To have found my first mammogram really upsetting?

[YompingJo]

Got a letter through with very basic details if an appointment. Turned up and found the whole thing demeaning. Tiny room, intimidating machine taking up most of it. The radiologist was monosyllabic and bossy and manhandled me into the right position including grabbing each breast and shoving it into position, pushing other bits of my body out of the way, not once asking first. I know it's a necessary procedure, but a bit of sensitivity would have gone a long way, and having the respect to ask for consent before grabbing a breast is a basic consideration. I'm autistic and needed to know much more what to expect beforehand. The letter gave a way to request assistance in the case of SEN, but I don't consider myself to have SEN and didn't know what I'd need until I was right there, so that wasn't any help. There was a QR code for feedback, which I gave but I just feel... invaded and demeaned. AIBU?

There really is no need for this sort of comment. The OP was just venting her shock and upset.

Just don’t go next time.

Jesus wept, indeed.

I'm sorry but I can't relate to this.. I couldn't care less about the niceties, I know what I'm there for. I don't enjoy them either but would enjoy breast cancer much less.

But I didn't- she moved the machine to the right height and then changed the angle for the second picture of each breast.

Of course it was a mammogram 😂 TBF it was done privately so there would have been more time than an NHS appointment. I had a load of different views taken to get a better image of the suspect mass but the radiographer explained very clearly how I was to position myself before being compressed like an old car at the scrapyard.

We've just had different experiences then @EBearhug . The radiographers have moved the machine and positioned me when I’ve had them done. 🤷

before being compressed like an old car at the scrapyard.
@MyOtherHusbandIsAWash 🤣🤣 That perfectly describes the feeling!

OP, there is far more to worry about than manhandling!

assuming this was a screening mammogram without suspicion of malignancy, here's some numbers:

Acceptable safe limit (radiation) per year for the gen pop = 1mGy

Average absorption in background per year = approx 3mGy

Dose given to Xray both breasts with some NHS equipment, up to 4mGy

An exposure to radiation increases the risk of .....?

Tis why screening mammography is banned in Switzerland and not used widely in lots of countries, the increased risk outweighs the benefits.

That's why I wondered if it was a new type of machine, but it comes just be different radiographer techniques too.

Actually, there is a need for this sort of comment. The NHS is a publicly funded healthcare provider. There’s oodles of preventative and curative cancer care available to everyone. It’s one the last remaining g jewels in the UK’s crown and you only have to live in a country without such a system for a few months to know this. The NHS has also been extremely mismanaged and underfunded for decades now. That’s on the politicians and management, not frontline healthcare workers. These are not the people who can make those things right.

It’s not okay for patients to give feedback, and complain about invasive and demeaning treatment after what sounds like a completely routine mammogram. Why didn’t the OPdo the bare minimum of googling what a mammogram would be like? Takes 5 minutes. But no, easier to shove responsibility onto someone else. Or “vent”.

Patients have a responsibility too. The NHS isn’t there to make us feel loved and treated with kid gloves. If we have the good fortune to be seen by a nurse or doctor with a personality that gels with us, that’s a bonus. But it simply is not okay for a patient to expect that any and every healthcare provider should at all times mind-read, or enquire as to each patient’s level of self-education about the procedure they themselves are having, and attempt to make them feel good.

I mean come on. Complaining about the size of the room and the machine looking intimidating? Seriously?

And yet if you are rich you can pay for a less painful procedure

Looks like the klaxon i mentioned on the carers allowance threads has gone off

@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!

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.

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?

@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.

@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.

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

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

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"

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.