Mammogram

Ah yes ... What us women have to endure...



I went to have my mammogram done last week. In fact, I've had a myriad of health appointments, x-rays, lab work done in the last few weeks ... The mammogram, now that's always a lot of fun - NOT!

First, my darling teen decides she cannot watch the little sibs ... so I bring the darlings along with me. I have to commend them, they were EXCELLENTLY behaved. They sat right outside the mammo room in chairs and totally won over the secretaries behind the desk...

So here I am inside "the mammo room" with my johnny gown 'opened in the front' as I was told. The radiologist tech comes in and instructs me as to how to place "my girls" on the shelf. LOL This is too much! There's nothing like a total stranger - the same sex even - taking your boob and placing it on the tray for you.... Then she stops and says "I don't know how to say this without embarrassing either of us, but I need to get a bigger plate" ...

AWESOME .... So she lifts me off the tray that is too small and inserts a bigger one .. ah, how great, I fit on that one... geez how awful is that?

There's nothing pretty about the girls being squished as flat as possible between the plate and a clear plexiglass squisher ... trust me, I looked... It's almost comical. I looked at the squished body part and thought "thank God this sucker is not a zit" I even said that outloud ...

I don't have the results yet, and was even told before leaving that sometimes they need to get more shots so not to be alarmed if the hospital calls to arrange a second appointment - I sure hope THAT doesn't happen! Once a year is plenty - just like the ol Pap smear - yeah, had to do that last week too.

I'm taking this week off !


PS... Results just in - My Mammogram was NORMAL YAY!
OK now I've had a few comments from friends after they've read this blog saying they don't look forward to their first mammogram. Seriously, it's nothing. You go for your yearly PAP right? It's the same kind of thing - you dread it right up until the minute it is over and when it's all said and done, you say to yourself, that wasn't that bad, why do I fester about it so?... It's the same thing with the mammogram - It DOES NOT hurt (well it shouldn't and if you have a good technician it won't), it's just one of those things that us women have to endure that we just dread ...

Mammograms: Baseline done at age 40
and every year from age 45 on
DO IT !