mammogram

[redbird]

When my doctor told me to get a mammogram, she warned me they were scheduling months in advance. Instead, when I logged on to MyChart yesterday, it offered a lot of appointments in the next few days, including several this afternoon at a nearby location.

I had nothing else planned for this afternoon, so I made an appointment for this afternoon, a convenient trolley ride from home. Unfortunately, it didn't warn me that I would have to climb a couple of flights of stairs, because the building elevator has been out of service since May 4. The mammogram itself was uncomfortable, but not as bad as I had expected. I think the main difference is that it was quicker than last time, which may be because they were using better machinery than the last few times.

Comments

[otter]

That's a lot of stairs!

[dewline]

It's always a good thing to be able to get medical tests out of the way ASAP. Sorry about the need for the stair-climbing.

[redbird]

To make the appointment, I had to give them the date of my previous "annual" mammogram, and I was a little surprised that it was more than two years ago. It had to have been at least 366 days ago, presumably for insurance reasons.

The advantage of doing it today is that I knew I wasn't doing anything else this afternoon, and this way it won't conflict with any other possible plans.

[yourlibrarian]

Well at least it was sooner than expected and not as bad as expected. I remember the last time I had one, they had me use a new type of machine that would eliminate the constant need for ultrasound follow-up due to my cysts. Used less pressure too.

[ethelmay]

I have never had much pain with mammograms due to chance anatomy (even as a young woman I was extra squishy), but friends for whom some have been excruciating tell me that they've gotten a lot better. So I think some newer equipment really is doing something right.

[bibliofile]

Argh for extra stairs.

With all the crap going on with US healthcare, it's nice to hear of an improvement in the tech that made it to the patients.

[pameladean]

The improvement in technology since I started getting mammograms is staggering. I'm so glad of it.

The technician used to have to squish you mercilessly and then run -- and they did run, they knew it was hell -- back behind her lead shielding and take the films, which were finicky and required multiple tries, and then return and manually release you.

Long after that they got that automated there was still endless fiddling with positions, but now they can get good images with so much less fuss.

P.