High density, high risk mom here. I'm on an MRI/mammogram 6 month schedule. So every 6 months it's either a mammogram or an MRI. I have found a few lumps so started at only age 34. The timing of this post...Something came up on my MRI last year. At my mammogram in May they asked for more photos. I went 2 weeks ago. Ended up needing a biopsy. It was the longest 4 days of my life waiting for results. Your whole life flashes before you, you wonder what the hell you'll do if there is something malignant there. Thankfully it was benign. I am still recovering from the stress and the biopsy!! They had to go deep, the bruising was terrible. But I am breathing deep and have been telling all of my friends and family to get those mammograms done!!! Better to know and deal with it than let something go. ❤
Just went through a "hold your breath and wait" experience over a gynecological biopsy recently. I hear you re: a few days feeling like forever. Having a new worry introduced and then having to wait and just stew on it so hard. So glad your results were healthy. Mine, too. YAY Us!
I so needed this to be your post today. I just had my first mammogram this past week. Strange how the procedure and routines (including Enya like tunes) were basically identical, despite me being outside of Chicago. Mine was abnormal, and I need to go back for more pictures among other “fun” tests. Yet, reading this point has eased a ping of my anxiety. Thanks for adding some normalization and giggles to this grownup task.
I just had my first mammogram at 30. I had a lump in my neck at 29 that turned out to be lymphoma (6 months of chemo and 18 months of recovery later and I’m clear so far). But nothing emphasized the importance of screenings more than my cancer diagnosis. So after all the chemo and recovery, when I felt something off in my breast I got it checked out right away. Painless, if awkward, scan. And totally clear.
Thanks for demystifying for all of us! It’s so so important to get these things checked out--routine or otherwise. The x-Ray techs and mammogramographers of the world are also the best.
I just had the most harrowing mammogram yet, this very morning. Had to get a sonogram after the mamo. You are right about the patients getting younger. I am a hairdresser and a few years ago a pretty and young woman came in with beautiful long lush hair and wanted to cut it off, something fun she said. She was 27 and told me she was going to be starting chemo for breast cancer. Over the next few haircuts I asked her how did she know? What were the symptoms that made her seek out a mammogram? She said she went to her regular doctor and she was referred because she has nipple bleeding and at that point she was at stage 3. And there are 2 other that I know of under 40.
Funny you should compare a mammogram to performance art. I always find myself likening it to choreography, a strange sort of ballet with the whole "boob in, shoulders back, chin up" thing. It's a strange dance. And my curly, unruly hair always presents a last minute issue - "could you maybe tuck you hair back... or something?" once we're all locked and loaded. Yet I never remember to just put it up before the appointment. At 53, I'm gearing up for mammo number 13 in a few weeks. I'm in the dense tissue camp, too, so I usually do a mammogram and an ultrasound at the same time. It's good for peace of mind. I once had an area of concern that was checked via ultrasound every 6 months for two years. Turned out to be nothing, but for the first couple of visits it really preyed on my mind. I've alway heard (but never actually managed to follow) the advice to follow your mammogram with a reward that's meaningful to you: an (actual) spa appointment, a visit to your favorite local bookshop, lunch somewhere fun. Maybe I'll try that this year. Don't wait, everybody. It's so important. I wonder if there is an organization that helps fund mammograms for uninsured women? There should be. I'd definitely contribute to that.
I recently gained a profound respect for the squish of a mammogram when I had to have one. I think it is amazing that women have to bear not only the pain of childbirth but the pain of squished milk producers that they have for the baby. Glad you are healthy!
