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?

You now know you will find these kind of intrusive procedures, with intimidating machinery etc. upsetting so you need to practice better advocating for yourself. See this is a positive for the future.

However, it does sound like you should give feedback about how it wasn't explained that your breasts would need to be touched/moved etc. as @Baseline14 outlines.

Ah. I've worked in assistive technology at University. For you, education may not be an area where autism is debilitating. But I've worked with countless University students where autism has a major impact on their education. Particularly so for young women who are often found to be autistic in their later years of Uni.

I always have a cardigan on or with me when I go for a mammogram so once all my clothes on the top are off, I slip the cardigan on to walk through the waiting area to the mammogram room and slip off once in there. Put back on to walk back to changing area afterwards.

I fully appreciate that it CAN be. What I don't like is that it apparently automatically IS. Sorry, I've derailed this thread. Will stop now.

Of course the procedure should have been explained which is why I referred to the radiographer lacking ‘ bedside manner’

I empathise with the OP, I was left a bit stunned and shaken after my first mammogram and the radiographer could not have been kinder and handled me as gently as she could and reassured me each scan would take a couple of seconds and stayed I engaged with me ‘ all ok?’, ‘ just a second more’ etc.

I also acknowledge that consent does not give HCPs to treat patients abruptly or to not take due care particularly with such an intrusive procedure.

I was more addressing posters suggestion the OP did not give consent for the radiographer to touch or manipulate her breast.

You've raised an important point.

I hear you OP, my first was awful too, and some random other HCP wandered in midway though.

I know they are busy and have seen more boobs that I have had hot dinners etc, it is BAU for them, however it is NOT BAU for the patient and adopting a caring attitude instead of a shitty one adds no more time onto the process for them, yet can change the whole patient experience.

Like a previous poster said, bad experiences are likely to put women off returning for scans.

But I do agree that consent is already given, by you being there. Or rather, where do you draw the line? My GP is lovely: 'jump up on the bed and we'll have a look'. But you can't go for a nail paint and the expect the nail technician to ask every single time if they can 'touch your feet'.

^ This!

Yes, we are lucky in this country and you could have researched what it would entail beforehand but there's no excuse for the poor treatment you received.

Luckily, my last mammogram wasn't like this and I was treated with kindness and respect.

Complain if you feel up to it.

If this were true they'd have a similar machine to check testicles.

They don't.

Oh, and who thought it would be good to operate it with a foot pedal??

Absolutely barbaric.

Testicles are smaller and checked by hand

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.

No.

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

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 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.

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.

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.

@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?

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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?

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!