My happy funtime whoop-de-doo mammogram experience...

PLEASE NOTE:

DISCLAIMER--I UNDERSTAND FULLY HOW LUCKY I AM TO BE ABLE TO GET MY BOOBS SQUISHED. I WAS WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE FOR ALMOST 10 YEARS UNTIL LAST YEAR WHEN I FINALLY HAD TO BREAK DOWN AND BUY IT AT $141 A MONTH.

ALL WOMEN SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET SQUISHED FOR FREE.


Now...for my story...

So I had a screening 2 weeks ago. They called me back for another more detailed one. I went this morning.

Different technician, very professional, very sweet and very funny. No worries. She squished, got the images she needed and told me to wait for the diagnosis.

Then, she called me from the waiting room for an ultra-sound..."Oookay," I thought, "they've found something..." not freaking out yet. There I was, waiting with the very funny, professional nurse lady. We had a nice conversation, waiting for the doctor in the ultra-sound room.

Doctor walks in...her name was Olson. The only reason I know this is because it was written on her jacket. She didn't introduce herself to me.

***NOTE*** Before I let a woman touch my knockers, I usually know her name first...and we've at least shared one slow-dance and a few drinks...

......moooving on.......

Doctor proceeds with the ultrasound. She is preoccupied with the machine because she's not used to working on that particular model. Meanwhile, I watch the screen and notice her going over one, then two, then three little black dots. She marks them, measures them, discusses the machine some more with the nurse, marks another little black dot, marvels at my amazing ducts...

NEVER TELLS ME WHAT THE FUCK THE LITTLE BLACK DOTS ARE...and I assumed she was waiting to consult me with a detailed play-by-play after she finished.

Tells me to wait a few minutes...

3 minutes later, a different nurse walks in and says, "Mrs. libnnc," (I'm not married but whatevs) "You can go now. Get dressed, the doctor says you're fine. You're done..."

WAITAMINUTEHOLDEVERYTHING.....I said, "Um, well, what did the ultra-sound show? I'm confused, what did the doctor see?" Stranger nurse sez, "Oh, you have questions? Lemme get the doctor..." huffs off...

Doctor appears and chirps, "You have some questions for me?"

Me--"Um, yes. What were those things you found in my breast????"

Doctor--"Oh, those are just little cysts."

Me--"Okay. Well, is that normal?"

Doctor--"Oh sure. You're fine."






Now, am I crazy for being a little taken aback by this experience?

It would have been nice if they'd told you what on earth was going on. What, they didn't think you'd be worried? :wtf:

the doctor was totally oblivious to conveying any pertinent info. It was like she wanted me to read her mind or something.

ask them to turn the monitor around so you can see too. That way, if they are focusing on something odd, you can say "what's that?"

I find I have a much better experience when I do this. I also weed of heathcare personnel who are uncomfortable with it.

***NOTE*** Before I let a woman touch my knockers, I usually know her name first...and we've at least shared one slow-dance and a few drinks...

......moooving on.......

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Sorry she was such an oaf. When I was having a cyst removed once I was worried about whether it would be disfiguring and the doc said 'well, we can stick a golf ball in there if you want'. Just a completely stupid, thoughtless comment. Some doctors have zero bedside manner. :hug:

these doctors can often be among the best of doctors as far as technical/surgical skills, so i don't mind their nerdiness, of course i'm probably even more nerdy myself! :-)

i've had doctors w. good bedside manner and bad, i don't think it's a reflection on their technical skills, in fact, i have found "no correlation," it's hard to get fully socialized when you're really studying HARD as a pre-med and in medical school

a good bedside manner is a bonus, but really i've had only one doctor and one dentist (lifetime) that i would describe as truly a warm marcus welby in addition to having GREAT technical skills and with my shitty health i've seen 'em all, trust me

the more I trust them with my healthcare. I've had bad experiences with doctors who acted like arses.

So what if he's an optometrist! The University of Houston thought so much of him, they named the award for him, and gave him a check for $500.

My brother's a prince, so this came as no surprise to me, but it got me thinking, what a bunch of harsh experiences the majority of all patients get.

Sorry about your trip, ma'am. But if you have astigmatism, I got the guy.