I skipped a few years... I know, I know... I had lumpy and dense breasts, prone to some cysts, and then, suddenly, I had a small tender spot, a lump I was not sure was the normal me. This was 2020 in covid, I was having to shut down my office and I did 80% of the packing, dismantling the shelving units, boxing up product, materials. I had 2 employees, but, early covid, we didn't want to possibly expose each other... I thought it was a bruise - I am always bruising myself... I was joyfully told if the lump hurt, no fear, not cancer. Well. Wrong. I ended getting a couple mammograms, one facility lovely, the other a few blocks away looked to be from the 60s... even though it wasn't. I had a biopsy, several pokes. Then the cancer diagnosis. They wanted to do an MRI biopsy, but with covid, everything took way longer due to supply chain issues. I worried about my sons and my not yet married partner. My late husband died of aggressive prostate cancer, and my partner's wife passed after years of various cancer, heart, etc, etc issues. I couldn't put them all through that again. I could not leave them. I was more worried for them than for myself. And I didn't want to lose my breasts. I was too young, at 63 - how would it affect my sex life, my self image? EVERY mammogram technician or other woman I dealt with during the process said they would immediately and happily lose their breasts. After a lot of back and forth and uncomfortable MRI mammogram, I had 2 lumps on one side and a suspicious spot on the other breast. Double Modified Mastectomy. They got it all, it was in 1 lymph node as well. Chemo, radiation and taking an estrogen suppressant for probably 5 years total. Don't skip those exams! It goes from one year to 3 very quickly, so easy to put off until next month, then next year. My husband has been wonderful, treats my body just as before. My sons were relieved. And I am cancer free. and boob free... at that time, coordinating with a 2nd surgeon, spending more time in the hospital with covid raging was not going to happen. But I am fine with that now too.
Kinda like molding dough into bread or coming up with a new Play-Doh shape. Yes, I concur on all your points, uh, tits. Dense tissue was not my friend, so a second mammo had to be done. Nothing life-threatening, but glad to have mammary glands be given the thumbs up (so to speak).
So glad that you had this done, and that it was a good result for you--I can relate--have been getting colonoscopies since I turned 40 (family history of colon cancer). We do what we have to do to protect ourselves!
High density, high risk mom here. I'm on an MRI/mammogram 6 month schedule. So every 6 months it's either a mammogram or an MRI. I have found a few lumps so started at only age 34. The timing of this post...Something came up on my MRI last year. At my mammogram in May they asked for more photos. I went 2 weeks ago. Ended up needing a biopsy. It was the longest 4 days of my life waiting for results. Your whole life flashes before you, you wonder what the hell you'll do if there is something malignant there. Thankfully it was benign. I am still recovering from the stress and the biopsy!! They had to go deep, the bruising was terrible. But I am breathing deep and have been telling all of my friends and family to get those mammograms done!!! Better to know and deal with it than let something go. ❤
Just went through a "hold your breath and wait" experience over a gynecological biopsy recently. I hear you re: a few days feeling like forever. Having a new worry introduced and then having to wait and just stew on it so hard. So glad your results were healthy. Mine, too. YAY Us!
I'm so sorry you went through this recently too! But so glad you're also healthy!!! Sending ❤!!
I so needed this to be your post today. I just had my first mammogram this past week. Strange how the procedure and routines (including Enya like tunes) were basically identical, despite me being outside of Chicago. Mine was abnormal, and I need to go back for more pictures among other “fun” tests. Yet, reading this point has eased a ping of my anxiety. Thanks for adding some normalization and giggles to this grownup task.
I just had my first mammogram at 30. I had a lump in my neck at 29 that turned out to be lymphoma (6 months of chemo and 18 months of recovery later and I’m clear so far). But nothing emphasized the importance of screenings more than my cancer diagnosis. So after all the chemo and recovery, when I felt something off in my breast I got it checked out right away. Painless, if awkward, scan. And totally clear.
Thanks for demystifying for all of us! It’s so so important to get these things checked out--routine or otherwise. The x-Ray techs and mammogramographers of the world are also the best.
I just had the most harrowing mammogram yet, this very morning. Had to get a sonogram after the mamo. You are right about the patients getting younger. I am a hairdresser and a few years ago a pretty and young woman came in with beautiful long lush hair and wanted to cut it off, something fun she said. She was 27 and told me she was going to be starting chemo for breast cancer. Over the next few haircuts I asked her how did she know? What were the symptoms that made her seek out a mammogram? She said she went to her regular doctor and she was referred because she has nipple bleeding and at that point she was at stage 3. And there are 2 other that I know of under 40.
