October is Breast Most cancers Consciousness Month, making it an excellent time to shine a lightweight on the significance of standard mammograms. However what must you count on should you’ve by no means had a mammogram earlier than?
Usually our blogs aren’t written from a private perspective. However this time round, it is sensible to return to you as a lady, speaking about what’s concerned in a mammogram.
Final yr, shortly after I turned 40, I had my first mammogram. As somebody who has written and edited healthcare content material for practically 20 years, I’m well-versed in why mammograms are important.
However even armed with that data, experiencing something for the primary time generally is a little scary! So I wish to take a couple of minutes and stroll you thru what to anticipate when it’s your flip.
The Strategy of Getting a Mammogram
Right here’s a common take a look at the way it goes:
- When your appointment time arrives, a mammography technologist will take you into a non-public suite, the place solely the 2 of you’re current. You can be requested to take away your shirt and your bra and given a gown to cowl up.
- When you’re within the imaging suite, don’t fear about being within the improper place or doing the improper factor. The mammography technician has finished this earlier than! She or he will transfer you into the proper place to seize the required pictures of your breast tissue.
- Your breasts can be positioned fastidiously on a “shelf” after which smooshed. I gained’t lie—these positions aren’t tremendous comfortable. Having your breast tissue compacted is as snug as you’d think about. However the course of strikes rapidly, so that you gained’t want to carry in these positions for too lengthy.
- The variety of pictures captured throughout the mammogram will rely upon plenty of components, together with the precise sort of mammogram you’re having. In my case, as a result of I’ve a household historical past of dense breasts, which might make it more durable to identify most cancers on a mammogram, I selected to have a 3D mammogram. Such a mammogram, additionally referred to as breast tomosynthesis, captures a bigger variety of pictures of the breasts, which permits the radiologists to see the breasts in 3D.
- When the mammogram is full, your technologist will inform you when to count on the outcomes. In my case, the radiologist reviewed the pictures by the tip of the day, so my OB/GYN’s workplace had the outcomes the following day and shared them with me. Inside a pair days, I additionally had a letter from the radiologist’s workplace, sharing these outcomes and letting me know that I’ve dense breasts. If in case you have dense breasts, like thousands and thousands of American ladies, your OB/GYN could suggest 3D mammograms or different screening instruments to assist defend your well being sooner or later.
Suggestions for Making the Mammogram Simpler
When you’re getting ready to bear your first mammogram, chat along with your OB/GYN or one other trusted medical supplier. Your supplier can supply worthwhile perspective about the place to bear the process, ship by means of a referral when crucial for insurance coverage functions, and speak by means of what sort of screening it is best to have.
Make the process easier on your self by sporting snug clothes on the day of your mammogram. Since you can be eradicating your shirt and bra for the imaging scan, select gadgets which can be simple to tackle and off.
You might also be suggested about particulars previous to your appointment, like not sporting lotion or deodorant to your mammogram. You should definitely fastidiously take note of these tips.
As a result of somewhat discomfort is feasible throughout the process, some suppliers suggest taking an anti-inflammatory remedy like ibuprofen an hour or so earlier than your appointment. I’ll be doing that earlier than my mammogram this yr.
It’s unlikely that any girl wherever would inform you {that a} mammogram is one thing she’s enthusiastic about. However whereas mammograms aren’t one thing we stay up for, they supply an important instrument within the struggle in opposition to breast most cancers.
The sooner that breast most cancers is detected, the better it’s to deal with—and in lots of circumstances, eradicate. So, should you’re due for a mammogram, don’t put it off! Take into account this your signal to get it on the schedule at present.
Questioning when it is best to have your first mammogram and the way typically you want one? An OB/GYN can reply your questions. Schedule an appointment at present with Robert Chin, MD, PhD, or different suppliers at West Tennessee Medical Group Women’s Health