I had thought that I had clicked on "What's your favorite shellfish? (Poll)." and I got about three quarters of the way through your dialogue when I started hoping real hard that this story wasn't going to get to shellfish somehow.

But, by the by, I'm happy to hear that you're healthy, and for the time being, insured.

did stuff like that.

I'm confuzzled enough without that happening on a regular basis.

But shellfish and boobs - I guess you were confused!

:rofl:

a completely inappropriate response. Particularly the part about drawn butter.

Now I'm sure you know more than you wanted to about mammograms...:silly: :silly: :silly: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Edit becausefor too many Old Milwaukees...

she's marking them so that she can check for any changes for next year, which there won't be any changes, because they are fucking cysts, which if you are over 40 and drink caffeine, you've got 'em

i don't know what it's like in your town but in our town (greater new orleans area) there are so few doctors per woman that they have no choice but to cut to the chase unless everyone wants to end up waiting like 96 hours in the waiting room to see a doc

i don't blame you for not knowing since you didn't know but now that you do know, you can chill a little bit, you are fine, trust me, when they think you have reason to panic, they'll let you know!

no harm in asking since you wondered, but also no harm in the doc trying to move things along either considering YOU'RE FINE

:hug:

I have a history of fibroids (one removed at 17 the other at 26) and this was my first mammogram (had ultrasounds before) so I was a little concerned. I just expected her to tell me what the hell she was looking at. I feel better now.

But I do insist on being properly introduced before any heavy petting...:evilgrin:

We all really need to speak up if we have questions. They should have told you exactly what was going on but we have to be our own advocates these days. I had the same thing happen to me with some health problems in the past few years. The techs were completely disinterested and the docs were invisible. I wound up in the ER because I thought if my condition was really serious, somebody would have told me.
It's sad but you really are just a number and you have to speak up even if you have great insurance.

I'm going in next week for my first mammogram because I found a lump this morning. You better believe I'll be asking some questions. I do think you should call your doctor to get some definitive answers though. JMO
:hugs:

:toast:

I went through the same experience.

Did you have the digital imaging? I did....and I seem to have read online that it is creating false positives.

During the ultrasound, the tech doing it was saying that she had no sleep the night before. Oh, and she could not see what the doctor was finding on the mammogram. I was lying there thinking that maybe they needed to get someone more awake...after all it is MY BREAST!

The doctor came in and said it was nothing and I kept asking ARE YOU SURE?

Pooh, pooh, lady, it is nothing.

Now, I wonder whether this is just alittle scheme to get more money out of the insurance companies.
Why in the hell didn't the doctor look "real time" at the ultrasound when I told him I had felt a lump. He was in the ultrasound room with me at the time.

i don't think they should be able to charge you (or your insurance again) if they call you and it's a mistake, as recently happened to me, getting "squished" is bad enough once a year but to have to do it only a few weeks later because the first time they did it wrong SUCKS OUT LOUD

i guess my insurance agrees a little because they returned the $$$ the radiologist collected when i went for the second screening, forgot what it's called, but it's even more painful and squishy than the normal mammogram and all because THEY effed up

my partner had a mammogram last month and got called back so I figured it was some sort of quality control issue.

and then, MOST IMPORTANTLY, told you herself what the results were. Or, at the very least, instructed her assistant to do so.

Sheesh. She must have skipped school the day they talked about the doctor/patient relationship. :eyes:

Fibrocystic disease can increase breast cancer risk, but very slightly.

It means you should make sure your doctor keeps an eye on any changes in your annual mammogram.

Good for you! Its very important for women to take charge of their health and ask questions. Good doctors don't mind and in fact welcome it.

I'm dreading it like crazy because of the stories I've heard about how much it hurts.

Glad you are okay, libnnc, and it sounds like a little info to you at the time would've gone a LONG way and wouldn't have taken the doc much time at all.

it is painful as hell but hopefully you only have to do it once. Hugs to you...:hug:

Sounds like the usual Health Care In The U.S. of A. moment.

I'm just surprised they didn't make you wait a month for the results.

They are much more comfortable with films and specimens and looking at computer images and interpreting them. It would be interesting to do a study to see how many have Asperger's. (No offense to Aspies; I haven't been diagnosed but I meet the criteria, so I have a clue.)