it wasn't really that bad
Oct. 22nd, 2003 06:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quietannSo I had my baseline mammogram today. I'm nearly 40, and there is a lot of cancer in my mom's family, and they are Ashkenazi Jews so they may carry the "breast cancer genes" BRC-1 and/or BRC-2.
I'd heard horror stories about how painful it could be to have one's breasts squished. Now, I would not want to have it done just before my period when my breasts are incredibly sore anyway, but it really wasn't that bad. The most painful part was moving my shoulders into the appropriate positions, since I have arthritis there. The tech commented that she did find smaller, firmer breasts (like mine) a bit harder to work with. The whole thing took about 10 minutes, for 4 shots.
The poster on the door going out said, "By taking care of yourself, you are a hero." Maybe that's overstating the case, but it really wasn't that bad, and I'd encourage any woman out there who is 40 or over and hasn't had a mammogram yet to go get one.
I'd heard horror stories about how painful it could be to have one's breasts squished. Now, I would not want to have it done just before my period when my breasts are incredibly sore anyway, but it really wasn't that bad. The most painful part was moving my shoulders into the appropriate positions, since I have arthritis there. The tech commented that she did find smaller, firmer breasts (like mine) a bit harder to work with. The whole thing took about 10 minutes, for 4 shots.
The poster on the door going out said, "By taking care of yourself, you are a hero." Maybe that's overstating the case, but it really wasn't that bad, and I'd encourage any woman out there who is 40 or over and hasn't had a mammogram yet to go get one.
