# Mammograms



## BubbleButtBabe (May 11, 2008)

I hope you all bear with me and forgive me if there are misspelled words. I am typing this one handed. Kinda of hard to do but I need to say this.

I have a friend that has been my friend since 2nd grade when she and I use to huddle in my coat to keep warm in the winter time. She is the complete opposite of me. She is tiny and so petite. I bet she has never weighed over 105 lbs in her life.LOL She is the oldest of her family with 3 younger sisters and 1 brother. The oldest of the 3 sisters use to follows us around getting into as much trouble as we did.She was never a nuisance, more like a little sister that wanted to be cool like her big sister. Since I have no younger siblings I adopted her as my lil sis. Use to call her that all the time.

Last Thursday I had to say Good-bye to my lil sis one last time. It broke my heart to see such a fun loving, full of life person laying in her casket. See lil sis had stage 4 breast cancer by the time she went to the Drs. She put off going to see the Dr about the knot in her breast because she didn't think it was anything to worry about. She didn't want to deal with the Dr and was afraid of the mammogram machine. By the time she worked up the courage to have herself checked out it was to late.

*So please those of you that put off getting a mammogram, please get one. If you can not afford one, get in touch with the Susan B. Kormen foundation to find out where you can get a free one. I beg of you to have this done. Please do not be some one's lil sis..*

So sorry but this has been weighing heavily on me since the funeral.


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## ThatFatGirl (May 11, 2008)

I'm so sorry about your friend, BBB.

Thanks for posting this important reminder.


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## AnnMarie (May 11, 2008)

Here is the link for the Kohman Foundation 

http://cms.komen.org/komen/index.htm


I started mammograms about 2-3 years ago, my mother is a survivor. 

I'm sorry for your loss... all the more tragic knowing that she may have been able to get treatment.


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## kathynoon (May 14, 2008)

I am very sorry for your loss.


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## Miss Vickie (May 14, 2008)

I'm so sorry.  You must miss her a lot, and it's doubly difficult when it could probably have been avoided if she'd sought treatment earlier. I hope you can find some peace and healing from this and in the meantime, thank you for this important reminder.


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## BubbleButtBabe (May 15, 2008)

Thank You so very much ladies. A big Thank You to AnnMarie for posting the link.

She was a sweetheart with a smile always on her face even when she was at her worse. I just wish she would have not been afraid. 

I know everyone hates mammograms,I do to, but they do save lives. I had my first one at 30 and have been getting 1 every year since then. I just hope every one past the age of 40 or that has a history of breast cancer in the family or a suspicious knot goes to the Dr and has it checked out. Please.


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## Risible (May 15, 2008)

Thanks, BBB, for thinking of us and posting the link as well as your very poignant story. I'm very sorry for the loss of your friend. 

Much as I loathe getting the mammogram done (the handling of my girlz like they're some poor quality cut of beef, the squishing of said girlz, etc.,), it is so important.


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## pinuptami (May 21, 2008)

I am so sorry for your loss 

I started this year on mammograms and had an ultrasound as well, I had a breast lump issue. I am fine, but from now on I have to have them every year...starting at 22, sort of a big deal for me 

However, I can say due to my experience, that ladies, the mammogram isn't that bad, at least it wasn't for me. I have large breasts, and it didn't hurt, or pinch really. It wasn't super comfortable, but I would rather have pressure and have to stand a little funny than go unchecked.


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## LillyBBBW (May 21, 2008)

It's time for me to get one and I've been putting it off for a while. I better buckle down and do it.


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## BubbleButtBabe (May 24, 2008)

Thank you again ladies..

Tami, I know it is hard starting so young having a mammogram but in the long run it might be the best thing for you to do. Better safe then sorry!

Like I said I had my first one when I was 30. I had a small lump the size of a grape on my right breast and it had been there awhile when the Dr. found it. Freaked him out and I had my mammogram the next day. It wasn't anything but some fibrous tissue. 

I some times wonder how well men would do if their balls had to be examined like our breast do..

Lilly get thee to a Dr. now! It really doesn't hurt just more uncomfortable then anything.


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## Friday (May 24, 2008)

> I some times wonder how well men would do if their balls had to be examined like our breast do..



Would never happen. Think of the way every man in the room winces just watching those funniest home videos. Fortunately for our male loved ones, testicles are small enough to be thoroughly examined without turning them into lefse. 

Mammograms are a pain in the...well, not ass. However, they are a quick and very necessary inconvenience. I have lost too many loved ones to ever want to put my loved ones through losing me to something so treatable when it's caught in time and frankly, it's definitely not the way I'd choose to go.

I go every year on my birthday or as close to it as I can get. It seems appropriate. We make a day out of it. Get the pap if it's due, run up the street for the squash and then out for a nice lunch and some shopping. Then an evening phone call to my little sis and another round in the eternal argument over whether it's worse to have little ones (she) or big ones (me) at mammo time. :happy:

My condolences on the loss of your friend BBB.


