a day in the life: be a grown-up and get a mammogram
Today I learned that the majority of the people at a radiology clinic are there for chest x-rays. I was wearing a mask the whole time I was exposed to them, but my husband reports that they reeked of smoke. They didn't sound so good, either.
The radiology clinic is something I learned about because I recently had the bad judgment to turn 40, and even if your hormones aren't all screwed up from a chemical injury, doctors like to start taking pictures around then. They may even glare disapprovingly when they find out you didn't get a practice mammogram back when you turned 35, despite the fact that at that age you may have been, as my grandmother says, too sick to die.
I also learned that if you bring your husband to keep an eye on you (and he definitely needed to keep an eye on me -- he had to cart me outside into fresh air in a hurry at one point), the tech will inform you that the mammography area is strictly off-limits to anyone of the male persuasion, and she will try to leave him in the waiting room. I went along with that for about 4 seconds, when I pointed out that he was my caregiver, and there should be some allowance for that. When I went as far as to suggest we preserve other patients' dignity by getting him a blindfold, she checked with her supervisor, who allowed him in. Problem solved.
We also have some new rules to go along with the obvious 'bring your own gown' and 'whatever else you may do, do not forget your mask':
The radiology clinic is something I learned about because I recently had the bad judgment to turn 40, and even if your hormones aren't all screwed up from a chemical injury, doctors like to start taking pictures around then. They may even glare disapprovingly when they find out you didn't get a practice mammogram back when you turned 35, despite the fact that at that age you may have been, as my grandmother says, too sick to die.
I also learned that if you bring your husband to keep an eye on you (and he definitely needed to keep an eye on me -- he had to cart me outside into fresh air in a hurry at one point), the tech will inform you that the mammography area is strictly off-limits to anyone of the male persuasion, and she will try to leave him in the waiting room. I went along with that for about 4 seconds, when I pointed out that he was my caregiver, and there should be some allowance for that. When I went as far as to suggest we preserve other patients' dignity by getting him a blindfold, she checked with her supervisor, who allowed him in. Problem solved.
We also have some new rules to go along with the obvious 'bring your own gown' and 'whatever else you may do, do not forget your mask':
- However cute your hair may be down, you should wear it up in buildings filled with synthetic fragrance and smokers unless you want to wear your mask after you leave until your hair offgases.
- Wear a button-up shirt to doctor visits. A t-shirt is hard to get off over a half-face respirator, and if you take the mask off, your first breath contains a bunch of carpet-cleaner chemicals.
- Do not, under any circumstances, remove your mask. Failure to observe this rule may result in a quick trip to the parking lot wearing not exactly what you'd hope to be wearing in a parking lot.
posted by missmolly at 1:43 PM
2 Comments:
As long as they came back and told you the mammo was ok. Because believe me, when they tell you they've found something, the MCS/EI thing and the fact that you've almost passed out from all the fumes in the mammo machine room becomes the least of your problems. Even when they make you go back in and take another 12 slides.
Also, I have nothing but good things to say about doctors and technicians who allow hubbies into the room with you. Although of course they don't let the hubby in for the actual mastectomy, they did let him in for the needle biopsy, which was worse than the mastectomy actually in a lot of ways because you are fully awake but haven't eaten anything for over 12 hours (required) and of course nearly ready to PASS OUT from the fumes and the fear and you have to STAND UP, PERFECTLY STILL, while they smash your boob in another mammo machine and insert a wire deep into your breast. Sorry for graphics. BUT my point is they let the hubby in and we locked eyes for the whole procedure and I fell in love with him all over again. It was a room FULL of fear and love all at once and very overwhelming.
And I have LIVED to tell the story.
And so I truly truly hope that you had good news about your mammo!
Also, don't forget to feel yourself up once a month, because the lump I found with my own hand was the reason why I went in to get the mammo, and that freaking thing never did show up on the mammo. The mammo found another site in situ.
The mammogram was all clear except for the benign lump I'd forgotten about. They got all excited about that, but with no family history of cancer and a long history of benign lumpy things, I wasn't worried at all.
It sounds like your experience was a LOT more exciting than mine. I'm glad you made it through all that.
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