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franceslievens"Please relax your shoulder," she says, but you try to relax your back and shoulders while the rest of your upper body is in agony. My initial reflex is to push against the machine she strapped me into. Or to forsake my god and give her the soul of my first born child, if only that would make her stop.
"You know the drill," she told me, "We're gonna press your breasts in between here. Just tell me when it hurts too much." I forgot the drill, and forgot how bloody much it hurts when they try to make breasts the size of eggs into crêpes. I think I hear the crunching noise of their shells. That was one. Three more crunches to go. Tears well up in my eyes. I bet she's extra hard on me, because I corrected her when she mispronounced my name.
But never do I tell her that it hurts too much. I'm a big girl, and I know that adjusting the machine will make me hurt longer than waiting for it to be over. Instead I silently wish for the seven plages of Egypt to fall over the man who invented the mammography.
P.S.: The subsequent ultrasound gave me an all clear. I only need to have it followed up, so they'll be able to intervene immediately in case the lumps grow bigger.
"You know the drill," she told me, "We're gonna press your breasts in between here. Just tell me when it hurts too much." I forgot the drill, and forgot how bloody much it hurts when they try to make breasts the size of eggs into crêpes. I think I hear the crunching noise of their shells. That was one. Three more crunches to go. Tears well up in my eyes. I bet she's extra hard on me, because I corrected her when she mispronounced my name.
But never do I tell her that it hurts too much. I'm a big girl, and I know that adjusting the machine will make me hurt longer than waiting for it to be over. Instead I silently wish for the seven plages of Egypt to fall over the man who invented the mammography.
P.S.: The subsequent ultrasound gave me an all clear. I only need to have it followed up, so they'll be able to intervene immediately in case the lumps grow bigger.
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Date: 2006-11-14 05:17 pm (UTC)I'm glad you're okay but I'm sorry you had to go through that!
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Date: 2006-11-14 05:45 pm (UTC)Every woman I know who underwent a mammography says the same: they shouldn't be allowed to do that kind of thing with breasts.
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Date: 2006-11-14 05:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-14 05:58 pm (UTC)I found my first lump ten years ago. It hasn't grown since, but I discovered a second one several months ago. So I just wanted to have it checked again, to be sure. Now I have to go in for an ultrasound every year. They will only remove it when it's suddenly starting to grow, so that's a relief!
But yes, it does mean that my breast tissue is a bit more likely to develop tumors.
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Date: 2006-11-14 11:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-15 12:13 pm (UTC)Actualy I'm also very far removed from that yearly mammogram age, but I felt a lump, and they wouldn't have me do an ultrasound without one. At least now I'll only need a yearly ultrasound, to check the size of said lumps.