To have found my first mammogram really upsetting?

OP consented to a mammogram, she did not consent to have strangers laying their hands on her breasts!!!

The commenters on here are ablist as fuck 🤬

My first one was like that as well OP , like you I was confident and relaxed walking in knowing exactly what was going to happen etc. I was pleasant and friendly to the two women running it when I arrived on time for my appointment, they were surly, rough and grumpy in return, tutting and stomping around the mobile unit. The next one was similar affair as I had the same two women , but my last one during covid was brilliant they put me at ease and both of them were really friendly it was like night and day. I'm due another some time this year and I'm hoping the two surly moos have retired by now

I did read your post. I still don't feel it rises to the level of them being an awful person or an arsehole though. They might have been having a bad day themselves or had received some bad news, people arent machines.

@doublec My very best wishes for your radiotherapy.

The OP should not have been manhandled without some due care and consideration, it’s called a bedside manner, or being courteous/polite.

I know what to expect from a smear, it still means that I expect the nurse to say what’s she’s doing and not just shove the speculum up my fanjo without prior warning!

Consent ? FFS surely by the very fact you have turned up for your potentially life saving mammogram means you give consent. No, It is not a nice way to spend 10 minutes every couple of years but bloody hell, just take a deep breath and get on with it. Do you really thing these nurses have time to ask for consent every time they have to touch you in the space of 10 minutes ?

I like the quiet, efficient approach too. I'd find it really annoying if medical professionals asked for consent every time they needed to touch me.

@Marinade

"Wow, you reduced someone who was not chatty enough for you to being an arsehole? You sound nice..."

Did you read my post?

"Light hearted chit-chat was met with stony silence"

... for context, "it's lovely and sunny outside" silence "ooh, I'm a bit nervous" silence

She (literally) said 3 words to me during the whole procedure "Stand over here"

@ifIwerenotanandroid

Like other posters, I have had many mammograms and never once has anyone asked for my consent before touching me and manipulating my breasts into the correct position. Agreeing to the appointment and turning up is you giving consent.

Surely this is not always the case? With other procedures I've definitely been asked for consent. Turning up wasn't enough!

Was referring to mammograms only, although that said, have had countless ultrasounds (on my breasts) and I don't think any radiologist has ever asked for my consent before touching me. In fact, I was measured (and marked up) for radiotherapy just a week ago, and again, I wasn't asked to consent before being touched.

I'm willing to cut the OP some slack on this. I'm surprised others aren't.

No, am not. Am not sorry about this. People are not mind readers. OP is not a child, she should have said something. Even so, I do not condone the clinician's abrupt treatment, but if the OP would have said - 'go slow, this is my first mammogram', I have no doubt things would have proceeded differently.

I prefer this. Each to their own of course. I find it reassuring. They are quietly professional and fairly matter of fact. Never rude - just supremely efficient.

It is uncomfortable, you are manoeuvred (not manhandled in my experience) into position and I am thankful for that as I would never get it right. They are the professionals and in attending a mammogram, I put myself in their hands.

We have a mobile unit and it is small but not overly so.

I understand the time constraints they face, I don’t expect chat and I would rather be in and out quickly too.

But for me, it did what it was meant to do. And the follow up appointment(s) in hospital showed something I would never have known was happening. And that was all down to the person who took the first image.

I hope that the next appointment is better for you - because you now know what it entails and please give them the heads up that you may find it a struggle.

I have A-cups. There isn't much of anything to obscure anything else.

The expected physical discomfort and vulnerability of the procedure make it MORE important that the radiographer has a good manner with patients, not less.

Thing is though you may do your research about the procedure but it won't give you any information about the attitude of the staff member.

It won't say WARNING some staff may be having a bad day or think you a lucky to access a free service so may not treat you with dignity and may be brusque or even bossy and even manhandle you without even attempting consent or to put you at your ease.

