I'm thinking of combining the esp thread idea with the smileys. We only post smileys and communicate telepathically. Or in our case, maybe telepathologically.
Harper's Birthday - Part 5!
^_^
Hey I did it!!!!!!!! Eleanor ^_^
Good morning, NE Forum. Today I have a mammogram. Which makes women everywhere cry "who invented this infernal machine?" xx, Carrie
^_^
Is it your first mammogram? Carri?
Of course a man invented it.I had a "bread and Butter" job for a breast clinic for 13 years. Believe me keep ontop of your health. Hope you sail through.
Jo Ann
Ugh, Carrie. You have my sympathy. I'm overdue for mine. I'm dreading it. Hate those machines. "Okay, now hold your breath" Urgh!
Yep!!!!!!! we had all sorts of cartoons at the clinic about the equivalent for a prostate test. Seeing how this is a family sight we probably should just let that one go.
Yes, it's uncomfortable and, yes, it's not fun but if it helps save our lives and the lives of the women we love it's all worth the discomfort.
You are right Pirl: Duering the time I worked at the clinic tthere were any number of patients per week ( we were seeing over 250 per day )who came in for a regular mammo and were asked to stay for "more views" .We had someone on staff who only dealt with patients who fell apart. I am not a doctor ,I worked in the file room it's an education in and of itself.
The number we saw were the cancer patients and the routine mammograms combined. There were only two doctors when I started ,now there are six.
This is getting morbid,never the less it has been proven the mammo is the best first detection test there is. Besides self examination.
I've had bad results and had to go for needle biopsies. Now, THAT IS painful (FAR BEYOND UNCOMFORTABLE) and so worth every bit of pain.
Yep I had a core biop which was negative so they inserted a "marker" so that the area would come up on subsiquent mammos.
If anyone ever has a lump that scares them. "The Elizabeth Wende Womans Health Center" is the place to go for the final word. They won't see anyone who has had a negative result. These are women who are in denial and hope another opinion will change the lab. results.
We had such sympathy for these women and all who had a cancer diagnosis, the doctors aren't the only ones in the clinic who work under stress.
Just had mine too, AOK. The first one I had there was a sign on the machine "A man must have invented this device" emphasis on VICE. ^_^
I wish all mammos could be easy. It depends on the tec.
some believe in really crushing the daylights out of you.
Glad pirl is OK and ngam. Gotta do whacha gotta do.
Regardless of if a man invented it or not, aren't we happy to have a way to discover a problem before it's too late?
I'll vote for that.
^_^ ^_^
So, you don't have to do the pain-in-the-neck-to-understand backspace thing that the Dave talked about. Good! (I tried it both ways.)
This message was edited Apr 8, 2008 11:40 AM
Actually, there is a much better and non-invasive test - a special ct scan. Unfortunately, insurance companies will not pay for it unless you're considered high risk.
By the time you know your "at risk" you have had a mammogram. There is also new digital mammography, something like or is an MRI. It's a wonder the disease hasn't ben erradicated by now with all the modern testing. It starts with the woman taking care of her health, not very many of them do and I can't count the number of women who came in with stage four and lumps the size of beans who didn't bother to do anything until it was too late to treat with out loosing half her chest to radiation.
Don't get me going.
Sure it hurts for a few minutes out of your year.
Victor's quote: "Actually, there is a much better and non-invasive test - a special ct scan. " At first I was thinking there was a non-invasive test to get the Smileys to work better - duh!
Yeaaah the smillies. A great change of topic. Thanks
Yes, a change of topic. Like, "Happy Birthday, Harper!"
I was just thinking this topic started out with such joy.
Happy birthday everyone.
Jo Ann
Sue, LOL !
Good morning, JD!
Happy birthday, Harper!
Happy birthday everyone!
Happy annual mammogram Harper!
A good friend was just diagnosed. The mammogram found a small spot & led to a cat scan which found another smaller one. Both are now gone but the smaller one was found to be much more aggressive. Thank God they found it. She is doing great and her follow-up tx will be determined on Thursday. Get your tests boys & girls!
When are you getting your mammo, Dave? And I think it was Carrie, not Harper, having one. Try to keep up, David!!^_^
Men get mammo's, too, Victor and Dave. If you feel anything suspicious see your doctor and she/he will determine what further tests need to be taken.
Well, I had it, had my foot checked too while I was in the building. I have no family history of breast cancer or any suspicions so it's just a precaution as it is for all women of (coughs delicately) a certain age.
My foot, ay yi yi, that's another story. I have sensory and circulation problems similar to what you would tend to find with diabetes, so I have to be very careful of my feet, and they are always getting smashed into things and banged up and squeezed into shoes that might fit and might not. I've already had 2 or 3 surgeries on my right heel. I found a new tiny sore there on Friday, and I wanted to get it looked at while it's tiny and before it turns into a nightmare like the last sore I had on that heel was.
Too much information!!!! xx, Carrie
It's Harper's thread. Didn't want her to be left out.
At the breast clinic we used to see at least one man in six months for breast cancer check, many times it was only a cyst or fatty tumor. Same for you ladies, lumps aren't always bad news, breast pain isn't usually cancer. The sneaky thing about cancerous lumps is they arent paineful .
Because not all women have
fleshy breasts- - there is special equipment for flat chested people, - note the unisex area we are in now? -he he he I have no idea about the details.
AND there are men with fleshy pendulant breasts .
I worked in the file room and booked appointments and read reports, hence the terminology.
I'm with Pirl on mammograms! They are extremely important!! Having a mammo is a lot less painful than a radical masectomy!! My SIL had breast cancer in one breast and had the other removed as prevention and then extensive reconstruction work!! Needle core and surgical biopsies are very painful also but a lot less than a masectomy. I've had both kinds of biopsies and everything turned out OK, but the diagnosis puts me in the high risk category. All of the results were overgrowth of normal cells which would next turn into a displasia and eventually cancer. I'm very glad for mammos cause if they didn't detect these overgrowths, in a few years I'd be getting a masectomy!! Eleanor
Jo Ann - For those with small breasts they use a pad under the breast, which somehow takes the place of the normal fat tissue that larger breasts have. I know of two people who have always had it done that way. The DD breasts are the ones that require many films for each breast to get readings done by sections.
Eleanor - I agree with you on the importance of having regular mammograms and the insignificance of the discomfort compared to the surgical procedures.
Happy birthday, Harper!
I am not large , but very small busted...however I need to have a different type of mammogram test done because I have dense tissue. The nurse said it was because I have alot of muscle and not much fat which makes it hard for them to read me.
Last time they told me to get dressed and zipped me down to the Ultra-Sound room. I was scared to death, I thought they had found something. They were just being careful and thats when they explained that I will not be having my test done there anymore. Now I have to go to a different hospital in a town 30 miuntes away as they are the only one with the "right" mammogram test.
bUMMER.
Jo Ann
Such good advice, everyone.
Even my 22-year-old DD gets an annual mammo. She had a lump removed (benign) when she was just 17 years old. Can you imagine?
Candyce, I was 22 when I had my tumor removed which was also benign. I found it doing a self breast examine while I was still breastfeeding.