Sophie PofieI'm in the waiting room for a #mammogram and I know a few people are scared of those because they don't know what to expect there so I thought I'd take you along for the ride to spread a little #breastCancerAwareness
I'm in an advanced #breastCancer screening program. It's mostly for carriers of the #BRCA gene mutation. I don't have that but since the murder boob incident happened when I was way younger than the average patient and I'm not the first patient in my family, they took me too.
It means yearly screenings consisting of a mammogram, an ultrasound and an MRT. My US was cancelled this year due to idk reasons and my MRT is in two weeks, so today is only squishy time.
It will be my fifth mammogram, I think.
That's a bit out of the ordinary, because mammograms are not often done on younger patients. The higher tissue density makes them a less reliable diagnostic tool, especially if you have never breastfed.
That's a bit out of the ordinary, because mammograms are not often done on younger patients. The higher tissue density makes them a less reliable diagnostic tool, especially if you have never breastfed.
So I know what will happen next: They'll place the boob between two plates and squeeze hard to get it as flat as possible and take two pics, one from above one from the side (after rearranging the plates). That's it.
Honestly, it hurts a bit. If you're worried about the pain, you can pop an ibuprofen beforehand but I get by without, it's not that bad for me. And it's over pretty fast.
Then there's the aspect of flashing strangers, right? But if the technician is worth their salt, they won't make you feel exposed. If been medically to second base with so may doctors, nurses, technicians etc, I've lost count around a gazillion. You get used to it.
The biggest worry for me is as always: what if they find anything? I'm nauseous at the moment. That won't ever go away. But I take knowing over not knowing any time. I'd have my boob squeezed between plates way more often for the peace of mind.
And I'm done. Two minutes, tops. Bit of reddening, bit of residual soreness that will be gone in a bit. And the tech was kind as always. A non event really.
Tldr; take your checkups seriously, get to know your boobs, be safe 💗
#checkYourBoobs #breastCancerAwareness #fckCancer
#checkYourBoobs #breastCancerAwareness #fckCancer
bignoseThis gets me curious @MlleSophiePofie, can you clarify?
I can see that higher tissue density would make diagnosis via X-ray more difficult; is it less reliable than other diagnostic tools for these cancer masses?
As for "have never breastfed", what is it about (I assume) having produced milk in the past, that makes diagnosis for cancer masses more reliable?
@bignose well a mammogram is an x-ray, so in denser tissue the cancer is harder to make out. And breastfeeding makes the tissue less dense 🤷🏼♀️
Ah, so you weren't comparing different diagnostic tools (which I inferred from "makes it a less reliable diagnostic tool"); you meant that the same diagnostic tool (X-ray) is less reliable on breast tissue than on other tissue?
> And breastfeeding makes the tissue less dense
That one's total news to me, thanks.
@bignose I'm not entirely sure about that. It makes it less reliable on denser tissue, that I know. Also less reliable than an MRT afaik