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## Fyreflyintheskye (May 25, 2008)

the ladies at my work were discussing facilities around here that use full-field digital mammography equipment that's supposedly not actually painful. I'm not clear what the differences in technology mean because I've never had one of any kind and I wasn't really paying attention at the time... does anyone know anything about it?


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## BubbleButtBabe (May 28, 2008)

Thank You Friday. 

I laugh every time I have one done because I tell the lady tech I couldn't possible have that much breast tissue to the side now since they seem to be heading towards my knees!..LOL

I don't know Sharleen I haven't heard. I do remember a few years back they were talking about the machines you could lay down on and it gave better readings then the standard test,but no more was ever said about that machine.


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## BubbleButtBabe (Oct 6, 2009)

Since it is October I wanted to bump this back up as a friendly reminder to every one to please have a mammogram done!

It's not that bad of an ordeal and might just save your life..Please have one done soon if you have been putting it off!


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## Friday (Oct 8, 2009)

BBB is right and they have a new machine that doesn't need to pull you out so far and squash you so flat. I'm not going to say it's pleasant but it's a lot less awful than it used to be.

So go, because I have a friend who's having a biopsy in a few hours and they've already told her it doesn't look good.  Unfortunately, she hasn't had a mammo in nearly 10 years or they might have found whatever it is years ago.


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## BubbleButtBabe (Oct 9, 2009)

I am so sorry to hear that Friday..I hope it has not gone to far..I am sending good wishes her way...

Please go here every day to help give uninsured women free mammograms! 

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2


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## jdsumm (Oct 9, 2009)

Fyreflyintheskye said:


> the ladies at my work were discussing facilities around here that use full-field digital mammography equipment that's supposedly not actually painful. I'm not clear what the differences in technology mean because I've never had one of any kind and I wasn't really paying attention at the time... does anyone know anything about it?



I work in a hospital in the mammogram area (as a clerical person mind you not a health care provider-so my reply isn't much more informed than anyone else here). I like to think of it very much like the difference between viewing a TV show on an old analog TV vs. high definition digital TV. We just switched about a year ago from analog mammography to full field digital and the digital technology makes the images so much better, breast tissue and other things in the breast are seen so much more clearly. I think because the pictures are much clearer, because the design of the machines are more "ergonomically correct" and, most importantly, because the technologist can actually SEE the images as she takes them instead of taking them and then going to process film, they don't have to squish quite as hard as they used to. (They see the result on a screen in front of them and can stop instead of squishing just a little more just to be sure they have a good enough image.) This makes the mammogram MUCH more comfortable-still not pleasant but certainly more tolerable. Anyway don't know if that helped at all. 

BBB so very sorry for your loss. Thank you so much for sharing your loss with us and bringing this up again this October, reminding us how important it is for us to have our mammograms. 

Friday, you and your friend are in my thoughts and prayers.


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## Friday (Oct 10, 2009)

I thank you, she thanks you. She should know something Monday.


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## BubbleButtBabe (Oct 10, 2009)

Thank you Jdsumm...I am glad to hear they are getting rid of all of the old outdated machines and finally using something that isn't as uncomfortable..I always hated the pressure but put up with it because even tho there is no breast cancer in my family there is still lots of cancer..


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## BubbleButtBabe (Oct 10, 2009)

I have a friend that would not go in for a mammogram or a pap smear..She said she just couldn't be bothered..One day during a discussion about her husband's retirement(when they would lose their health ins) she brought up the fact she hadn't had either one in about 15 years..Being the worry wart I am,I nagged her until she made an appointment to have both done..She ended up having cervical cancer..She had to undergo chemo and radiation...A year after she dealt with the cancer her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer,as luck would have it they caught it early...Both are doing great now and are cancer free but both ladies now go every year for both a mammogram and a pap smear..


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## Linda (Oct 10, 2009)

jdsumm said:


> I work in a hospital in the mammogram area (as a clerical person mind you not a health care provider-so my reply isn't much more informed than anyone else here). I like to think of it very much like the difference between viewing a TV show on an old analog TV vs. high definition digital TV. We just switched about a year ago from analog mammography to full field digital and the digital technology makes the images so much better, breast tissue and other things in the breast are seen so much more clearly. I think because the pictures are much clearer, because the design of the machines are more "ergonomically correct" and, most importantly, because the technologist can actually SEE the images as she takes them instead of taking them and then going to process film, they don't have to squish quite as hard as they used to. (They see the result on a screen in front of them and can stop instead of squishing just a little more just to be sure they have a good enough image.) This makes the mammogram MUCH more comfortable-still not pleasant but certainly more tolerable. Anyway don't know if that helped at all.
> QUOTE]
> 
> 
> ...


