If you follow my blog you saw that I was having some pain in my breast and I was worried since there is a history of breast cancer in my family. So today was the day….the dreaded mammogram. I’m sure you all have heard horror stories about getting this done and about the pain of getting your boobs squished. I was really nervous since my breast was already hurting.
I have to give a shout out to the Tech, Kathy, at High Tech in Palos Heights, IL. She knew I was nervous so she talked and joked with me and was very personable and professional. She put me at ease (or at least as much as she could). She even laughed when I told her I would be blogging about this and needed to take pictures. I didn’t take pictures of me actually getting the mammogram (no one wants to see that…lol) But I did take pix of the equipment. The machine looks a whole lot scarier than it really was.
Ok, those that said how painful getting a mammogram is LIED, either that or they have no pain tolerance at all. It didn’t hurt, It was a little awkward, but didn’t hurt at all. It was very quick. She did 4 pictures on each breast lasting about 10 seconds each. That is a total of 80 seconds. I think this is no problem to get done once a year. They also have new technology that has a very fancy technical name, but is essentially a 3D mammogram. So while your getting the traditional mammogram, which is a flattened image or 2D, they also do the 3D mammogram. This new 3D mammogram takes images of the breast in layers. This allows your doctor to see the breast tissue in 1 millimeter layers. Basically means your doctor can get a better idea of what is going on in your breast and find anything bad faster….Whoo hoo.
Because I was having pain in my breast I also had to get an ultrasound done. This part doesn’t hurt at all and the gel they used was warmed up. They made sure I was comfortable during everything and for that I am very thankful.
The ultrasound part took more time than the mammogram but I guess they have to be thorough. I was very happy that I got my test results right away. The doctor was very friendly and put my mind at ease right away….NO CANCER . I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
Please ladies, if you are over 40 get your breasts checked yearly. It doesn’t hurt, doesn’t take much time out of your busy schedule and could save your life.
July 17, 2015 at 4:24 pm
You’re awesome! Way to be proactive AND blog about it! And triple, quadruple YAY for no cancer!!
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July 17, 2015 at 5:08 pm
Thank you on all counts. I was so scared and worried about the pain. I don’t want anyone to wait to get tested because they thought it would be painful.
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July 17, 2015 at 5:19 pm
So happy your tests came back negative for CA!
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July 17, 2015 at 7:38 pm
I’m so glad that everything came back okay! And I’m with you – they’re not that bad.
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July 17, 2015 at 10:58 pm
Thank you
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July 17, 2015 at 11:02 pm
Hooray! Thank goodness everything turned out OK. You must be so relieved. This is a great post because I think it will encourage other woman to go and get it done. I know it has encouraged me.
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July 17, 2015 at 11:14 pm
I’m glad. Definitely do it.
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July 18, 2015 at 1:09 pm
Glad your results came negative. There is breast cancer history in my family do I know how important is to get checked out.
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July 18, 2015 at 4:05 pm
Yay for the good news! At least you didn’t have to wait for test results, I’d be a wreck. I hope your having a great weekend!
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July 18, 2015 at 4:28 pm
Waiting would have been crazy
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July 18, 2015 at 10:12 pm
It is great that you are helping people have more awareness for this issue. I’m glad they weren’t able to find anything!!
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July 20, 2015 at 11:55 am
Great post and was really informative for me as I may need to have one sooner or later. Also happy for you that you’re cancer free. Unfortunately, some of my relatives weren’t as lucky.
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July 21, 2015 at 10:01 am
I am so happy. I actually thought for sure it was going to come back cancer. I almost cried when she said it wasn’t.
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July 20, 2015 at 12:53 pm
What an awesome post! I admit that this is one of those things I kind of dread, lol. I’ve heard seriously terrifying stories! But I feel better about it now so when I reach 40 I won’t be as worried about it. Thanks! SOOOO glad to hear you’re all clear!! YAY!!
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July 21, 2015 at 10:00 am
I heard so many horror stories to so when she started the compression I was preparing myself for the worst. It’s not bad at all
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July 20, 2015 at 1:19 pm
Yay! I’m so happy for you! Congrats! 🙂
xo, Caitlin
And Possibly Dinosaurs
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July 21, 2015 at 5:10 pm
Thank You
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July 21, 2015 at 8:04 am
Great post about this and so glad you had it done and walked us through it – I do need to have this done also – just for maintenance – thank you
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July 21, 2015 at 9:58 am
Definitely do it.
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