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?

That horrific, genuinely. It’s easy to say complain but sometimes you’re so shocked and left feeling so vulnerable after something like that, it can be hard to find the words. I’m really sorry that happened to you.

The onus was on you to ask more.

For anyone saying consent is not needed: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/consent-to-treatment/#:~:text=Consent%20from%20a%20patient%20is,and%20international%20human%20rights%20law.

well yes . But the onus is on the professional to be courteous and to do the job in a way that will encourage returns. They would have known it was first or should have asked.

Interesting. It also says non-verbal consent can be given, though. Like holding out an arm for a blood test.

And advice for junior doctors on approaching intimate examinations: https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/your-wellbeing/insight-and-advice/first-times-in-medicine/dealing-with-intimate-examinations

honestly, it’s depressing how many people are telling the op to shut up and put up. Just because the NHS is a great institution doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have high expectations of how our HCPs treat us.

A mammogram cannot be performed without manipulation of breasts.

If you attend a mammogram then consent for the radiographer to handle your breasts is presumed.

Don’t be so fucking ridiculous. Nobody should have to put up with being manhandled with little to no communication during a medical procedure.

I think your experience would have been completely different with a kind nurse. I’ve had many mammograms due to having had breast cancer and none of them are ‘nice’, but with the support of a friendly nurse, I have never had a bad experience. Next time (and you must still go next time!), say that you had a bad experience and are nervous.
Be kind to yourself, try and put it down to experience (I know that’s easier said than done) and make a pact with yourself that next time you will speak to them first. Also mention it to the receptionist, they can forewarn the nurse. They are a bit matter of fact because of the number of patients they have to get through in a day, but don’t let this one experience stop you going again.

It is just a piece of flesh. They have ti put them in the cirrect place. It isnt pleasant but necessary

I empathise with you enormously as anything new is difficult to grapple with, especially so if it involves people moving and touching your body.

However, equally, they have a job to do and they have to move the breast into the correct position for your benefit.

You are autistic therefore you do have SEN, so in future you need to let them know and they can provide more info in advance and a range of accommodations.

A lot of people here seem to expect OP to have had prior knowledge of the experience although it was her first time. Why should she know what would happen? If you read the NHS literature about it you get the impression that it will be far more gentle than it actually is. But this is common with all medical information: pain is 'discomfort' etc.

It's an unpleasant procedure, OP, and the operator's brusqueness made it worse & shouldn't happen. Often the only thing that makes such a procedure bearable is the kindness of those around you. So complain about your experience.

I am sorry that you experienced this and I am surprised that people are saying you are being unreasonable. Well…I do think that you should have read up a bit more about what to expect. But the central point is that you were treated in a way that undermined your dignity and that is not acceptable. Nor was the failure to seek specific consent.

The idea that we are privileged to have this screening and that of itself should be enough is outdated. Maybe the person who did your mammogram also held such an antiquated view.

By way of contrast I took my DS (12) for an MRI this week. He was very nervous. More nervous than he had been for the major surgery he underwent last year for the same condition. He and I were treated with such patience and consideration I have written to the unit to thank them. I do not anticipate that his procedure took any longer for being undertaken with kindness and compassion.

I am sorry OP that you went for a routine procedure with confidence and were let down. I am also sorry that more people on here have not supported you.

I also venture that misogyny has a large part to play in the execution of screening that is (largely) directed at women, and the way in which any protest from those subject women about their treatment is perceived.

I’ve met a few people in the medical profession who don’t have great bedside manners. I think it’s quite common (in my experience at least). However, the one that was the most brusque with me was also the one that spotted a problem that two other doctors hadn’t and fought for me to be admitted to hospital when another consultant considered it to not be necessary. She was absolutely right about my condition and without her, my life could have turned out very differently.

I’m sorry you had a negative experience OP but it’s an important procedure and I hope you continue to have them when offered. I’d probably leave feedback for the radiographer though.

There is a significant lack of understanding around consent on this thread. If you don’t know what you’re talking about then stfu. Seriously.

I just don’t think that’s correct. A good HCP would never assume consent. Especially in a first procedure as this was, where a patient might easily not know what would be involved. Consent can always be withdrawn at any point. Or damn well should be (with regrets to some on this thread who have found this not to be the case).

I would urge you to reconsider, I have 2 friends who had BC picked up and easily treated because it was caught so early. One was on a trial mammogram for under 50s as they want to see if it's worth doing for younger women too ,clearly for her it was.

I have had several mammograms over the years the last one I had was horrendous the nurse was really rough with me horrible woman never ever experienced this before hope you're ok OP 🥹

As I said above to someone else who said this: "Plenty of autistic people have no special educational needs. Lots of us find education/academic study far easier than the rest of life."

What does special educational needs (SEN) mean?
The term SEN covers a wide range of needs. These include behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, speech, language and communication, hearing impairment, visual impairment, multi-sensory impairment, physical disability and autism.

www.coventry.gov.uk/coventrys-special-educational-needs-disability-send-local-offer/early-years-education-parents-carers-children-special-educational-needs-disabilities/3#:~:text=Stage%20Profile%20(EYFSP)-,What%20does%20special%20educational%20needs%20(SEN)%20mean%3F,impairment%2C%20physical%20disability%20and%20autism.

This is a really good point. I learned the hard way not to trust medical professionals who use the words discomfort or uncomfortable when they know full well that what they're about to do is PAINFUL. It's so patronising not to tell patients in advance and then just spring it on them instead.

I had this at my first mammogram too which was held in a breast screening trailer in an Asda carpark. The experience was awful I vowed that it would never happen again.

I live in Cornwall where there is a dedicated breast cancer screening centre and my second mammogram, which I had there, could not have been more different.

The radiographer explained every step of the process to me in a kindly and friendly way. She made sure that I was positioned correctly without being manhandled. It was a much better experience than the first.

I now make sure that all my mammograms are done there.

What happened at your appointment is what has happened at literally all my mammograms. I'm 70 and must have had over 30 - most of them privately, so it's not just an NHS thing.

If you have special needs you have to speak up.

I have a hidden disability listed above which I always flag before medical appointments.

Usually the health professional acknowledges this and then five minutes later forgets about it completely so that I have to ask for help again 😂

Well the term should be renamed if people are using it in that way. How offensive to have what is for many of us the one area of life that's easy turned into yet another way in which we are perceived as inadequate.