On the way to the hospital to have my first mammogram, I was feeling a bit nervous.
Some women say that the procedure is painful and uncomfortable; needless to say I wasn’t looking forward to it at all. I was curious and nervous at the same time.
First, I met the radiologist, who explained the mammography procedure to me.
I’m 30, there’s no history of breast cancer or ovarian cancer in my family (although there is a history of other types of cancer) and I hadn’t previously found any lumps in my breast.
Having said that, although I’ve even written about how important self-examination is, I can’t remember the last time I conducted a self-examination. I’ve never found anything that I thought was a breast lump before.
Although the radiologist I met was a man, all the radiographers (who operate the mammogram machine) are female as a rule. This is designed to make the female patients feel more comfortable.
The radiographer was very nice: she explained what would happen and what I would need to do, plus how I would need to position myself on the machine. A mammogram machine is like an X-ray machine, which typically takes images of each breast from the top and side. You have four images taken in total. I had to remove my necklace and glasses before the images were taken, so the metal didn’t interfere with the pictures. The radiographer placed a heavy skirt around my tummy to protect my body.
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