To have found my first mammogram really upsetting?

The YouTube videos are coy about how much your breast tissue is flattened between the plates though.

I feel so sorry for the radiography staff. I had 2 ladies the first time, now due to being short staffed only one attended me, having to man handle me into position and then take the images, It's not pleasant, but I'm grateful for the service. and you could of easily of seen a video on youtube about what to expect on a mammogram. Not sure what the letter would of explained. Perhaps there were a few ladies to get through that day (There was at least 7-8 waiting on my visit) It's a shame this was yr experience, but you may need to speak up next time.

I have ASD too and did a lot of research before having my first mammogram.

I still found it very dehumanising. I’m a wheelchair user and getting into position was difficult for both myself and the radiographers.
They were professional but a little abrupt.

for me, the pain was tolerable (but I do have regular v painful checks for another condition) but the visual of my breast (38JJ) being squeezed so flat and being handled like a piece of meat was more upsetting that I had anticipated: I’m very used to breast exams, urodynamic testing, gynea etc but seeing a part of my body compressed in that way shook me up a little.

I know that’s daft; I have a PhD FGS, I’d done my research and I’ve had more medical hands on parts of my body than I’ve had hot dinners but I really struggled mentally after the mammogram. I wonder if it’s because it was in my direct line of sight and made a part of me that I’m not very confident about anyway look so terribly repulsive. I do have body image issues and am a CSA survivor so have a complicated relationship with my body.

I am grateful for the provision and the NHS. I’m a frequent visitor due to complex medical issues, but yes, I agree that the first mammogram can be quite overwhelming and upsetting. It’s a very visual experience as the breasts are literally right in front of you: most other procedures you can look away or zone out but this one is quite different.

My experience has been varied, and a lot is to do with the individual member of staff.
Until my last mammogram I had always been directed to a changing room and been given a gown. This time I was taken straight to the room with the machine and just undressed and draped my clothes over a chair.
I preferred the former, but the latter was quicker as there was no waiting time, and certainly not awful.
She definitely told me that she might need to help with positioning before she touched me. I feel the same way about mammograms as I did about smear tests; they are not pleasant but are necessary and only normally done every few years. I try to forget about them ASAP.

I think the problem here sounds like it was the way you were treated. I recently had blood tests at hospital. I have a chronic disease and have had many, many blood tests and hospital examinations through the years. This was the only time I have felt like a piece of meat being processed. The woman did not look at me, grabbed my arm roughly, stuck the needle in competently but there was almost hate in the way she did it. She threw the little containers of blood into the tray. I’ve had my disease for forty years and I’ve never felt degraded by an examination, even the most embarrassing ones! But a simple blood test left me feeling like crying. So I think I see where you’re coming from. And I didn’t complain because I couldn’t put my finger on the problem iyswim.

I had a very bad experience having a mammogram with far reaching repercussions. When it was time for the next one, I contacted the hospital and asked if there was an alternative and explained that. I was berated for not having brought the issue to their attention, but I actually wasn’t in a position to do that. The Head of Service contacted me and arranged for the most experienced staff to deal with me, and my last one was OK. I’m undecided how to approach my next one but I do have a couple of years to wait.

You’ve been given an unnecessarily hard time by some on this thread. Sorry for your experience 💐 Empathic staff are really important in these situations. By submitting a complaint you are helping to improve the experience for others (assuming the mammography team act on what you’ve said), so do feel good about doing your bit.

This is rather a ridiculous stance to take.
Anything could happen, in theory, at medical appointments, by being there you don’t agree to any eventuality, you are being wholly disingenuous

My teen daughter had severe anxiety (confirmed adhd but suspected autism too) and every single medical appt she goes to I say on the outset she has extreme anxiety but copes better if people can please explain to her what they are going to do to her before they do it. I do this every single time.

You are not wrong - things should be explained to everyone before they happen - but autism is SEN and you access extra support so please consider this next visit.

There's a lot of publicity about how Royal mail are delivering medical letters too late.

For my ultrasound I wore the gown back to front and had it tied like a wrap dress at the front. I asked the sonographer if I'd got it right and he said it was fine but technically it ties at the back!

I must have looked a right state! All these medical tests may be normal for the species but they're not normal for the individual!

You should have been asked.
And in my opinion she was not unreasonable at all.

This is an example , in my opinion, of how women are poorly treated at medical appointments.

It’s not acceptable, and men wouldn’t put up with it

Yanbu
When I had mine it was explained as I arrived how she'd have to manipulate etc. she was respectful and explained as she went along.
You should not have to shut up and put up because we are 'lucky to have the option" fgs!
I did know via friends to expect it to be uncomfortable
I can't believe the tech hasn't moved on and we have to be clamped and manipulated in this way!

Tiny room, intimidating machine taking up most of it

They're supposed to do a mammogram without any machinery, or allocate twice the necessary space?

I’m sorry you felt like that but that is what mammograms are. I’ve never been asked to consent because I wouldn’t be there if I said no, as you can’t have one without the nurse handling you.