Your complaint is with the manner of the staff not with the procedure per se. The more uncomfortable the procedure, the more important the role of the staff.

I agree that the person performing the OP’s mammogram should have behaved differently towards the OP, I’ve never been treated that way.

But, as @HesterRoon says, some physical discomfort is highly likely due to the nature of the procedure.

My DH says that prostate exams aren’t comfortable either, he’s had several performed by a man. I can’t say that I’d like to have one! 😂 He had his first colonoscopy this year as well, that was also grim.

Sorry, just realized that I’ve quoted the wrong post- this was in response to @Kingoftheroad ’s post.

Some of these comments are wild! When did everyone get to be ok with things being shit?
I'm a first aider at work and I won't even touch someone's hand or take a pulse without getting consent and making sure they are comfortable!!
In appointments or procedures that involve touching or handling of breasts, genitals or other sensitive areas, we should all be made to feel comfortable and given as much dignity and autonomy as possible.
The person doing it didn't do their due diligence to make sure that OP was comfortable and well looked after.

oh my god get a grip
why are there so many of these relentless fun sucking elevenerife posters popping up on MN
You can't mention anything without being reminded that there are worse things going on in the world.

"I'm sorry to hear your doctor amputated the wrong leg, but at least you had a doctor doing it, if you were in palestine your leg might have just been blown off in a bomb"

Wow, you reduced someone who was not chatty enough for you to being an arsehole? You sound nice...

I agree with previous poster. They are awful. The last time I had one I actually said to someone that if men needed mammograms they would be much more comfortable- its not about being grateful or unappreciative we have a right to an opinion

@shenandoahvalley you are dead wrong that patients should object to not being treated with dignity and respect. The NHS is supposed to serve us the citizens, not for us to be grateful for whatever we get.

@EBearhug then the Mammographer wasn’t doing her job properly. The most important thing in a mammogram is positioning. We have to pull and reach behind you to ensure no creases and that we image the back of the breast. We have to lift on the sideways picture to ensure the crease at the bottom of your breast isn’t obscuring a cancer. It’s impossible for you to do that just by leaning into a machine. There is no way on earth you can just place yourself in the machine and have a diagnostic mammogram. And going private doesn’t mean less painful-they use exactly the same equipment (there are a few manufacturers) as the NHS and the same technique. A good mammographer will make it as comfortable as possible by positioning correctly and compressing in the correct place. Tomosynthesis (3D) images are performed in exactly the same way.

Well that’s an entirely different matter.

I’ve had both NHS care and private care, in the UK and in three other countries. Nowhere did I have as much faith that the doctors and nurses were primarily driven by my best healthcare outcomes than on the NHS (then again, there are terrible stories of negligence and malpractice on the NHS too).

I’ve had NHS ultrasounds and private mammograms (including once with the machine that goes around you, rather than squishing you between two plates on a fixed machine). The NHS scan was thorough, complete, and no more than three or four sentences were exchanged between us - but every one was necessary and important. The radiographer wasn’t rude; she was busy and efficient but ultimately respectful given what she was actually doing to me. I had flowers in the room and a fluffy robe for the private scan, was offered herbal tea and sparkling water. Guess which one I had to have a repeat of?

This is a bit: be grateful, peasants!

You do realise it is entirely possible to treat people with a bit of professional courtesy in even a short amount of time, as attested to by numerous HCPs on this thread.

Also "free at the point of use" isn't actually free. Publicly funded isnt free. We all are paying for it and entitled to rake a view on how it is delivered.

And it's entirely proper for patients who have experienced distress to talk to the HCPs about this, especially in context we want a national screening service to be used by people.

I do hope you are not in any position where you might have to tolerate other humans for your day job.

@JenniferBooth I’m in the US so we pay regardless. Reading other people’s experiences, I’d say that mine have been pretty much the same as everyone else’s pain-wise. Having your breasts firmly squeezed between paddles is never going to be comfortable!