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## Friday (Oct 12, 2009)

What Linda said about asking for a different tech if the last one left you feeling less than as happy as you could be about being pancaked. My first mammo many years ago was a pleasant if uncomfortable experience. My second on the other hand, let's just say I'm glad it wasn't my first or I don't know if I'd have gone back. The woman may have been having a bad day but she was short to the point of rudeness, never smiled, barked commands with no explanation and worst of all, positioned my right breast so poorly that when she cranked it down the tender skin in the crease under the breast tore like wet tissue and when I protested she told me I could handle it because it would only be for a minute. I _should_ have said something before I left, instead, the next time I went in I asked that she not be my tech and after looking at my chart the woman grimaced and said 'She doesn't work here any more.'. Evidently I wasn't the only one she had been less than professional with. But that was one out of 10 or 12 and all the rest have been wonderful.

And Linda, I have a question. I had a complete (and I mean complete) hysterectomy several years ago after which my now retired OB/GYN said I would still need a pap every two years or so. My GP on the other hand agrees with me that now there is nothing left but the front porch (my vagina), there is no need for a pap. So, why would I need pap when even my cervix is gone? I'll find a new Gynny if I have to.


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## GrowingBoy (Oct 12, 2009)

If you do a self-exam and find something unusual, then get a mammagram that is "normal", don't leave it at that. Not all breast cancers can be picked up on a mammagram. An MRI will pick up much smaller cancers, but it costs a lot more so that is not standard procedure. 

So if you detect a change after the initial mammagram, please follow up. 

Also, family history is very important. Disposition toward breast cancer can be genetically inherited.


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## Friday (Oct 12, 2009)

But only 1 out of 10 breast cancer victims has a relative who has had breast cancer so please don't think that if your family is breast cancer free you can ignore your self exams and mammograms. Your chances of surviving breast cancer are strongly tied to how early it is detected.


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## Linda (Oct 12, 2009)

GrowingBoy said:


> If you do a self-exam and find something unusual, then get a mammagram that is "normal", don't leave it at that. Not all breast cancers can be picked up on a mammagram. An MRI will pick up much smaller cancers, but it costs a lot more so that is not standard procedure.
> 
> So if you detect a change after the initial mammagram, please follow up.
> 
> Also, family history is very important. Disposition toward breast cancer can be genetically inherited.



An MRI is definately not a screening tool for breast cancer. It is just another tool in the arsenol. Self exams, routine mamograms and regular doctor visits are the best in your screening routine.


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## Linda (Oct 12, 2009)

Friday said:


> And Linda, I have a question. I had a complete (and I mean complete) hysterectomy several years ago after which my now retired OB/GYN said I would still need a pap every two years or so. My GP on the other hand agrees with me that now there is nothing left but the front porch (my vagina), there is no need for a pap. So, why would I need pap when even my cervix is gone? I'll find a new Gynny if I have to.



I do not know the answer to that because the cervix is gone. But since your still have questions yes find an OB/GYN and just ask for an appointment to talk to the doctor. No exam just a talk. They do those and you can ask all of your questions. Being confused is the worst especially when different professionals give you different answers.


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## Linda (Oct 12, 2009)

Linda said:


> jdsumm said:
> 
> 
> > On a personal and a sad note my friend and coworker just found last week her daughter has inflammatory breast cancer. This girl just had a baby two months ago and now only has a 50% percent chance of living five years. My heart breaks for my coworker and her family.
> ...


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## Miss Vickie (Oct 12, 2009)

Friday said:


> And Linda, I have a question. I had a complete (and I mean complete) hysterectomy several years ago after which my now retired OB/GYN said I would still need a pap every two years or so. My GP on the other hand agrees with me that now there is nothing left but the front porch (my vagina), there is no need for a pap. So, why would I need pap when even my cervix is gone? I'll find a new Gynny if I have to.



Friday, honey, I remember this coming up in a women's health care class in nursing school, and it seems to be of some debate. Yes, technically, your cervix is gone but those who would say that you should get a pap smear, just to be especially safe, would say that the cells have a propensity to spread during surgery and it's possible that if there were any cancer cells that were hanging in there, they could become a problem. Most likely? Not an issue, but cervical cancer is a helluva way to die and if you can avoid it with a simple, relatively non-invasive and very safe test, why not do it? It's hard to say but since you should still have yearly breast exams, and you're still a girlie, you should probably find a OG/GYN or midwife and get checked out. Just in case. 'Cause we like ya!

But I'll ask one of my favorite docs this week when I go back to work and report back. 



Linda said:


> Sad update. My coworker's daughter had her PET scan over the weekend. The cancer has already metted to her spine. It was a sad, sad afternoon.
> 
> 
> Please ladies take care of yourselves.



Oh God, Linda, I'm so sorry.  No words. Just sadness.


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## Friday (Oct 12, 2009)

Thanks Vickie. I 'preciate it. I'd rep you but apparently I'm out for the day. What's up with that?


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## BubbleButtBabe (Oct 13, 2009)

Linda said:


> Linda said:
> 
> 
> > Sad update. My coworker's daughter had her PET scan over the weekend. The cancer has already metted to her spine. It was a sad, sad afternoon.
> ...


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