Sat with Nat

Nat thinks we need to share our mammogram stories

natalieh (she/her)

Shortly after my fiftieth birthday I went for my first mammogram.

Recently the Ontario Breast Cancer Screening Program expanded the criteria for self referrals to ages 40-74.

Risks vary for breast cancer so some folks are referred by their healthcare provider at earlier ages.

You can get great information from your local public health or cancer society about breast cancer screening.

Canadian Cancer Society Get Screened for Breast Cancer

I’m very fortunate to live in a city with imaging services throughout. I was able to get an appointment within 1 week just 1 kilometer from my home and work.

I was nervous. I had heard stories of cold metal plates, awful squeezing and even bruising or blistering.

My experience could not have been more opposite of that. The clinic was small and specialized in mammograms. The technician collected me from the waiting room at exactly my appointment time. I was given clear instructions on what to remove and how to put the gown on.

Once in the imaging room, the technician reviewed my medical history. They explained the screening program and ensured I understood and consented to participating.

The imaging itself took maybe 5 minutes. The technician gave clear instructions and helped position each breast.

The machine was warm, the edges beveled and comfortable to be against. The compression was mild.

I have fairly large, wide breasts. They look like the ones on goddess statues, flat and pointed down. These are fifty year old boobs that nursed babies a long time ago. They have seen things.

The famous Venus von Willendorf statue is clay and palm sized. In this photo she is warmly lit on her pedestal facing left. Her thin arms rest on top of her pendulous breasts that drape around her generous belly that rests on thick thighs. It’s wild to me that something so ancient could capture my body shape so accurately.

I was out the door 10 minutes after my appointment started. Easy! I spoke with two other friends who recently had their first mammograms. They had similar experiences. We decided that mammograms need a positive PR campaign.

“Come get your boobs imaged! It’s not so bad!”

And. Who knows? Maybe my privilege of being in a well served community is a positive bias.

I hope, if you are of an age where your public health department recommends getting a mammogram, that you go. It’s important.

Yes, it is scary to think you might have breast cancer, especially if you have close relatives and friends who have gotten a breast cancer diagnosis. Honestly, early detection is coined as “prevention” as it can avoid more serious interventions but it’s still cancer.

So connect with your supports. Friends, primary health care providers and anyone else so that you can go and get screened. I hope this helps it feel a little less scary.

Published by natalieh (she/her)

Fat, feminist, 50 yr old mother of 2 adults who loves her high energy life partner of over 30 years. I love moving my body and walk wherever I can. I sometimes ride my road bike, do yoga, lift weights and other shenanigans.

8 thoughts on “Nat thinks we need to share our mammogram stories”

  1. I’m glad you had a good experience. I’ve had a number of mammos and ultrasounds because I have the notorious DENSE BREAST TISSUE and a TENDENCY TO CYSTS and have been put in the “excessive follow up” group twice. IME, yes, mammos can be uncomfortable, but the discomfort is usually quick. I did find them more painful before menopause — I suspect they are less comfortable in the moments when hormones make our breasts more tender. I do wonder, though, how much of the angst about them have to do with the obvious point of fear of something being wrong and the harder to name anxiety about vulnerability/ being naked/ being a cog in a big screening system. I know that I got very pissy last time with my wait time (which was, to be fair, nearly an hour after my appointment time) because people who’d checked in after me were getting seen first — and I think I get more scratchy when I am waiting for something that, while I don’t DREAD it, I really want to get over with.

    1. Definitely easier for me because I’m in the average risk screening pool. My breasts are type B, more fatty than dense, so kind of like. Uh. Hahahaha deflated milk bags.

  2. I’ve had many many mammograms. Because of family history I’ve been having them since 40. Because of cysts, like Cate, I’ve spent lots of that in the higher screening category, mammogram plus ultra sound every six months. It’s not been awful but it has been worrying and I have thought of just getting rid of them. You are right that London is better than smaller places. I really liked the London breast screening clinic and miss it. In Guelph it’s done at a generic screening for all the things place and it’s all technicians, no one who can tell you anything.

  3. Small-breasted women are more difficult to position and experience more pain and bruising. The results can be unclear and they have to return for another mammogram.

  5. I started in my 40s, too. Andcat 73, no end in sight. Lots of family history. I am small breasted, too, and yes, it can be uncomfortable when the technician tries so hard to find more tissue to work with, but it’s so worth it. Honestly, I don’t think it’s nearly as uncomfortable as, say, dental work (even cleaning), and look how many people have tattoos now! Not, I hear, a pain-free process.

    I think the reluctance is more about fear of the results. I hope more and more women can get past that, because finding something this way is SO much more likely to lead to very good long term results.

    Thanks for posting this.

    1. I’m finding, more and more, I have an aversion to going to the dentist. I do find it very uncomfortable and anxiety provoking. That is a great example of discomfort for healthcare that we accept. Thank you!

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