dates and times.

Ours parks up at the garden centre too, fab idea. I always treat myself to a coffee and a couple of plants afterwards.

Several years go it parked at the swimming pool but my appointment wasn't at the same time as a public swim session which was a bit disappointing.

What a good idea - I have an hour's bus ride each way to the town where the nearest hospital is, then between three quarters of an hour to an hour to wait for a local bus from the bus station to the hospital, so it takes all day for the quickest appointment.

I remember going as a small child with my mother to be X-rayed for TB on a bus.

Why does it worry you that "everyone" knows why you go to that bus? Looking after our health is sensible and no-one's business except our own.

I just feel incredibly lucky to be offered a mammogram, wherever it may be.

I used to love the buses - so convenient. Now I have to schlepp 25 miles to the "Mammogram Centre" which is not at a hospital but is a building at the back of a pub .... I know which I preferred.

Just grateful to get one. After my breast cancer I had a mammogram every year for 5 years but now I'm back to 3 yearly which is a bit nerve wracking. I plan to pay for a private one in between.
The NHS goes to great lengths to maximise uptake of screening (breast, lungs and bowel in particular). Theres always a cohort who go but also some groups who are hard to reach.
I'm involved as a volunteer in cancer services improvement and I was told that uptake of mammograms varies from 30% to 70% in different areas

Marilla

Call me ridiculous but is it dignified to go to a supermarket car park to have a mammogram? So everyone knows why you are going on the bus. Apparently some people are having chemotherapy on a bus parked in a Tesco car park in Suffolk!

I'm in Suffolk too. I have had mammograms in the carpark of the swimming pool for many years. We can book at the West Suffolk Hospital if we prefer, but their carpark charges and it's further away. I think it's much quicker and more efficient in the mobile unit.

RedRidingHood

Just grateful to get one. After my breast cancer I had a mammogram every year for 5 years but now I'm back to 3 yearly which is a bit nerve wracking. I plan to pay for a private one in between.
The NHS goes to great lengths to maximise uptake of screening (breast, lungs and bowel in particular). Theres always a cohort who go but also some groups who are hard to reach.
I'm involved as a volunteer in cancer services improvement and I was told that uptake of mammograms varies from 30% to 70% in different areas

It stops at age 71 even if you have had breast cancer.

You can request a mammogram but it could be at a hospital a long way away.