Mammograms

[Crazyaboutdogs]

Any women on this thread had mammograms? Just had one today. Had one two years ago and didn't find it so bad. This year it almost felt like they were trying to make pancakes!!

[Batya33]

I just had my re-do of the mammogram today and an ultrasound - in the re-do they make crepes, not pancakes.

 

All was fine (which was what they had told me was the most likely result but still - - whew!).

 

I had pancakes after - hmmmm maybe a connection there?

[Tethys]

in the re-do they make crepes, not pancakes.

 

LOL.

 

I hate mammograms. It feels like they're crushing grapes to make wine or something.

 

Glad you are ok!

[RayKay]

I've just had an ultrasound (mammograms not as effective on denser tissue typical in younger women and mammograms carry radiation risks when you have to start it so early).....hopefully soon MRI's will also be standard for high-risk women as it is better than both mammograms and ultrasounds in younger women (of course only certain high-risk women need it).

 

I'll need to get a baseline mammogram in the pretty near future though due to that risk so they can do the comparisons down the road.

 

They certainly don't have the reputation of being "fun"; but they certainly can save your life as for MOST women whom get cancer they can find the cancer fairly easily as it is recognizable (in older women with less dense breasts and the more common forms of cancer). My own mothers unfortunately was missed on earlier mammograms due to the location of it (in lobules rather than ducts which can make it harder) but her form of cancer is pretty rare (less than 10% of breast cancer diagnosis).

 

Your breasts might have been more sensitive this time around due to hormones or such as well!

 

Glad yours was okay Batya!

[Tethys]

Ack, now I feel bad for making light -- I just hate having them but I do it every year. Breast cancer runs in my family, too.

[Crazyaboutdogs]

I just had my re-do of the mammogram today and an ultrasound - in the re-do they make crepes, not pancakes.

 

All was fine (which was what they had told me was the most likely result but still - - whew!).

 

I had pancakes after - hmmmm maybe a connection there?

 

 

Glad to hear everything was fine. Last time I got the results right away, but this time the radiologist wasn't there so they won't read it until next week.

[RayKay]

Ack, now I feel bad for making light -- I just hate having them but I do it every year. Breast cancer runs in my family, too.

 

 

Ah, don't!

 

We need to also make light of these kind of things....

 

Even more important than to be vigilant even where you feel like a pancake!

 

On the 18th, it will be two years post-diagnosis for my mum and she is doing excellent (and in Mexico right now!).

[Tethys]

Great news, Raykay. I hope your Mom continues to stay excellent!

[RayKay]

Great news, Raykay. I hope your Mom continues to stay excellent!

 

Thanks me too We are not in the "all clear" by any means but we are grateful for every day considering her diagnosis we were not sure she would be here for this Christmas at the last one.

[Batya33]

Thanks so very much everybody!! At my place, Crazyaboutdogs, they also don't read it right away, darn it, but when they do a re-do, they do. There was one woman who after she got a "everything's fine!" burst into happy tears.

 

It's pretty tense there.....

 

for my first one, 6 years ago my mother took me out for a post-mammogram ice cream sundae because when she had it done it hurt her so much she cried. It didn't hurt me (but I still accepted the sundae, didn't want to upset mom, after all....

[Crazyaboutdogs]

Thanks so very much everybody!! At my place, Crazyaboutdogs, they also don't read it right away, darn it, but when they do a re-do, they do. There was one woman who after she got a "everything's fine!" burst into happy tears.

 

It's pretty tense there.....

 

for my first one, 6 years ago my mother took me out for a post-mammogram ice cream sundae because when she had it done it hurt her so much she cried. It didn't hurt me (but I still accepted the sundae, didn't want to upset mom, after all....

 

Any time is a good time for a sundae!! I guess I was lucky the last time that they read it right away. I have this fear that if they don't read it right away they will forget to do it.

[Hope75]

I'm an oncology nurse and I recently took a course that discussed the growth cycle of breast cancer and frighteningly enough, most breast cancer tumors are not visible via ultrasound or mammogram until they have been multiplying for 5 years, and are not palpable as a lump by the woman until they have been growing for 7 years.

 

The good news is that for the most part, breast cancer grows slowly. But it was alarming to me that it had that much of a head start before being detected by ANY of the methods we have available right now!

[RayKay]

Yup, I know Hope, it is.

 

Then on the other hand, sometimes it is detected VERY early while it is still in situ (they call it "pre-cancer" because it has not spread outside the duct or lobule it has begun in but it is cancerous cells....) and then women have to decide do they do something about it or do they wait because often it does not progress either.

 

Who knows how long my own mothers was growing - it was a 5cm tumour by time they found it which is pretty large as so it was definitely missed (though it was also an aggressive cancer) at least once or twice.

 

Even after they knew she HAD cancer and a huge tumour, it often did not show up on subsequent diagnostic tests even if they knew where to look due to the density of the breast tissue which is even scarier!

 

 

The issue is more whether it has of course spread through the lymph system or to other sites in the meantime...the good thing is as it is slow growing often it has not had the chance when detected early enough (when small enough) but of course there is always that risk (it had spread in my mums case).