Just instructions over the phone to drink a lot of water and come with a full bladder.

I got that only in a letter which arrived after my appointment. It was just pure luck and a lack of unengaged loos that meant I did have a full bladder.

For balance, as threads like this will always get responses about the tests being agonising and intrusive, I think that it's valuable to include other experiences - like mine last year (my first - which was a Happy Birthday letter from the NHS that I hadn't expected).

I expected it to takes ages, be incredibly painful, etc, etc, as that's what you read about.

The screening room was in an ancient section of the 'used to be a hospital, is now used as a site for any random things the Trust can't fit anywhere else' site. Got inside once I'd found it (follow a painted line taking me past the bins at the back of the carpark). There wasn't anybody else waiting, as a lot or women just don't turn up - probably expecting agonising assaults by machine or something like that if they've read posts online.

Got invited into the room and asked to take my top off and walk to the machine. She then said she needed to lift me, gave me time to adjust my shoulder and then went to take the first image, etc, etc. There was no painful squishing, it felt cold, obviously, but it was more like the machine held the tissue, not anything more than that and a slight sensation of almost pulling on the skin where my breasts meet my body. Repeat for the other side, get dressed and go.

Then I got the results a couple of weeks later. Incredibly easy, not painful at all, incredibly quick and potentially lifesaving. But how many women that did not attend on the basis of 'knowing' it's going to be awful have missed a test that wasn't in my experience as portrayed (and I genuinely expected) might have had something that would have shown up?

I got a phonecall to book me in for an abdominal scan - it was for post menopausal bleeding but there was no mention at all about what it entailed as no letter. Just instructions over the phone to drink a lot of water and come with a full bladder. I looked it up and realised that there would likely be an abdominal and a vaginal scan which is what happened but someone else might not have known walking in.

I assumed it would be a female sonographer too like with most smears and mammograms but I walked in to find a male sonographer and it threw me a little. He was very kind and professional though.

I had my first mammogram recently and made exactly the same comment to my dh. I didn’t ‘stand there seething’ but it did occur to me that men don’t have to submit to having their testicles squished between plates to diagnose anything and if they did there would be oodles of funding to find an alternative. Yes, we’re fortunate that there is a diagnostic tool available to us, but that doesn’t mean we should stop trying to improve and find a more comfortable method. In an age where ai can almost replace a person in the workplace there must be a better way.

@YompingJo

I had no idea I would find it so hard

You’re autistic, new experiences can be difficult, so you did have a head’s up.

The letter gave me no idea what to expect

But it did ask if you were SEN, because then they would have given you more information and support on the day.

If you didn’t disclose your disability when asked, how are they to support you appropriately?

But I do agree that consent is already given, by you being there

Even though multiple HCP's on this thread have said consent should not be presumed and that at the very least OP should have been told when she was about to be touched/manipulated? The nail tech comparison is irrelevant. A nail technician is, quite rightly, not held to the same professional standard as a trained health professional conducting an intimate examination or procedure.

I'm suprised because I usually find the women who work there to be lovely. If the woman who dealt with you literally didn't ask your permission or make any other comforting comments then I'd expect her to receive more complaints. Maybe she could have just singled you out but that seems less likely but obviously not impossible.

Next time you go let them know had a bad experience the previous time and ask that they be mindful.

No consolation OP but every mammogram I have ever had has been how you describe. I am another ‘Asda car park trailer’ person. Get into trailer, go into cubicle and take off top and bra. Then required to wipe under breasts with a freezing cold wet wipe. Then walk to machine wearing coat over bare torso. Mammogram carried out as you describe. I always get comments because my breasts are large. Usually along the lines of ‘doesn’t the skin get sore under them?’ I just say no ( I do take good care of my skin to avoid any rashes or such like) Next time I am going to say ‘why are you offering to give me a breast reduction on the NHS? ‘ I had a private mammogram years and years ago but can’t remember that one so maybe it was better? I don’t really have much more faith in the private sector anymore as they are overwhelmed also.

Im sorry your experience was so uncomfortable

we shouldn’t have to be grateful we pay towards our healthcare 🙄 we should expect not hope to be treated with respect and sensitivity

My experience was so different, it was in one of the NHS mobile clinics which at first seemed a little off putting (but now think they are a great idea) the staff put me at ease, everything was explained and my questions answered and I was asked for consent and every adjustment I was told before hand. I was in and out in less than 15 minutes if that

it was physically uncomfortable and a little painful but that can’t be helped

when I had a hysterectomy (in hospital) and a coil fitted was treated with the same sensitivity and respect we shouldn’t expect anything less

No.

No one can ever presume you have given consent for anything just because you were there.

I think Pammie is spot on here.

Perhaps OP give feedback about the experience including the use of SEN as a term because it wasn't resonating with you. They might consider updating their letters.

Thinking back I had a medical appointment which upset me and it did take me a while to put it behind me. Wishing you all the best.