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?

I don't think it's a lack of empathy to point out that mammo machines may be in a tiny room and not in Buckingham Palace.

I was a mammographer a few moons ago - this should not have been your experience at all. A lot of our training is about patient experience - the procedure is never going to be a particularly positive experience but you should have been treated with dignity and respect. I would put in a complaint (you can go through PALS) and ask them to review staff training on patient experience.

This was my experience during pregnancy, paid for care was worlds away from the NHS. It's so sad that in many cases people think we're 'really lucky' to get a shit service because it's 'free' ie paid for from our taxes.

OP I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, there's no excuse for treating people with zero respect. I do think it's worth contacting them ahead of time in future because it would have been useful to you to have had accommodations made due to your autism and that would fall under SEN. SEN seems a strange phrase to use outside an educational setting though, I'm surprised they didn't say 'disability or other additional needs'.

Yanbu. I had my first recently and was treated in a very kind and respectful way.

Tbh I couldn’t believe how much it hurt me, no one warned me of that. Although the person who did mine was sympathetic. I can’t remember them asking if they could touch me but I had assumed they would need to. It was the pain I was surprised about. It’s like putting them in a clamp!

@PleaseletitbeSpring thanks for that information! I will try and go private next time. The pain I experienced was awful and I’m sure left me bruised for weeks after!

This is well worded, and explains my thoughts perfectly, thank you!

It's MN, and it's not my first rodeo, so I knew what I was potentially in for - and actually it's very reassuring that my experience sounds unusual.

Well they aren't compulsory - that's true but they can catch cancer earlier (admittedly along with other cancers like DCIS which might not spread at all). Recent AI Mammogram interventions mean that computer-aided diagnosis is catching more cancer that the radiologists have missed - I was part of a research cohort at my local hospital.

Please, please OP don't give up on screening mammograms.

A picture walk through would help. For smears too. But perhaps it might deter some.

My first mammogram was fairly similar to the OP, it didn't put me off but the nurse didn't speak to me through the whole procedure. As it was my first time, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect and when the first set of plates came down and squashed my breast (I am big breasted), I let out a sudden "whooaaa"! in surprise. Felt a bit of pillock but hey ho.

I've had several more since then and all the nurses have been really nice, very friendly and actually quite chatty each time I've been.

It's not my favourite way to spend any time but my mum had breast cancer so I always go to the appointments and will continue to request them after the next one as I will no longer get recalled.

While explaining mammogram procedures better, the NHS could probably do the same for hysteroscopy - some women sail through others find it agonising. Minimal information is given and they gloss over the general anaesthetic option.

Being intimidated by the room and machine isn't a fault of the staff.

No, but it is the responsibility of the staff to try and mske patients feel more comfortable in what can be an intimidating and unfamiliar environment for many. A few kind words can make all the difference.

Radiographers don't have time for chit chat and they have to be very direct with instructions.

It’s not ‘chit-chat’, it’s part of the job, to try and put patients at ease while you’re carrying out intimate procedures on them!

I've not had one and don't plan to. Bloody awful intrusive tests. I have regular thermography, not as accurate in spotting an issue, but better than nothing.

I don't have smears anymore either, since they only look for HPV and don't actually examine the sample. You can do a HPV test at home.

Yanbu to expect consent before touching big Yabu not to have asked for the offered SEN help. I have a teen ND son who has been having lots of diagnostic testing recently and even he took the initiative to watch YouTube videos on it so he knew what to expect. I use “even he” because he’s normally very scatty and unprepared but watched the videos do he wasn’t surprised on the day.

@INeedABackeoctomy what home hpv test do you use?

Also just to make you aware @YompingJo ans others about to have their first mammogram: I was called back after mine and put on the two week pathway which was somewhat terrifying - until a really lovely consultant at that appointment explained it was much more common to be called back after the first scan as they don’t have a sense of what is normal for you, so have to investigate anything that looks even slightly suspicious (I was given an all clear very quickly). The staff at that later appointment were SO nice and thoughtful that I nearly cried at one point: very patient centred and conscious of how wierd and uncomfortable the whole things was.

If you’re autistic then you have SEN so should have put the request in for extra support.

Thanks, @Isthisjustnormal !

I found the pain diminished massively to mere discomfort once I hit menopause!

I had my most recent one 3 weeks ago in the mobile mammography unit in town. The mammographer wasn't as chatty as previous ones (done at hospital units) but I was glad to get out more quickly!

I’ve had several and the nurses/hcps have always been kind, chatty and empathetic and warned me when they were going to grab bits and when it would be uncomfortable etc. Usually with friendly woman-to-woman banter about boobs and what a pain it is to have to go through etc.

I think a complaint would be reasonable - this staff member should be asking consent and being kind and if she’s not she needs telling and training as necessary. I’m not a big complainer generally but this is important. She could put women off going back and that could have serious consequences.

You shouldn’t have to invoke having an ND condition to get basic empathy and respect - but you may find it does help get you kinder treatment so it might be worth using that option.

No but they look at your cervix.

I was surprised by my first mammogram too. I had just thought they stood you in front of a machine that did an X ray or something. I have very small breasts and there was a lot of shoving and pushing to get me in the correct position. It’s an inherently undignified process.

The nurse should have explained why they need to ensure you are in the right position ( mine did).

I think the NHS could put a line in letters to let people know what to expect at appts, rather than assume people know.

Bet they don't use a machine like this to check for testicular cancer do they.

This is getting silly now. Breast tissue is different from testicles.

Testicles hang free from the male body so comparing x-raying them with them x-raying breasts is a bit daft.