Funny you should compare a mammogram to performance art. I always find myself likening it to choreography, a strange sort of ballet with the whole "boob in, shoulders back, chin up" thing. It's a strange dance. And my curly, unruly hair always presents a last minute issue - "could you maybe tuck you hair back... or something?" once we're all locked and loaded. Yet I never remember to just put it up before the appointment. At 53, I'm gearing up for mammo number 13 in a few weeks. I'm in the dense tissue camp, too, so I usually do a mammogram and an ultrasound at the same time. It's good for peace of mind. I once had an area of concern that was checked via ultrasound every 6 months for two years. Turned out to be nothing, but for the first couple of visits it really preyed on my mind. I've alway heard (but never actually managed to follow) the advice to follow your mammogram with a reward that's meaningful to you: an (actual) spa appointment, a visit to your favorite local bookshop, lunch somewhere fun. Maybe I'll try that this year. Don't wait, everybody. It's so important. I wonder if there is an organization that helps fund mammograms for uninsured women? There should be. I'd definitely contribute to that.
"Tit by tit." Lol. Love this humorous and educational post.
The pic is EPIC. If I get brave, perhaps I'll have the mammographer snap a pic of me, too.
- A Fellow Just-Turned-Forty, Dense-Breasted Person
Tit-ulating documentary of mammogramming ;) Jaunty and inspiring.
I recently gained a profound respect for the squish of a mammogram when I had to have one. I think it is amazing that women have to bear not only the pain of childbirth but the pain of squished milk producers that they have for the baby. Glad you are healthy!
I skipped a few years... I know, I know... I had lumpy and dense breasts, prone to some cysts, and then, suddenly, I had a small tender spot, a lump I was not sure was the normal me. This was 2020 in covid, I was having to shut down my office and I did 80% of the packing, dismantling the shelving units, boxing up product, materials. I had 2 employees, but, early covid, we didn't want to possibly expose each other... I thought it was a bruise - I am always bruising myself... I was joyfully told if the lump hurt, no fear, not cancer. Well. Wrong. I ended getting a couple mammograms, one facility lovely, the other a few blocks away looked to be from the 60s... even though it wasn't. I had a biopsy, several pokes. Then the cancer diagnosis. They wanted to do an MRI biopsy, but with covid, everything took way longer due to supply chain issues. I worried about my sons and my not yet married partner. My late husband died of aggressive prostate cancer, and my partner's wife passed after years of various cancer, heart, etc, etc issues. I couldn't put them all through that again. I could not leave them. I was more worried for them than for myself. And I didn't want to lose my breasts. I was too young, at 63 - how would it affect my sex life, my self image? EVERY mammogram technician or other woman I dealt with during the process said they would immediately and happily lose their breasts. After a lot of back and forth and uncomfortable MRI mammogram, I had 2 lumps on one side and a suspicious spot on the other breast. Double Modified Mastectomy. They got it all, it was in 1 lymph node as well. Chemo, radiation and taking an estrogen suppressant for probably 5 years total. Don't skip those exams! It goes from one year to 3 very quickly, so easy to put off until next month, then next year. My husband has been wonderful, treats my body just as before. My sons were relieved. And I am cancer free. and boob free... at that time, coordinating with a 2nd surgeon, spending more time in the hospital with covid raging was not going to happen. But I am fine with that now too.
Kinda like molding dough into bread or coming up with a new Play-Doh shape. Yes, I concur on all your points, uh, tits. Dense tissue was not my friend, so a second mammo had to be done. Nothing life-threatening, but glad to have mammary glands be given the thumbs up (so to speak).
The hold your breath and wait is the longest 8ish seconds ever. I hear you on the dense tissue. Thanks for the relatable read.
Glad to see you're making an effort to take care of your health.
Scheduling my mammogram now! Thanks for this :)
So glad that you had this done, and that it was a good result for you--I can relate--have been getting colonoscopies since I turned 40 (family history of colon cancer). We do what we have to do to protect ourselves!